I was shocked to read about the death of the Evangelical Lutheran Church's Bishop Julius Paul (middle) in a tragic boat accident in Malaysiakini today.Bishop Paul was one of the few church leaders that kindly opened his church's doors to us to do some fundraising during our charity dinner last year. Whilst many others gave us loads of excuses about why "they can't help us because they would have to help others too", Bishop Paul said no such thing.
He allowed us to sell our charity dinner tickets throughout the whole Sunday. He even went as far as make a special collection for our cause on that day - although he himself could not be present during our visit.
I was at his ordination service when he became a Bishop where among others, he expressed his great love for football.
He also used to come up to me for a chat whenever we met at the park during his jogging sessions.
The last time I saw him was last year in Mid Valley during Deepavali.
aNt
PET+BLOGSPOT
Here is the Malaysiakini report:
A Malaysian bishop was drowned when a boat carrying 14 people capsized in Lake Atitlan, about 170km west of the Guatemalan capital.
Rev Bishop Julius D Paul, 63, who headed the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia, was one of three passengers who died in the incident.
Paul leaves his wife, Biskopina Alice Santa Paul, 59, two sons - Surenthiran, 32, and Naveenthiren - and a daughter Lalitha, 29.
According to his deputy Rev Caleb Williams, Paul had been in Guatemala City for the past two weeks for the Lutheran World Federation Meeting. He was chairperson of the steering committee for the meeting.
At the end of the meeting on Saturday afternoon, he was on an arranged tour cruise of Lake Atitlan when the weather suddenly turned bad.There were high waves and water came into the boat before it capsised, according to information obtained by Williams.
Williams said Paul - who had joined the church about 30 years ago - had been bishop for 20 years and was due to retire in July 2010.
“As our bishop, he brought a lot of development and change in the spiritual and social ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia. He was much loved by all in the ministry and will be missed greatly,” he told Malaysiakini.
He said the church was informed that the return of Paul’s remains may be delayed for as long as 10 days, although this had initially been expected on Wednesday.
“It is still Sunday in Guatemala, and we haven’t gotten the details of the release just yet. We are waiting for further news,” Williams added.
Star reported that the boat had been carrying 15 people - all of whom were wearing life jackets - when it turned over.
“But when they pulled the three out, they were all dead. We received the news at 7am (yesterday) before our service but only got the confirmation at noon,” Williams was quoted as saying.
Police start probe
The other two victims were identified as French tourist Guillermo Fresseth and Guatemalan Valerio Jowittz Cotzal, the Public Ministry's assistant prosecutor Diego Sisay told local press.
Sisay said relief workers are still working to locate three others who are missing after the incident on Saturday afternoon.
AFP reported that the accident occurred three kilometres from the pier at Santiago Atitlan, a town popular with tourists, and near the Isle of Los Gatos in the Santiago Atitlan Bay. Lake Atitlan is one of Guatemala's top tourist destinations.
Survivors indicated that the boat was overloaded and capsized after strong winds hit the region, according to Sisay.
Roberto Vega, chief operating officer of the National Civil Police, said that the passengers were immediately assisted by other boats in the vicinity as well as local emergency personnel who rescued the survivors.
Boat operator Oscar Rene Sajbin is being questioned by authorities to determine responsibility and to clarify details of the tragedy, Vega added.
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