On a recent flight to Davao, Philippines I heard a surprising announcement. Usually on Asian flights they warn you that drug traffickers will be sentenced to death, but in Davao they warn you that “smoking of cigarettes in any public or enclosed place is illegal.”
My father, William “Bill” Paul Hyde, was a humble man, but a great man. He lived his life quietly, unimposing and with gentleness. He had a passion though, seeing the Kingdom of God grow through the Philippines.
On March 4, 2003 Bill went to pick up another missionary family airport when he was killed by Islamic terrorists. The bomb was placed directly behind Bill, who had just returned from a Muslim area of Mindanao that day. It will never be known if he was followed there, or if it was random targeting. In the bomb blast, Bill along with 21 others were killed and more than 150 wounded, including Barbara Stevens and her two infant children, whom were co-workers that Bill had gone to the airport to pick up.