An American tourist killed in a forest outside Jerusalem had deep spiritual ties to Israel through her involvement with an evangelical ministry that promotes Christianity among Jews.
Kristine Luken, who was in her mid-40s, was stabbed to death Dec. 18 while hiking with a friend in a forest that borders the West Bank.
Luken was involved with the “Church’s Ministry among Jewish people,” first in the United States, then in England, where she became a ministry staffer. The church is active in Israel.
A 2007 study tour in Israel, “Walking with Jesus in his Jewish world,” brought Luken to the church, she wrote on the CMJ American website.
She and Kaye Susan Wilson, a naturalized Israeli from the U.K., became friends on a study tour to Poland earlier this year, and they decided to go hiking together in Israel during Luken’s Christmas holiday, said the Rev. David Pileggi of CMJ’s Christ Church in Jerusalem.
Wilson told Israeli reporters from her hospital bed that she and Luken were attacked by two Arab men with what looked like a bread knife. She said she escaped to a nearby road after pretending to be dead. When Luken’s body was discovered Dec. 19 in the forest, her hands were bound and she had multiple stab wounds. — ap