United Methodist Mission Executive Dies While Visiting Missionaries in Nepal

By Elliott Wright*

New York, New York, May 15, 2006—Mark Allen Masters, a staff member of the mission agency of The United Methodist Church, died suddenly of a heart attack on May 14 while visiting missionaries in Nepal.

Mr. Masters, 48, was regional executive for mission personnel in Europe, North Africa, Middle East, and South & Central Asia of the General Board of Global Ministries. He had himself served as a missionary in Africa and the Solomon Islands. His wife, the Rev. Kathleen Masters, also works for the mission board.

"Mark died in the course of doing what he loved most, serving Jesus Christ through the mission of the Church," said the Rev. Edith Gleaves, head of Global Ministries’ mission personnel unit. "He was loving and kind and had a wonderful rapport with the 50 missionaries in his region. Mark Masters was a faithful and creative disciple of Christ."

Masters died at Tansen Mission Hospital where he was visiting Dr. Elma Jocson, a missionary surgeon who had just returned from a short leave. His trip was part of a regular visitation to mission sites in Asia. When he reported not feeling well, physicians sent Masters to rest at a guest house, and quickly followed with a visit. He died shortly thereafter. "He was surrounded by a caring Christian community," Gleaves said.

"Mark Masters quite literally gave his life for the mission of God’s love in the world," said the Rev. R. Randy Day, head of the international mission board. "All of his education and experience was organized around doing a better and better job in Christian witness. Peace and economic development were high on his list of priorities. He spoke of mission as a combination of spiritual, physical, and social services and hoped that this theology was visible in his own life. It was."

Masters, who would have turned 49 on July 12, had called his wife to wish her a happy birthday the night before he died.

Tansen Hospital is located more than 200 miles southwest of Kathmandu, the capital of the mountainous country of Nepal. It is part of the United Mission to Nepal, a medical ministry in which The United Methodist Church has participated for half a century.

The Church has six missionaries in Nepal, one pastor, two physicians, an educator, and an administrator. Another missionary pastor, the Rev. Karuna Bhujel, was killed about a year ago when a truck struck her motorbike.

A native of Tennessee, Mark Masters was graduated from Martin College, an institution of the Tennessee Conference of The United Methodist Church. He also studied at Church-related American University, from which he received a master’s degree in development management. At the time of his death, he was a candidate for a doctoral degree in community research and action at Vanderbilt University, Nashville.

Early in his career, Masters worked with Catholic Relief Services in Somalia and the Peace Corps in Ecuador.

He and his wife, along with their two sons, Christian and Matthew, spent six years (1988-93) as missionaries in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, where he was associated with the Seghe Lay Training Center. This was followed by two years working with new mission personnel at the Mission Resource Center, Atlanta, after which he served as a missionary in Uganda and Zambia. He had been in his position at Global Ministries since late 2004.

Matthew, the youngest Masters child, was set to graduate from high school a few days following his father’s death. Christian, the oldest, was working on a summer cruise ship at the time.

Master’s body was to be cremated in Nepal and the ashes returned for burial in Memphis where his mother lives. The funeral will take place at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, the family church, where Mark Masters’ father was once pastor and where he and his wife were married. A memorial service will be held at a date to be determined in the chapel of The Interchurch Center, where the mission offices are located, in New York City.

Messages may be sent to the Rev. Kathleen Masters at 1420 Woodfield Drive, Nashville, TN, 37211.

The family asked that in lieu of flowers memorial contributions be made to United Methodist Advance for Support of Missionaries Outside the United States (general), #00779Z. Online gifts can be made at http://gbgm-umc.org/advance/donate/donate.cfm?code=00779Z&id=3012452. Make checks payable to ADVANCE GCFA and send to Advance, P. O. Box 9068, GPO, New York, NY 10087-9068. Be sure to include Advance # 00779Z. Contributions by phone are received at (888) 252-6174

A memorial service will be held Saturday, May 20th, 2:00 p.m., at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Memphis. The church is located at 480 South Highland. A committal service will be held at a later date in Nashville. Information on the committal will be released as it comes available.

*Elliott Wright is the Information Officer of the General Board of Global Ministries