The Penny Record (Bridge City, Tex.), Vol. 41, No. 40, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 18, 2001 Page: 3 of 24
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In Dubai
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God is with you, there is no reason for
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men
towing experience;
with him said they i
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"1 never once in my own mind enter-
tained the thought that I might end up
imprisoned," Girling said. "We prayed
Internet. There were times she got
depressed, hoping for something to hap-
pen that didn't materialize, but she kept
the rest of the family informed of the
goings-on by e-mail."
The Reverend said she finally told her
congregation and was thankful for the
prayers for her family and Charles and for
the prayers of both the First and Second
Baptist Churches and others in the area in
their behalf. She is hopeful that Charles
soon will be able to speak to her church.
Visitors are welcome, she said, to come
listen to his message, share his inner
prayer life that helped so much and how
he and his two compatriots spent their
time after Charles was released and they
were still detained in-country. Her wish
is that he also will hold some workshops
on Muslim awareness.
"We owe a deep debt of gratitude to the
American Consulate in Dubai," the Rev.
Girling said. "He did so much and with-
out him. things may have turned out very
differently. We are just glad to have
Charles and his friends home."
MK -----
Chart** Girting with hl* moth*r,
th* R*v. Martha Girting, and child.
*“» ordeal
"It was a collision of western material-
ism and the Muslim religion," he added.
The American Consulate gained the ear
of the crown prince on Girling and his
friends' behalf and obtained a pardon.
They were literally walked to the gate,
and they were on their way home.
"During the whole thing, his wife was
our encourager," Martha Girling said.
"She had been able to talk to him by
LMb the US. crew who recently
returned frfcn detainment in C4-1--
fanfare of bands greeted Girling as his
homecoming to the arms of his waiting
family. It was a quiet return,after
and thetw
At his home in Dallas Friday. Girling «»ly morning hours Tuesday, a family
said he was grateful to be back and safe,
though he still spoke cautiously with
regard to the laws of Dubai.
"We had gone to the Dubai shopping
festival," Girling said. "It is a huge affair
and you have never seen shopping centers
like these. They are enormous and
stocked with everything you could imag-
ine.
"We brought some CDs with a verbal-
only version of The Jesus Story' and the
gospel of Luke in Arabic," he said. "We
were giving them to people who showed
interest, and naturally, as people asked
questions, we talked to them. There was
a brochure inside and, among other
things, it told them how to get a free
Bible."' '
Girling and his friends, Andrew and
Matthew, were arrested.’’ The other two
were released, but Girling was jailed.
The police accused the men of targeting
Muslims for Christian proselytization.
In Dubai, a bom Muslim who converts
to Christianity can be executed.
Proselytizing is illegal.
"We didn't think we were breaking
laws," Girling said.’ "They asked us and
we talked td'Wm about Jesus. The peo-
ple were very nice and friendly. We just
had no idea that we were breaking laws."
Girling's friends called the U.S.
Consulate, and Girling expected to be
released immediately. It was Sunday,
ennsuan mm. m
vHjVyed a wondet,-. v.^v.
Dubai, her son was in dangt
dom was compromised. The
was incredible, the Rev. Girli
re, wwre
Saturday nd Sunday «he and
3 watching The Jes
i would be arrested ft
uting. The group, she said, waj
oTym^receivi
enjoy*
...... . ...
. . /a? . XL ' ' * •,a. /' ».
Girling said he "constantly" ari^t hl
jailers to aiiow mm to maic pnone cam
His wife and child had no idea of
whereabouts. His mother would be *
ned. (
The Rev. Girting in Bridge City i
Saturday and Sunday dte andByo
group wan; watching "The Jes* JPil
hernon
hrhng pastor ol St Paul
UmredMathodta Church inBridge Chy, ’
is home after imprisonment in a United '
Arab Emirates country, Dubai, near Saudi 1
Arabia. ■' 44.*??
