I met John and Ruth Hamilton at a campsite in the south of France in 1987. I also met, among others, a quiet Scottish woman called Mary Gardner. At the time we were all considering joining Wycliffe Bible Translators. Mary, John and Ruth, and I became members within the next few years, and we all spent several years overseas involved with Bible translation work. We would meet one another every now and then as our paths crossed at the UK Wycliffe Centre. I left Wycliffe in 2002. but continued to work on Bible translation until 2008. John and Ruth are still members, now based in Northern Ireland. And Mary Gardner went to be with the Lord just over a week ago, the sole victim of a bomb blast in Jerusalem.

John Hamilton has now posted his memories of Mary, including some pictures from that camp in the south of France. As he also names me, that has prompted me to recognise publicly that I knew Mary. In John’s photo which I have reproduced here, I think the top of my head is visible at the back right. And there, on the left with long red hair, is Mary as I first knew her.

I don’t have anything else to add to what John, Eddie Arthur and several others have written about Mary. I just want to honour the memory of this dedicated woman who tragically lost her life while serving the Lord, but is now in a better place.