November was dominated by news of the murder of Colin Lee, a Bermudian aid worker gunned down in front of his pregnant wife while on missionary work in Africa.

Mr. Lee, 57, and his Paraguayan wife, Hedwig Lee, were ambushed and robbed by about 20 suspected rebels on November 5 as they drove through Sudan to help war victims.

Mr. Lee was shot in the heart and throat and died several hours later. His wife, who was four months pregnant at the time of the attack, is said to have survived by lying on the floor of the car before virtually carrying her wounded husband to get medical help.

His grieving younger sister Gaylhia LeMay later said: "I've not slept since I got the news. I keep hoping that when I go to sleep I will wake up and it will all be a dream. It's like something out of a horror story."

She also revealed that during a three-month trip back to Bermuda a few weeks before his death, her brother had told her that there was a $25,000 bounty on his head, understood to have been placed by mercenaries deliberately targeting Christian missions.

"He told us how dangerous it was out there but we knew we could not stop him," she said. "He was bold and fearless."

Mr. Lee, a Christian who was nicknamed Reverend, was a former Francis Patton and St. George's Secondary School pupil. He worked as a mason and carpenter at various construction firms before meeting Mrs. Lee and heading to Africa to work as a trauma counsellor through their shared desire to help people in one of the poorest parts of the world.

He and his wife were en route to Uganda for a month of counselling seminars when the rebels struck.

Asked how she felt about the men responsible for her brother's savage death, thought to be members of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Mrs. LeMay said: "They are the same type of people he was trying to reach out and help. To do something like this they must have deep-rooted confusion and pain in their own lives. Colin's death is such a waste ? he had so much to offer life."

His sister added that her brother's heart was not only in Africa, but also in his homeland. On his last visit, she said, he had helped provide trauma counselling and sessions to help troubled youths and gang members on the Island.

Premier Alex Scott said he was shocked by news of the murder and extended the Government's deepest sympathies to Mr. Lee's his grieving family.

The funeral for the popular aid worker on November 21 saw more than 600 friends and relatives, including his wife, pack the First Church of God, North Shore, Pembroke, to say a final farewell.

The service saw two hours of uplifting prayer, music and dance, led by Rev. Vernon Lambe, that helped celebrate the life of Mr. Lee.

Amid several glowing tributes, Pastor Terrence Stovell told the service Mr. Lee's life had gone off track before he became a ten years before his death.

He said: "Many people had washed their hands of him, but God saw a missionary."

And Mr. Stovell said he had probably experienced more working in some of the world's poorest countries than most people go through in a lifetime.

He said Mr. Lee had told him that carrying out missionary work in Africa for the International Aid Services, where he often preached peace to violent warlords, was the reason why he was born.

"He left his father and mother and his land. Why? Because God had called him."

He said people who did not understand why Mr. Lee left peaceful Bermuda and risked his life in Africa did not understand his life belonged to God.

"He lost his life," the Pastor added, " but he found Christ."

Mr. Stovell said Mrs. Lee had told him her husband "was at peace" and did not struggle and scream as he lay dying in her arms after the terrifying ambush.

Despite her husband's savage murder and her harrowing brush with death, Mrs. Lee has vowed to carry on living and working in Africa.