Bonnie Penner Witherall, an American citizen age 31, and wife of Garry Witherall, a British citizen, graduated from Moody Bible Institute in 1998 and the two of them came as missionaries to Sidon, Lebanon. Our church was the only born again church in Sidon and it was, and still is, a Fundamental Independent Baptist Church, so they were pleased to join and work under its auspices. Gary was very active in visitation and he frequently went out on visitation with pastor Pierre who is my son in the ministry and the man I ordained in October 1990 and set out to pastor that church. Both Bonnie and Gary brought many a visitor to the church to hear the preaching of the Gospel of JESUS.

Over a year ago the Christian Missionary Alliance came to Sidon and wanted to do some relief work; so they opened a medical clinic inside the Ein El-Helwe, purely moslem Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Sidon. About six months ago, the clinic found out about Bonnie and Gary, and they asked them if they would help in a humanitarian capacity. Four months ago Bonnie then began working in the clinic as a volunteer while her husband was involved with visitation with pastor Pierre.

One month later Bonnie won a Moslem woman to the Lord. The sheik started preaching against Bonnie in the mosque. Friday Nov 22nd, after speaking against Bonnie once again, one of the Moslem men present took his pistol and headed for the clinic where Bonnie was volunteering. He knocked, she opened the door, and he emptied three bullets in her head killing her instantly; and another martyr's name was written up in glory. She found enough grace in the eyes of heaven to be counted worthy of becoming another martyr in the trail of blood. She is the second martyr in eleven years after Bill Robinson who was martyred in the Security Zone where I planted our second church.

Bonnie's body was brought to Lynden where she was laid to rest Friday Nov 29th, and the next day, Saturday Nov 30th, was her memorial service. Gary had told me it would be a honor if I could come and attend. I tried to get there but the Lord did not permit that so I was limited to talking to him on the phone and comforted him as much as I could in the Lord Jesus. The Lord did not permit me to attend for a reason. Events like these take their toll on me because the man that led me to the Lord won two Moslem kids to the Lord as well and as a result the sheik set a trap for him and he was amputated and decapitated. My wife Ruth, my single sister Carla and I have a strong feeling, very strong feeling as a matter of fact, that someday I am going to be martyred as well. When my task on earth is done I want to join the trail of blood. Until then, while on furlough and always, I ask my supporting churches to pray for two things: (1) For our safety when on the field, and (2) Fruitfulness in the ministry (this request is ever more true today).

When establishing the church in 1985, the Moslems plotted to kill me twice but God had mercy on me, and more than that I have seen death at least a hundred times in the past twenty one years and I have always said that what has kept me alive on the field was the prayers of the saints. Now the serious and urgent news. The reason for this early blood-stained progress report is that pastor Pierre has e-mailed me three times since last week requesting prayer for safety. The community in Sidon is treating this case in an negative way. Rather than going after the murderer, they are accusing the believers of being the cause of the "problem" because they are trying to evangelize Sidon. Last Wednesday pastor Pierre was taken in for an interrogation for several hours and the next day on Thursday he was brought in to the Palace of Justice where he was made to wait for six hours in intimidation before appearing before a Moslem judge for five minutes and then released. One of the two Moslem senators in the city of Sidon said they could not condemn the murder nor would they consider it an act of terrorism. They do not classify Bonnie's martyrdom as a crime in the first place. The believers in Sidon are living in fear and need our prayers. Please pray for their safety and for Gary who is devastated at the loss of his wife. He has forgiven the murderers and he is determined to return to Sidon as a missionary.

Please pray for us,

From the Land of the Prophets,
Ramzi & Ruth Kammar
Missionaries to Jerusalem, Israel
Notorious for the Gospel