The widow of tragic Baildon church pastor Michael Pollard spoke today of her plans to write a book about the couple's aid work in eastern Europe.

And Jo Pollard has vowed to plough any money made by the venture back into worthy causes in a region she and her husband took aid and Christian literature to on numerous occasions over the past 30 years.

The book will cover the highs and lows of the couple's work in eastern Europe, which ended in tragedy last August when they were attacked by robbers in Hungary while en route to Romania in their camper van.

The gang of three robbers beat the 62-year-old pastor of Baildon Green's Emmanuel Evangelical Church to death and left his New Zealand-born wife badly injured.

The devout Christian and mother of three grown-up children will also use the book to explain her forgiveness for the three young men convicted of her husband's manslaughter and recall her meeting with two of them in prison during last month's return to Hungary on the first anniversary of the tragedy.

Mrs Pollard, 56, said "Last year before we set off Michael and I made three decisions - to get rid of the caravanette, write a book and go to New Zealand.

"The caravanette was crushed after what happened and I'm about to go back to New Zealand for the first time in ten years so that just leaves the book.

"We were intending to write it together but I'll have to do it myself now, although I might consider asking each of the kids to write something for it.''

She added: "So many people have asked me if I'm going to write a book that I reckon I'm going to have to. So many things happened to us in eastern Europe and we saw so many changes that I think it will be well worth writing.

"It will also tell how God was always with us because without our faith in him we wouldn't have done what we did.

"I don't know if it would make a best-seller and I wouldn't be doing it for the money but if it did make any I'd use it to help people in eastern Europe because they still need it.''

Often accompanied by their three children - Rebecca, Tamar and Andrew, now aged 25, 21 and 19 respectively - the Pollards began taking aid and Bibles behind the Iron Curtain after witnessing the Soviet invasion of the former Czechoslovakia while on holiday in Prague in 1968.

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