A BRITISH missionary who was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours list has been shot at her home by bandits in central Africa.

Maud Kells is said to be recovering well in hospital PA

Maud Kells is said to be recovering well in hospital

Maud Kells, 75, from Northern Ireland, was hit by two bullets in the shoulder during an armed robbery at her home in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where she has been serving as a midwife.

She suffered no broken bones or irreparable muscle damage and is able to speak and recognise people, according to reports.

Ms Kells was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours for her services to people in DRC after building a school with seven classrooms, a hospital and bridge in a country with little infrastructure after years of war.

Her sister, Margaret Keane said Ms Kells is being well treated by an international medical team following the attack at her home in Mulita.

Maud Kells is a midwife from Northern Ireland PA

Maud Kells is a midwife from Northern Ireland

She was delighted and humbled at receiving the OBE but she said she was glad for being away from the publicity

Margaret Keane

She said: “She believes it was God calling her, that a light was needed in that part of the country.”

The selfless missionary, from Cookstown in Co Tyrone, has been in the eastern half of the central African country surrounding Goma, a city previously associated with conflict and rebellion, since 1968.

She previously trained as a nurse in Belfast and has been evacuated from danger in the past, her minister in Northern Ireland said.

The humble Bible teacher has previously had to reconstruct many buildings, including her own house after it was ransacked by rebels who left none of her belongings behind.

The hospital she helped to build has also come under frequent attack and much equipment – even her precious Land Rover – was stolen.

Ms Keane continued: “She has made a real difference, it is a completely different life there now.”

Ms Kells has organised the building of a bridge over a river which was once spanned by only a tree trunk, a school with seven classrooms, hospital maternity and surgical wards.

To reward her efforts, a primary school has also been named after her.

Her sister added: “That is her life, helping people in Africa.

“She was delighted and humbled at receiving the OBE but she said she was glad for being away from the publicity.”

A guard was kept at the missionary village where she lives and at times of danger people fled into the canopy of trees which covers much of the country

Ms Keane said the infrastructure was poor in a part of the country affected by war with neighbouring Rwanda, a spill-over from the 1994 genocide, blaming the president for lack of investment.

Despite the challenges Ms Keane said her sister felt God’s calling when she first went there.

She explained: “There were only two missionaries at that time but after they retired she said she would go down. She insisted that she would be OK and the Lord was looking after her.”

Ms Kells has also been involved in the training of Congolese nurses in five hospitals and 30 health centres.

As well as this she engages in Bible school teaching, supervision of construction projects and speaking at church services, while being a member of Molesworth Presbyterian Church in Cookstown.