MOSHI, Tanzania (BP)–Southern Baptist missionary Kay Garvin, 56, was shot in the chest by robbers Feb. 23 near Moshi, Tanzania. After being taken to a local clinic to be treated, she was being airlifted to a hospital in Kenya late in the evening.
Her wound was not thought to be life-threatening, according to reports.
Garvin’s husband Carl, 60, also was injured in the attack, but his condition is not serious. A trained nurse, he has emergency medical training and was able to aid his wife immediately following the shooting, according to an initial report. Kay Garvin was conscious, breathing and talking after the shooting.
The Garvins, first-term missionaries from Valley Springs, Ark., were attacked by robbers who entered their room in a hotel south of Moshi. The missionary couple was assisting three Southern Baptist volunteers visiting Tanzania to participate in a mission project. No one else was hurt in the attack, but one of the volunteers reportedly helped fight off the robbers.
The Garvins, who work in evangelism and church planting in Tanzania, were appointed missionaries in 2005. She is a former elementary school teacher in Valley Springs and Green Forest, Ark. He was pastor of First Baptist Church in Valley Springs, from 1988 to 2005, and also served for more than 30 years in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and the National Guard. They have three grown children.
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