That question would grow into an obsession. It was something Pastor Phil had never seen before in another Christian: “Once Karen grasped the Great Commission, she knew she had to be obedient to it. It was that matter of fact.”

Karen’s call to missions took her to the Middle East where she served as a security coordinator for the International Mission Board. One missionary that Karen met was Dr. Eddie Pate who was also serving in the region. Now retired, Dr. Pate teaches at Gateway Seminary as a professor of evangelism. When it came to her commitment to missions, Dr. Pate remembers that Karen was unwavering. “She had been a Kern County deputy sheriff and was in many ways fearless,” he said, adding that she chose to go to one of the most difficult mission fields in the world – Iraq.

Karen arrived in a country torn apart by war and civil unrest. Islamic extremists were taking advantage of the power vacuum. On March 15, 2004, they targeted Karen and four other missionaries in the city of Mosul, killing all but one. As Pastor Phil learned the news, he remembered a letter that Karen left for him and Pastor Roger Spradlin to open in the event of her death. In the letter, she thanked them for their investment in her life, wrote instructions for her funeral, and asked them to continue sending missionaries out and raising up fine, young pastors. Pastor Phil took those words to heart as Karen’s story became national news.

When pastor Kendrick Neal learned that his church had unexpectedly received a financial gift from an estate, he knew his congregation wanted to use a portion of it for the training of missionaries from California. He says, “Missions is a large part of our vision and mission at Calvary Church, West Hills.” As the church was deciding how to achieve its goal during the spring months of 2022, they invited Dr. Pate to preach on a Sunday morning. Over lunch, Neal heard that Dr. Pate had been working with attorney Phil Kell on starting an endowment in honor of Karen Watson to support Gateway Seminary students who were going to the mission field. “This aligned with our heart,” Neal remembered, “we wanted to support this endowment.”

With an initial gift of $10,000 from the church secured, Phil Kell could now get started on the legal process. Kell worked with The Baptist Foundation of California president Dr. Jonathan Jarboe and Gateway Seminary president Dr. Jeff Iorg to create a document that would place the fund’s management under the Foundation while naming the seminary as the sole benefactor. On May 23, 2022, both presidents signed the agreement, creating the Karen Denise Watson Endowment Fund.

Looking forward, Dr. Jarboe intends for the Foundation to play a role that goes beyond fund management: “We want to be an active supporter of this fund. That means using resources we have to help the endowment grow so that any future missionary from California can get the training they need.”

At the 2022 annual meeting of the California Southern Baptist Convention, Jarboe announced that the Baptist Foundation of California would be contributing $50,000 to the endowment.

As Phil Neighbors assesses the endowment’s future, he believes it will serve a practical role in helping the next generation of missionaries while keeping Karen’s story alive. “I think her story can inspire and instruct,” he says, “maybe those recipients will choose to carry her story.”

For Dr. Iorg, the fund reflects a Biblical truth found in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 where Paul shares that Christians do not grieve as those who have no hope. “Though the pain of losing Karen Watson still lingers,” Iorg said, “her legacy continues to inspire future missionaries who will take the hope of the gospel to people around the world.”

While Eddie Pate admits that Karen would have never seen herself as a missions hero, he believes naming a missions fund after her is an appropriate tribute: “(It) honors the person and heart of one of our own Californians.”

If you would like to support the Karen Denise Watson Endowment Fund, go to www.bfcal.org/give.