Tears mixed with joy yesterday as hundreds flocked to the funeral of murdered Bermudian aid worker Colin Lee

More than 600 friends and relatives packed the First Church of God, North Shore, to say a final farewell to a man whom the service heard ?gave his life to God?.

Bermuda was left stunned when Mr. Lee was brutally gunned down by a gang of suspected rebels while he was carrying out missionary work in Africa.

Yesterday?s congregation included Mr. Lee?s pregnant widow, Hedwig, who was at her husband?s side as he was murdered in Sudan.

Television screens inside the church yesterday showed the courageous Paraguayan singing passionately and smiling during two hours of uplifting prayer, music and dance, led by Rev. Vernon Lambe, that helped celebrate the life of her caring husband.

Amid several glowing tributes, Pastor Terrence Stovell told the service Mr. Lee?s life had gone off track before he became a Christian about ten years ago.

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

Before his death, Mr. Lee had been working as a trauma counsellor helping war victims in conflict-ridden Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda for the last two years.

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 ? where there was a $25,000 bounty on his head ? 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.

And the Pastor also revealed how Mrs. Lee told that if it was not for her pregnancy and the fact she needed rest, she would be back out in Africa on missionary work now.

Earlier, Bishop Vernon Lambe told the service how Mr. and Mrs. Lee both shared a passion to give their lives in Christian service.

A nine-strong choir then sang a song penned by Mr. Lee, who was a talented musician in Bermuda before he turned to God.

Pastor Maybelle Derwiddie told how Mr. Lee?s life had gone from ?strength to strength?, while friend Greg Seymour said he was left speechless when news of the death broke.

Mr. Seymour said the murdered aid worker was delighted for him when he kicked his heroin problem and, like his friend, turned to religion.

Mr. Lee?s brother, Keith ? dressed in African clothing ? played a musical tribute before Lisza Rawlins performed a dance in front of Mr. Lee?s coffin, which was adorned with flowers and flags from various nations.

Members of the congregation also received a specially designed written tribute to the fallen missionary from his Devonshire family, which included the order of service.

The tribute said the former Francis Patton and St. George?s Secondary School pupil worked as a mason and carpenter at various construction firms before meeting Mrs. Lee, a long-standing member of IAS, and heading out to Africa.

It said it was typical of Mr. Lee to place his life on the line for others, and told how he once claimed responsibility for a crime to help a friend.

The talented musician, former frontman of The Burning Ice, had also won a singing contest that saw him perform at the famous Apollo Theatre, New York.

His youngest sister, Gayllhia, said: ?I know that if Colin would have recovered he would have returned to witness to the same people who shot him without hesitation.

?The island of Bermuda is in a state of shock, and at no time in recent history has there been such an outpouring of grief and pain as at our loss.?

She added: ?The lives Colin touched will go untold, but not unrecorded in heaven.?