ChinaTno Mruck her when she heard the
Monday, she got a call fromMr
law, Glen Rich, from f*lanb.
j "He a#ked me, 'Have you heard what I
happened to Charles'?*" she said. "I said
y no, and he told me Charles had been
. missirig^or 36 hours. 1 -think that was the
most strained moment for me. / By the and said, whatever you want, God. When
. . — . - “ f r--* -- —— 1--------r—
member called and said the U Js. Embassy panic or fear.
had located him in jail."
The Rev. Girling said the Dubai yellow
pages list Christian churches. She said
she felt her son and the two friends had
thought it would be OK to pass out the
Christian material and talk to people,
because Dubai is so westernized with
"more liberality" because they foster
tourism and boast a large tourist trade.
Martha Girling said she had read an
article that said the chief prosecutor of the phone and later Instant Messenger on the
country was a deeply religious Muslim in
charge of the memorization contest for
those who commit the Koran to memory.
Some Muslims can.recite the entire book,
she said. It was he, her son soon discov-
ered, who would prosecute his case. A
loss could mean five to 10 years of
imprisonment in a foreign country for
Charles.
He had made a statement to the public
prosecutors, but Girling said he never
expected jail or prosecution. Dubai
authorities had taken their passports, but
his friends got an attorney for him and
approached the American Consulate for
help. The consulate, Girling s^id, worked
diligently for their release from the coun-
try.
After four nights and five days, Girling
1 was released, but the three were not
allowed to leave the country with charges
pending. They obtained permission to go
March 11. The next day found Girling , on April I.
still behind bars in a large cell with eight
smaller cells inside it. He was treated
-------------------------,----------------------------------------------
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lefts’
cnanaiGfrr
Rev. Mirth* C
Hwy. 87 @ Teal Rd; Mauriceville Sheriff Substation, Hwy. 12 @
62;
Precinct 3-County Bam off Roundbunch;
Precinct 4—Precinct Bam, 175 Claiborne, Gould Community ,
Center, Pine Forest City Hall.
No batteries, pres or insecticides will be accepted. For more
information, contact Becky Patten, Litter Committee, 883-2827.
Litter bags and latex gloves will be provided at Lions Den Park
for groups and individuals picking up litter. Also, coffee, donuts
and cold drinks will be served to volunteers.
Commissioners
From Page 2A
24,000 bottles of beer
in the river
SYDNEY, Australia — After a delivery truck carrying 24,(XX) bot-
tles of beer plunged into a river, there was no shortage of volun-
teers to help salvage the cargo. People carried beer out of the
Tweed River north of Sydney throughout the Easter holiday
weekend, police said. Some donned scuba gear, while others dove
straight in. One man reportedly claimed 400 bottles.
Biddle joins student
researchers
Fpm Pip 1
, -.wV. ••
stipend. "The program I turned down was primarily plant-based
research, and I really wanted to work on a the medical research, so
1 selected this particular program," she said.
The '98 grad of BCHS has been a student at Rice for three years
now. Her next stop is graduate school. She's leaning toward
Cornell in Madison, Wise., or possibly UT or Texas A&M. Her
eventual goal is to do medical research at a major university and
possibly teach some classes. «
Her parents, Sam and Peggy Biddle, said their feelings about
their daughter's accomplishments range between "pride and
shock." They are happy that she will get to do what she has always
liked, Kelly said. Her brothers, Wesley, a sophomore at BCHS,
and Robert, sophomore at the University of Houston, are also gift-
ed intellectually, she said, giving credit to a close-knit family and
community support. Not the least of those who helped her were
her wonderful high school teachers, she said.
Mimi Hollier, her English teacher, Faye Parish, math, and Frank
Wiegreffe, chemistry, all helped her immeasurably, Biddle said,
guiding her in her decision to study biochemistry and English.
Being away from home at Rice has given her a greater degree of
freedom to meet so many different people with diverse ways of
life. She comes home for the holidays and vacations to be with
family and friends.
With her hectic academic schedle, she doesn't have much time
for dating, but Biddle said she hasn't met that "right guy" yet any-
way. He'll have to be nice, quiet and amenable to picking up and
going wherever her career takes her. Once she does find a match,
she said, she will make time, but she hasn't been looking too hard.
