Posted on Mar 5, 2003 | by Mark Kelly

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--The infant son of Southern Baptist missionaries injured in a bomb blast at a Philippines airport March 4 is now listed in stable condition at a Davao City hospital.

Nathan Stevens suffered a shrapnel wound to his liver and was in delicate condition for 48 hours, said Wendy Norvelle, a spokesman for the International Mission Board in Richmond, Va. Doctors decided he could be safely removed from the intensive care unit about 5 p.m. (local time) March 5.

An ultrasound was planned to help determine whether surgery would be necessary.

Nathan's sister, Sarah, 4, suffered minor injuries in the explosion and was treated and released at the hospital. His mother, Barbara, 33, was slightly injured. Her husband, Mark, 31, escaped injury.

At least 21 people were killed and 148 injured in the attack, which occurred late in the afternoon outside the arrival terminal of the Davao airport in the Philippines' second-largest city.

The blast ripped through a shelter outside the terminal in which scores of people were huddled to escape a downpour. The blast killed 24-year veteran missionary Bill Hyde, 59, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who had gone to the airport to pick up the Stevens family after their return from a trip. Funeral arrangements for Hyde are pending.

Representatives from the International Mission Board are on the scene to give encouragement and support, ministering to family members and coworkers, Norvelle said.

Mission leaders have been touched by expressions of sympathy that have come from all across the country, IMB President Jerry Rankin said.

"We are deeply moved by the massive outpouring of support from Southern Baptists for our International Mission Board family as we grieve the death of Bill Hyde," Rankin said. "Bill and his wife, Lyn, were personal friends whose vibrant faith was an inspiration and blessing to all who knew them.

"We also grieve with the many Filipino families who have been touched by this tragedy. We are praying that God will minister comfort to Lyn and their family, to Mark and Barbara Stevens and their children and to all the friends and coworkers who have suffered this loss."
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The International Mission Board will post information as it develops at www.imb.org/urgent.