Son of NAMB missionaries killed in action in Iraq

By Staff, www.bpnews.net

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--Capt. Joshua T. Byers, son of North American missionaries Lloyd and Mary Byers, was killed in action in Iraq the morning of July 23.

The Byerses have been missionaries since January in Guam, a U.S. territory, where Lloyd Byers is director of missions for the Guam Baptist Association. He previously served as church planter/pastor of Foothills Community Church in Mt. Airy, Ga.

Joshua Byers, a member of the Army's Third Armored Cavalry Regiment, was killed when a bomb exploded near his vehicle as it was traveling in a 50-vehicle convoy between two Iraqi towns, according to his mother. Seven others were wounded in the bombing, which was triggered remotely by two Iraqis hiding in bushes nearby, she said.

Byers is survived by his wife, Kim, who lives in Fountain, Colo., near Fort Carson. He is a 1996 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Mary Byers said she had been on a flight from Tokyo to Atlanta for a North American Mission Board conference when the incident was reported, and she and her husband learned the news when they arrived in Atlanta from their two other sons, who live in Nashville. Joshua's brothers had received the news two hours earlier.

"We're just really in shock, but we certainly appreciate the prayer support we've already heard about through the North American Mission Board and all Southern Baptists we've been in contact with," she said.


Illinois Baptist State Association
P.O. Box 19247
Springfield, IL 62794
(217) 786-2600
©2003