A member of St. Henry's Catholic Church, Biddle is very
involved in the Catholic Students Association in Houston and vol-
unteers Friday nights to run the Patient's Family Business Center
at MD Anderson Hospital. Slowing down just isn't on her agenda.
Murder/Suicide Ends Here
From Page 2A
X
advice and experienced representation are
ailable right in your own backyard.
and
Since 1982, Paul D. Henderson-Attomey at
Law-has been representing and helping his
neighbors in Orange County, who suffer
LATION AND REMKRSHP
TY’SL
ORANGE
&
I
from catastrophic personal injuries and from
occupational cancers
Crazyjoscg
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109.883.
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HUF1RY IN! • COUPON EXPIRES 5/31/01
• ORANGE I OCTION ONLY
Benzene Related Cancers
Leukemia
Lymphoma
Blood Cancers
Asbestos Related Cancers
Lung cancer
Mesothelioma
Colon Cancer
Throat Cancer
Chemical Related Cancers
Kidney Cancer
Bladder Cancer
MEMBER; TEXAS TRIAL LAWYERS ASSN 6 AMERICAN TRIAL LAWYERS ASSN
ADMITTED TO PRACTICE BEFORE; U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS. U.S DISTRICT
COURT FOR SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS. & U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FIFTH CIRCUIT
NOT CERTIFIED BY THE TEXAS BOARD OF LEGAL SPECIALIZATION
LICENSED BY THE SUPREME COURT OF TEXAS
Bcrgevin of Green Bay, Wise.;
numerous relatives and friends,
and her beloved pets, Gigi and
Molly.
Garcia is survived by his
mother; sister, Stacy Garcia of
Baytown; brother, Bobby Diaz
of Bay town; maternal grand-
parents, Porfirio and Maria
Diaz of Harlingen; and other
relatives. Funeral services will
be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday. April
17, at Our Lady of Guadalupe
Catholic Church.
If you live in Orange County, sound legal
MORE ORANGE COUNTIANS READ "THE RECORD"
T NEWSPAPER
BUY A RIO GRANDE DINNER K RECEIVE THE SECOIXin ONE
ARSOIUTELV FREE (with coupon)
FOR SOUND LEGAL ADVICE THAT’S MUCH CLOSER
TO HOME. CONTACT PAUL HENDERSON.
p.m. Friday. At this writing,
autopsy reports are still pending
on both Garcia and Lloreda.
Funeral services were held
Monday for Lloreda at St.
Patrick Catholic Church in
Galveston. The 1999 graduate
of Park view Baptist School of
Houston was attending San
Jacinto College, where she was
pursuing a degree in Financial
Planning. She was a member of
Grace Christian Church of
Clear Lake.
Lloreda participated
excelled in school sports
including track, softball, vol-
leyball and cheerleading. She
was a member of the Student
Council, Spanish Club and was
1999 Homecoming Queen.
She is survived by her moth-
er, Josephine Lloreda Bergevin,
and father, Brent Bergevin, of
Friendswood; brothers, Joshua
Austin Bergevin and Nicholas
C.J. Bergevin, both of
Friendswood; grandparents,
Johnny and Patsy Lloreda of
Galveston and Carl and Donna
* —■
V
Occupational cancers, caused by
work - related exposure to dust,
chemicals and fumes, include:
“Just One Bite..And We Gotcha!”
--
LEAVING TOWN FOR
LEGAL ADVICE?
WHY?
280 Strickland Dr., Orange - 883 6106
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• TKKCMimnMfflB * TKWffll VAH& • IA
• THE COUNTY RECORD AND THE PENNY RECORD • THE COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS OF ORANGE COUNTY, TEXAS
->■ O O KJ
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The Penny Record (Bridge City, Tex.), Vol. 41, No. 40, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 18, 2001, newspaper, April 18, 2001; Bridge City, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1293814/m1/3/: accessed July 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .