The widow of an American missionary who was shot dead in Cameroon last month says she has forgiven her husband’s killer
that she does not hold any bitterness against her husband’s killer.
The 44-year-old Charles Truman Wesco, was killed on October 30 after being shut in the head as he traveled in his car outside the Cameroonian city of Bamenda during fighting between armed separatists and soldiers.
Stephanie has since vowed to forgive the killer, saying she “has no bitterness in her soul against anyone”.
Wesco leaves behind his wife Stephanie and their eight children. Hundreds of people filled a South Bend church on Monday for a memorial service to honor and remember Wesco’s life.
The couple and their children had been in the country just a couple weeks when Wesco was gunned down, supposedly caught up in crossfire between separatists and government authorities.
The circumstances of his death remain quite sketchy, with government officials blaming the shooting on English-speaking separatists, who are seeking to establish their own state in the north of the central African nation.
Others, however, have pointed the finger at French-speaking government troops. However, regardless of the killer’s identity, Stephanie has decided to demonstrate the grace of Jesus Christ. During a sermon delivered by Pastor Randy King delivered at Wesco’s memorial service Monday, the minister said that “Sister Stephanie (Wesco’s wife)” had “accessed the grace of God” in her forgiving of the killer. “She has totally forgiven Charles’ killer,” he added. “She has no bitterness in her soul against anyone.”
“She, her children and her extended family have been praying diligently for the man that took Charles’ life,” the pastor added. “We do not know the name of that man. But I pray as a missionary to Cameroon that I or her brother Ben Sinclair might one day have the opportunity to meet Charles’ killer to express our forgiveness to him and in love, seek to lead him to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior that he might also receive God’s forgiveness for what he did.”
King also revealed that following Wesco’s death, a Cameroonian Christian doctor “bowed and thanked Stephanie for her and her husband’s willingness to come to Cameroon to die for his people.”
Wesco and his family had been sent out to the African country on mission by Believers Baptist Church in Warsaw, Indiana, and were living in a suburb of Bamenda, which has become a hotbed for violent armed clashes between the Anglophone community and the central government.
A Go Fund Me account has been set up to benefit the Wesco family. “The funds will go to aid the family in getting out of Africa, funeral expenses, living expenses, etc. Every little bit will help. The family sold all of their possessions in the US to go to Africa and they will have many needs when they return,” according to the website.
Please pray for Mrs. Stephanie and her eight Children as they find comfort and rest in Christ Jesus as they cope with the death of their father.