Pastor Joseph Chean (Photo: Salt & Light)
Christian leaders and groups in Singapore are mourning the death of an Anglican pastor Joseph Chean, who was killed in a car accident in Turkey.
The 56-year-old pastor, who worked with Youth With A Mission, an interdenominational Christian training organization, was on his way to the Istanbul airport when his taxi collided with another early on Nov. 15.
Chean died of his injuries en route to the hospital and the taxi driver suffered serious injuries, Channel News Asia reported on Nov. 16.
Chean was to board a flight to his base in Singapore later that day after completing a teaching assignment in Turkey.
Chean was the national director of the Youth With A Mission for about 11 years. He stepped down from the post earlier this year.
The global organization said its members “are in shock and grief” together with his wife Kim, and two daughters Olivia and Ashley.
“We are mourning the loss of a very dear spiritual father, leader, mentor, brother, and friend,” it said.
Before joining the group in 1997, Chean served as a youth pastor from 1989 to 1997 and then as a chaplain's assistant at Saint Andrew's School, according to the Christian publication Salt and Light.
He later became the strategic coordinator at Antioch 21, the global mission arm of LoveSingapore, which is a network of Christian churches in the country.
Pastor Jeff Chong, chair of LoveSingapore said Chean showed rare dedication that only a few people “have given up so much” to follow their Christian call.
Baptist Pastor Lawrence Khong, the founding chairman of LoveSingapore, said Chean was “a brother and comrade” filled with “love for the lost.”
Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it is rendering consular assistance to Chean's family, Channel News Asia reported.
