Wycliffe Missionary Couple Found Dead in Guyana
Wycliffe Bible Translators received word Thursday morning of the deaths of two of its workers who have worked with a partner organization in the Wapishana language project since 1994.
Wycliffe Bible Translators received word Thursday morning of the deaths of a missionary couple that has worked with its partner organization in Guyana on the Wapishana language project since 1994.
On Wednesday evening, March 30, Rich Hicks, 42, and his wife Charlene, 58, were found dead outside their burned home in southern Guyana near the Brazilian border, Wycliffe reported yesterday. The U.S. Embassy in Georgetown said that the details surrounding their deaths are inconclusive at this point, but that local officials are investigating the incident as a double homicide.
Nearly 11 years ago, in 1994, the Hicks went to Guyana to help with language development and translation of the Scriptures into the Wapishana language. Since 1942, Wycliffe workers have helped to complete 611 translations, making God's Word available to more than 76 million people
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According to Wycliffe, Charlene grew up in a missionary family in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and Arkansas. Rich, a Canadian, grew up in South Africa where his parents were involved in missions work. After Rich finished college he worked in cabbage and sauerkraut production in Nova Scotia. Charlene, or "Char," finished college and began to teach, eventually teaching missionary children in Mexico and in other schools around the world.
After further education in Saskatchewan and an extended visit to Guatemala, Rich began linguistics training in Dallas where he met Char in January 1990. The couple was married in March 1992.
Wycliffe reports that the couple did not have any children.
