Organization: Arizona State University
Date: Tuesday, 29 Sep 1992 11:12:26 MST
From: <ASRPA@ASUACAD.BITNET>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nepal
Subject:    British Missionary Family Died

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          BRITISH MISSIONARY FAMILY TOOK DOOMED AIRBUS
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Copyright 1992 The Press Association Limited
Press Association Newsfile, September  28, 1992, Monday

     A British family of five are believed to have died in the
horrific Pakistan   Airbus crash in  Nepal.   Missionaries Andy and
Helen Wilkins and their three  young children were on the doomed
flight from Karachi to Katmandu and are feared  dead.  Andy, 38,
and Helen, 36, were returning to continue volunteer work after   a
one-year college course in biblical and cross-cultural studies.
Their three  children Hannah, 10, Naomi, eight, and Simeon, six
were with them. The couple  was expecting their fourth baby in
March, a college spokeswoman said.  Andrew, a qualified engineer
and geologist who worked on hydro-electric projects, and  Helen, a
trained social worker, were part of the United Mission to  Nepal,
a  Christian development group involving volunteers from all over
the world.  The  principal of the All Nations Christian College, in
Ware, Herts, the Rev David  Harley, said they were "pleasant
students" and "a delightful family".  "I know  the students here
will be terribly shocked by what has happened," he said.  College
secretary Ella Bradley said: "It's devastating news." She said:
"They  were a charming family who had devoted their lives to
helping others." The  couple, who were returning to Butwal for a
second three-year spell, were  recruited for their missionary work
through London-based Interserve which  organises development work
in Pakistan.  Spokeswoman Linda Bell said: "Obviously  we are
devastated. It is tragic news and we are all very sad."

     The Wilkins family was returning to Kathmandu for a second
three-year term of  service of dedicated work for the people of
Nepal.  During their first period   in the country, the family
lived simply in the capital while Mr Wilkins carried   out his work
as a missionary partner.  An engineer and geologist, he was
seconded to the United Mission to  Nepal  to work for the Butwal
Power Company.   Although they were committed Christians, Nepalese
law did not permit them to try  to spread their faith.  In  Nepal,
the only Hindu kingdom in the world, such  missionary work can
carry a prison sentence of up to six years.  Today  colleagues at
the London office of the missionary organisation Interserve were
shocked to learn of the tragic crash.  Press officer Jenny Taylor
said "I can  just say it hasn't really sunk in yet. I have met the
family, and they certainly  were delightful.  "Andrew struck me as
being a very special person, quietly  spoken, gentle, very
committed indeed." The family, believed to have come  originally
from Peterborough, was going back to Kathmandu after a year's
course   in cross-cultural studies at Ware.  Before that they spent
three years in   Nepal,  where the children were schooled.
Interserve finance director Simon  Sheldon, who said the family
would have been given an allowance of about L400 a   month, added
that Mr Wilkins would often walk for three days to reach remote
communities, where he advised on damming streams for hydro-electric
projects.  "The Wilkins gave everything to carry out there work,"
he said.  The UMN has 400  aid workers in  Nepal,  about half of
them Britons.

     At Stanstead Abbots, near Peterborough, Andrew and Helen
worked closely with   vicar Barry Goodwin, 44, who today broke the
news to the couple's friends in the  village.  "When I heard the
news I was looking out at my garden and I suddenly  remembered the
family playing football with us on the lawn.  "Andy helped us out
with our Pathfinders group, which consisted of 11 to 14-year-olds.
He was so  good with the kids, so encouraging. He and Helen were
real Christians." The  Wilkins children quickly became popular at
the St Andrew's primary school,  headteacher Irene Saward said
tonight.  "This is terrible, terrible news. They  were a lovely
family and the children were simply beautiful," she said.

     "Simeon was a real little tinker - cheeky and lovable, always
making people  laugh. The girls were quieter, very self-assured and
calm, and very popular."  She added: "The parents couldn't do
enough for people. They were regular  visitors to the school and
often helped other parents by delivering and  collecting their
children.  "They were such a caring family. I can't believe  this
has happened, it's so cruel that this should happen to them."

     At the church where the Wilkins' worshipped before they first
went to  Nepal - St John the Baptist in Werrington, Peterborough,
Cambs - friends and fellow  parishioners gathered tonight to pray
for them.  Dozens of people arrived in  small groups and sat
silently with their heads bowed.  The Rev Bill Craft said:   "We
opened the church so that people could come and pray. We are all in
a state   of total shock.  "They worshipped here regularly and it
was from here that they   went as missionaries. They were well
known and very much part of the local  community."

     Another of the British victims of the crash was tonight named
as Deborah  Leon, a Tyneside-based women's officer with the
Transport and General Workers'  Union.  Ms Leon, 32, whose hobbies
included rock climbing and cycling, left the   UK on Sunday bound
for a month-long trekking holiday in the Himalayas.  Her  parents,
Dr Colin Leon, a GP, and his wife, Sheila, who have another
daughter  and three sons, were tonight being comforted at their
home in South Gosforth, Newcastle.  A friend said: "It's an
absolute tragedy. Debbie had a wide circle  of friends, all of whom
valued her greatly. In everything she did, she gave 100   per
cent." Ms Stella Guy, a Northern TGWU regional organiser, said
colleagues  would be devastated by the news.  "She was looking
forward to going to  Nepal very much and had saved up all her
holiday entitlement so she could spend four  weeks there."