News Archives

Aid worker killed in Cote d’Ivoire had United Methodist links

 


Aid worker killed in Cote d’Ivoire had United Methodist links

Nov. 22, 2004      

By Elliott Wright*

NEW YORK (UMNS) — The news reports simply called him an “American aid worker” — the lone civilian killed Nov. 5 when fighter planes of the government of Cote d’Ivoire bombed a French military peacekeeping post in the West African nation. Nine French soldiers also died.

The following Sunday, Nov. 7, the Rev. Edith Gleaves, an executive with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, worshipped at the Galilee United Methodist Church in Englewood, N.J. The congregation was in shock. The son-in-law of a member, the husband of a woman the people knew, had been killed in Cote d’Ivoire. He was an aid worker.
 
He had a name. He had a wife and three children. The family had close ties, on the wife’s side, to the Galilee congregation.

Robert Carsky had been employed for six months in Cote d’Ivoire by the Africa Rice Development Agency, an international agricultural program. He previously had worked for another organization in Benin. He had been back in Cote d’Ivoire for three days after spending three weeks with his family. His wife, Rebecca, and their three children, ages 7, 16 and 17, were due to join him in December.

Rebecca Carsky was raised a United Methodist, and her mother, Ruth Khelseau, continues to be a member at Galilee church. Carsky joined her husband in the Roman Catholic Church when she married. She calls herself an “ecumenical” Christian.

Touched by the outpouring of love for the Carskys and Khelseau in the Galilee Church, Gleaves decided to find out more about the Carsky family. With the help of the Rev. Edmund E. Martin, the church’s pastor, she located Rebecca Carsky at her home in Rockville, Md.

Robert Carsky, his widow told Gleaves, had given no indication of impending danger when she talked with him the day before the bombing. He and his fellow workers for the Africa Rice Development Agency had been gathered in a guesthouse. As the only American present in an area of rising tensions, he was to be evacuated the next day with other Americans.

The U.S. citizens were to meet at a mission school. On the way to the school, Carsky made a stop, perhaps to help someone, at the French military barracks. And there the bombs hit.

The Rev. R. Randy Day, chief executive of the Board of Global Ministries, has conveyed the denomination’s prayers and condolences to Mrs. Carsky and her children, to the parents of Robert Carsky, and to Khelseau, his mother-in-law.
 
*Wright is the information officer of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

 

 


 

Ask Now

This will not reach a local church, district or conference office. InfoServ* staff will answer your question, or direct it to someone who can provide information and/or resources.

First Name:*
Last Name:*
Email:*
ZIP/Postal Code:*
Question:*

*InfoServ ( about ) is a service of United Methodist Communications located in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 1-800-251-8140

Not receiving a reply?
Your Spam Blocker might not recognize our email address. Add this address to your list of approved senders.

Would you like to ask any questions about this story?ASK US NOW


Contact Us

This will not reach a local church, district or conference office. InfoServ* staff will answer your question, or direct it to someone who can provide information and/or resources.

Phone
(optional)

*InfoServ ( about ) is a ministry of United Methodist Communications located in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 1-800-251-8140

Not receiving a reply?
Your Spam Blocker might not recognize our email address. Add InfoServ@umcom.org to your list of approved senders.