Living the Call Together 

The month of May was Missions month at all of the Alliance Churches throughout the world. One of the foundational values of the Christian and Missionary Alliance is to train, send and support missionaries as commanded in Mathew 28:18-20. 

As part of Missions Month, Creekside had the immense privilege of hosting retired missionary Lillian Phillips on May 31. Lillian and her husband Richard served as missionaries for 17 years in Vietnam before being taken captive and held in a prison camp for eight months by North Vietnamese soldiers during the Vietnam War. After being released, they served 19 years in Burkina Faso.

Missionary life is not easy. That is no secret. Many missionaries live without the comforts that most Americans are accustomed to. But the Phillips endured challenges and heartbreaks, that even seasoned missionaries have not encountered. Narrowly escaping death, losing dear friends and coworkers, spending eight months in a North Vietnamese prison camp as a prisoner of war, and losing everything they owned (not once, but twice) were some of the greatest challenges the Phillips faced in their 26 years as missionaries.

Lillian was a missionary nurse and Richard was a translator who worked with two jungle tribes to translate the Bible into their native languages. In 1962 the first tragedy befell the group of missionaries in Vietnam when Archie Miller and Dr. Vietti were captured by Communist soldiers. They were never seen or heard from again.

1968 brought another tragedy. While Dick and Lillian were out working on a special project, the compound that was their home and base of operations was attacked and six of their friends and fellow missionaries were killed. They were never allowed to go back, and in addition to the loss of their friends, they lost everything they owned.  Although Vietnam had not been an easy place, they stayed to carry on the work their group had started. 

In 1975, the Phillips were captured by the North Vietnamese soldiers. After hiding out for two days, as they were brought out onto the street, they did not know what was going to happen to them. Many had been brought out to the street and shot. It was nothing short of a miracle when their lives were spared and they were ordered to get into a car. Over the next eight months they were held in five different prison camps, three of which were deep in the jungles of Vietnam.

In one of the camps there was a shelter of bamboo poles holding up a thatched roof that was about 12×18 feet for all 12 of the prisoners with them.  It was open to the elements and the natural inhabitants, including snakes and scorpions.

Twice a day their small bowls were filled with rice. Occasionally they were given a little broth or spam with their rice.  One of the worst parts of prison camp was the daily interrogations. Lillian said she never got used to being questioned. The hardest time was at night when they went to bed. Lillian would think of her children. When they were captured the Phillips’ four children were ages 6, 9, 11 and 13. They were away at boarding school when their parents were captured. Richard and Lillian had no way of communicating that they were alive. Lillian would wonder where her children were and what they were going through. In the quiet of the night, where Lillian struggled most, Richard whispered scripture to her and it would give her the strength to carry on.

By day, Lillian often spent her free time catching butterflies for her children with a makeshift net made from a plastic bag and a bamboo handle. She caught 35 different varieties of butterflies during her time in the camps. One day, after eight long months, a bus came to the camp and took them to the airport. They had been released. Through all of the tragedy and challenges the Phillips faced, God showed his faithfulness.  “We will never know why God allows some things to happen the way they do. We can only celebrate what He is doing. This is God’s world. It’s God’s plan. We are just workers in His plan,” Lillian Phillips said.

North Vietnam was a closed country that did not allow missionaries. Yet the North Vietnamese captured missionaries and paid for travel, food, and accommodations to get them to North Vietnam.  Then they made the missionaries say why they came to Vietnam.  Prisoners and soldiers heard the message, because the Phillips would respond by telling them that they came to share the Gospel. God brought His message to a closed country through prisoners who were not ashamed to profess their God, even under intense interrogation in a Communist prison camp in the middle of the jungle!   

Matthew 28:18-20 issues the command to go into all nations, but it also offers a promise, “Surely, I am with you always.”  The Phillips’ modeled a life of

Matthew 28:18-20.                                                                                                                                    -Andrea Nell 

SAVE THE DATE

July 17-18:   Men’s Retreat at Danielson’s Cabin in Darwin – Fishing! Boating!  BBQ!

Contact Pastor Ben to sign up! 

Aug. 10-14:  Vacation Bible School– 6:30-8:30pm   

“Studio GO! Game Show”  

 Kids will see how God works in the lives of everyone who trusts Him. And through it all, kids will discover that with Jesus everyone wins! 

You won’t want to miss this!

WEEKLY ACTIVITIES  

WORSHIP—Sundays 10:30 a.m. – Staffed nursery available for 0-3 yrs.

MEN’S STUDY—Book of 2nd John – Thursdays 6:30 p.m. at Dave Gustafson’s

WOMEN’S PRAYER – Thursdays 6:30 p.m. at Creekside

 Please call Creekside at 507-964-2872 if you have questions or are interested in a couples or ladies small group.

Mission & Vision

Creekside’s Mission

Creekside Community Church exists to GO into our world, to MAKE disciples, and to TEACH the saving power of Christ, to encourage with the hope of the cross, and to grow in faith and maturity as God’s Word guides.

Creekside’s Vision

To impact the Kingdom of God by sharing the life-changing love, grace and mercy of Jesus Christ in a real, relevant, and relational manner.

Go.  Make.  Teach.

 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father  and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Matthew 28:19-20

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