Missionaries Who Died in 2025 While Serving

Around the world, dozens of missionaries are murdered and more die by accidents or natural causes. Many go unreported because of the sensitive areas where they serve, and the safety of co-laborers left behind to carry on. Their service spanned continents, context and denominations. Many on the list are Catholic because of the lack of reporting constraints and the sheer number of attacks on the Catholic church, particularly in Africa. Several are protestants. Countless others do not appear.

Here is a partial list of Christian workers who we lost in 2025.

Violent or Accidental Deaths

Heather Dillon (c. 1958 — April 2025).
Heather Dillon was a Jamaican missionary and training facilitator with Operation Mobilization (OM), known for her work encouraging believers and equipping church leaders across West Africa. On a trip between ministry assignments in rural Ghana, the private bus she was traveling in crashed on a narrow road, claiming her life at age 67 as she continued her lifelong commitment to the gospel and service. (Jamaica Gleaner)

Alexander Wurm (c. 1972 — Nov. 10, 2025).
Alexander Wurm was a Christian missionary, evangelist and founder of Ignite the Fire, a ministry dedicated to missions and humanitarian outreach throughout the Caribbean. He and his daughter were killed when the small plane they were piloting — loaded with hurricane relief supplies bound for Jamaica — crashed shortly after taking off from Coral Springs, Florida, during a mission of compassion and gospel service. (ABC News)

Serena Wurm (c. 2003 — Nov. 10, 2025).
Serena Wurm, 22, worked alongside her father in Ignite the Fire’s humanitarian and evangelistic efforts and was described by colleagues as a “beacon of empathy and hope.” She died with her father in the Florida plane crash as they sought to deliver aid to communities recovering from Hurricane Melissa, embodying a heart for service to others. (ABC News)

Father Sylvester Okechukwu (d. March 5, 2025).
Father Sylvester Okechukwu was a Catholic priest serving in the Diocese of Kafanchan, Nigeria, who was murdered amid ongoing violence affecting Christian communities; his death was among multiple priestly martyrdoms documented in 2025. (wplg)

Andrew Peter (c. 2003 — 2025).
A young seminarian in Nigeria, Andrew Peter was killed after being abducted by armed assailants; his death underscored the perilous conditions faced by those preparing for ministry in volatile regions. (wplg)

Father Godfrey Chukwuma Oparaekwe (d. June 2025).
Serving his parish in Ubakala, Nigeria, Father Oparaekwe was murdered while seeking to mediate local disputes and care for his congregation, a casualty of broader unrest affecting pastors and missionaries in the region. (wplg)

Father Matthew Eya (d. Sept. 19, 2025).
Father Eya was shot and killed while serving in Nigeria, becoming one of several clergy members tragically murdered in mission contexts as part of the year’s documented pastoral deaths. (wplg)

Emmanuel Alabi (d. 2025).
Emmanuel Alabi, a Nigerian seminarian, died from injuries sustained during a violent abduction that targeted a mission community, reflecting the risks faced by those preparing for religious service. (wplg)

Father Allois Cheruiyot Bett (d. May 22, 2025).
Father Bett, serving in Kenya’s Kerio Valley, was shot and killed by armed men, one of the violent attacks on pastoral workers reported in 2025. (wplg)

Father Augustine Dauda Amadu (d. 2025).
Father Amadu was murdered in Sierra Leone while engaged in parish ministry, another pastoral death noted in mission reporting for the year. (wplg)

Father Luka Jomo (d. 2025).
As a parish priest in Sierra Leone, Father Jomo was killed by artillery shrapnel during conflict, illustrating the hazards that clergy face in regions of sustained violence. (wplg)

Father Tobias Chukwujekwu Okonkwo (Dec. 26, 2024 — reported in 2025 counts).
Though killed late in 2024, Father Okonkwo’s murder near Ihiala, Nigeria, was included in 2025 mission reporting, highlighting overlapping documentation of missionaries killed in service.

Sister Evanette Onezaire (d. March 31, 2025).
Sister Onezaire of the Little Sisters of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus was murdered by armed gangs in Haiti while serving in pastoral and educational ministry, a reflection of the dangers facing religious sisters in mission fields.

Sister Jeanne Voltaire (d. March 31, 2025).
Killed alongside Sister Onezaire in Haiti, Sister Jeanne Voltaire’s life was devoted to Christian service in education and community care before her death at the hands of violence.

Father Bertoldo Pantaleón Estrada (d. Oct. 6, 2025).
A Catholic missionary priest in Mexico’s Guerrero state, Father Estrada was found dead after being reported missing, part of the year’s grim tally of clergy murdered while serving their communities.

Father Arul Raj Balaswamy Carasala (d. April 3, 2025).
Father Carasala was shot and killed outside his parish in Kansas; his death was noted among mission and pastoral workers killed in the Americas in 2025. (wplg)

Father Donald Martin Ye Naing Win (d. Feb. 14, 2025).
Serving in Myanmar’s protracted conflict, Father Martin became the first Burmese Catholic priest killed amid local violence, his murder reported as part of global missionary martyrdoms.

Mark Christian Malaca (d. Nov. 4, 2025).
Mark Malaca, a lay missionary teacher in the Philippines, was shot and killed in the midst of his work in Christian education, one of several violence‑related deaths noted in mission reporting.

Father Grzegorz Dymek (d. Feb. 13, 2025).
Father Dymek, serving as a missionary pastor in Poland, was found strangled in his rectory, recorded as a missionary death in Europe for the year.

Missionaries Who Died in 2025 While Serving — Disease or Natural Causes

Ruth Elton (Sept. 7, 1933 — Aug. 30, 2025).
Ruth Elton was one of Nigeria’s longest‑serving missionaries, dedicating more than eight decades to gospel outreach and community service following her family’s early Pentecostal pioneer work in the country.

Iris Grace Rajakumari Paul (1945 — Oct. 13, 2025).
Dr. Iris Paul was an Indian medical missionary with the Indian Evangelical Mission whose decades of service included medical care and holistic ministry among tribal and rural populations.

Ruth Simms Harris (March 13, 1924 — June 21, 2025).
Missionary emeritus Ruth Simms Harris served with the International Mission Board and was known for her lifelong commitment to worship, discipleship and gospel ministry until her death at age 101. (Jamaica Observer)

–Metro Voice with the assistance of our automated news research assistant.