JACKSONVILLE (FBW)-Florida native Brian Barlow, administrator of the Baptist School in Amman, Jordan, is one of several Baptist workers living in the Middle East who personally experienced the dedication of the martyred missionaries. The International Mission Board worker from Pensacola told Florida Baptist Witness in an e-mail the missionaries’ memorial service at the school was emotional, as "many of us knew it could have been us in their place."

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Last September, a group of relief workers from Westside Baptist Church in Gainesville, spent several days assisting in school projects in Amman after the group was diverted from Baghdad, Iraq to Amman, Jordan because of security concerns.

Barlow, describing Larry and Jean Elliott, Karen Watson and David McDonnall as "selflessly dedicated," said "we are honored and humbled to have known them." The Baptist School also prayed for Carrie McDonnall’s healing.

"The work of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ will not stop in Iraq," Barlow said. "It will only accelerate as we continue to build the church of Christ on the shed blood of His martyrs."

Nabeeh Abassee, head of the Iraqi Task Force of the Baptist Convention of Jordan, wrote in a letter to the International Mission Board: "Believers in Jordan, and especially the new believers in Iraq, are deeply grateful for the sacrifices that Southern Baptists have made in order to share God’s love with the peoples of our region.

"We know that God’s work of evangelism and church planting is slow and sometimes dangerous in the Arab world. We often get discouraged. But through the lives, the encouragement and the examples of these Southern Baptist missionaries, we know that we are not alone," Abassee wrote.

"Larry and Jean Elliott, David and Carrie McDonnall, and Karen Watson loved the Iraqi people. They shared our burden for the lost. They gave their lives on earth so that the people of Iraq might gain eternal life in heaven.

"Through their example, we feel that we have brothers and sisters in Christ, who despite difficult living conditions and societies that are are hostile to the Gospel message, will continue with us until every Arab of every family, of every clan, of every tribe, of every people, of every nation, will have the opportunity to hear the wonderful message of God’s love through Jesus," Abassee concluded.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with you."