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Another Special Life in Christ
These testimony lives are not stories of "role models". Jesus is the
role model!
These are lives wonderfully touched & changed by Jesus!
Gene & Jean Phillips' Story,
additions:
Rescue
Missionary tells how God has seen them
through
By Todd Deaton
"Hands up!" a shadowy figure demanded through the
darkness.
There were no electric lights in the three-room
house — except for the single bulb, in the living room, that ran off of a battery. A full
moon shone through a skylight. The couple could barely make out that, behind the intruder,
three more were entering their bedroom.
It was about 2 a.m. Weary from the final service
of a three-week-long tent revival and the journey home along bumpy, dirt roads, the couple
was groggy, not thinking clearly. Both had the same thought: "Our landlord must have sent
them over to give us a message."
But the doors were locked. The fear dawned:
"Thieves!"
They had pried off the metal security bars and
climbed through a small window in the bathroom.
"We want your money and your car keys!" the
shadowy figure barked. He spoke to the couple in English, but he used his native language,
Sesotho, with the others.
Gene and Jean Phillips sat up in bed, too scared
to move.
* * * * *
Missionaries know the risks. They know the
hardships. The Phillips can tell you stories of both. Their experiences attest to the need to
rely on prayer and trust in God's power to see you through.
* * * * *
After hearing some of her stories from the mission
field, many have suggested to Jean that she should write a book.
"I love writing," she allows, "but I never thought
I could write a book. It is a big project."
Then, while doing an exercise in the "Experiencing
God" workbook by Henry Blackaby, she read: "What are you now doing that only God can
do?"
"I knew then that God wanted us to write a book
for his glory," she says. "This is God's book, not mine," she smiles.
While their abduction takes front stage, her book
is the story of how God has rescued her family time and again. From discouragement. From a
son's drug addiction. From another son's mental breakdown. From sickness. Even from
death.
"It also includes some funny moments," Gene
chuckles, recalling close encounters with cobras, pythons and scorpions; moving into the bush
country before their house was finished; and finding drowned squirrels in their water
tank.
Jean tells about huge "harvests" of souls. One
year, Gene baptized 817. Because of the scarcity of water, he dug shallow, grave-shaped pools
and lined them with plastic. A unique reminder of Christ's death, burial and
resurrection.
Their son John's artwork appears at the beginning
of each chapter. In Pointillism style — little dots of pen and ink, with no lines — he
depicts favorite African animals. Matching verses with the drawings, Jean connects the art
with their situations.
In the last chapter, she tackles the tough
question: "Why?" Reciting a favorite verse, Philippians 3:10, Jean says, "When God allows
suffering in life, it always causes us to know Christ better. We learn to depend on him
more."
* * * * *
Read the Phillips' story from the April 28 2002
issue of The Baptist Courier.
To order copies of Jean Phillips' book, "Rescue":
Write Hannibal Books, P.O. Box 461592, Garland, Tex. 75046; or visit hannibalbooks.com. Books
also may be obtained from First Church, Camden, at (803) 432-7635 or other on-line resources in print as well as an e-book.
***give me your comments about this
page***
(posted May 2002)
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You have just read a very brief example of the
powerful, supernatural transformation of a person's life which is possible through the
acceptance of Jesus as your savior. Are you tired of life as it now is for you? He will
accept you just as you are right this second! Consider accepting Jesus now
[check it
out]!
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