Maud Kells: Fearless in the Forest (Trail Blazers)

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Rev Tom Greer from Molesworth Presbyterian Church in Cookstown told us Maud had a life well lived. He added: "She took ill at the end of April, beginning of May. She had some ups and downs and was awaiting further treatment but the cancer began to develop further from then. Presbyterian Moderator, Right Reverend Dr Sam Mawhinney, said he was saddened to hear of her passing at the Macmillan Unit of Antrim Area Hospital on Thursday. On her return to her home, two men wearing camouflage uniforms ran towards her. One was carrying a gun covered in leaves to disguise it. She thought it was a piece of wood and tried to disarm the robber.

Family flowers only please. Donations in lieu, if desired, payable to Steenson Funeral Services (Charities a/c), 11 Loy Street, Cookstown, BT80 8PZ for W.E.C. International. She was 75 when she was hit at point blank range after grabbing hold of the gun as a bandit opened fire during an attempted robbery. In the meantime a rumour spread locally that I had died. The governor, afraid that the shooting might be the start of a major incident, sent a large number of troops from Punia, armed with guns and grenades. My death could have set off a spiral of violence. Thankfully God preserved my life and saved Mulita from any further trauma.Today I know that you, her family and loved ones, will have many precious memories of her and the love, care and encouragement she provided as a sister, an aunt and a great aunt – things that others will know nothing of, and for those things we thank God.” The coffin of Maud Kells is carried into Molesworth Presbyterian Church in Cookstown (Claudia Savage/PA) The country had a fine infrastructure, with roads well maintained by the owners of the coffee, tea, cotton and rubber plantations, who also gave employment to local people and sourced goods from them. There were banks and post offices and other essential services. They added: "As Maud always said, "To Him be the Glory". We're upholding her family and church in prayer." The centre now delivers thirty new-borns each month, with many of the children born there coming to faith in the church attached to the clinic. It was at her home within this complex that Maud was shot in 2015, whilst bandits attempted to rob her house. Nonetheless, Maud’s commitment to the maternity centre and her practical ministry in DRC remained strong and her faith unshaken by the shooting.

In 1964, whilst training as a midwife in Glasgow, God placed a call on Maud to work in the Congo. The verse from Revelation 3:8 was a call to trust in God’s leading – at the time, political unrest in the region left the door to the Congo. However, as Maud’s testimony reveals time and again throughout her book, “nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37). Maud set sail for DRC in October 1968, where she began working in Wamba, Neobongo and finally, in 1989, Mulita, where she stayed for the remainder of her time in DRC. The funeral took place at at Molesworth Presbyterian Church in Cookstown (Presbyterian Church in Ireland handout/PA). Sometimes reading helped to take my mind off my own situation as I followed the adventures of others. I was particularly impressed by two books I read at Nyankunde. Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose is the story of a young American couple who served in Indonesia as missionaries with New Tribes Mission during the Second World War. They were imprisoned by the Japanese in separate prisoner-of-war camps. When I read what that young wife suffered, and compared it to my own situation of love and care, I thought: "What I'm suffering is mild in comparison. I have little to complain about." It helped me to put everything in perspective and the happy ending cheered me greatly.

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WEC’s former international training director, Phillip Crooks, said the organisation “was privileged to have had Maud as one of its members”. Ms Kells received an OBE for her work, which included overseeing the building of a maternity hospital, an operating theatre and a school. Perhaps in Christian circles she gained a kind of celebrity status, but she never sat easy with the fame, much preferring to do what she did so well – caring for people who were her family and friends and who mattered so much to her,” he said In the 1960s Maud received training for her mission work at the WEC Missionary Training College in Glasgow, Scotland

Maud fits that phrase like a glove – a lifetime spent following Jesus, a life of dedication in the service of the King of Kings,” he said. Maud recalls: "We had been told to lay white sheets on the airstrip so that the pilots would know it was safe to land but rebel supporters had removed them.

It took only seven minutes for all of us to get on board the planes and take off to safety. It was only later that we were told that American spy satellites had spotted rebel forces approaching the airstrip apparently intent on taking us prisoner and using us as hostages. They had told the pilots to get us out."