SiSouk Phothisane, Laotian Church Planter In Winfield, Kansas
By Melissa Busby
SiSouk Phothisane (pronounced See-Sook Po-T-sone) starts his day at 5:00 am at a meat packing plant. He works 10 hour days in a refrigerated room. “It is so cold, I have to wear many layers to stay warm during the day,” Phothisane jokes. But he is grateful for his job because it keeps his weekends and evenings free, which gives him time to pour his life into his other job as pastor of the Laotian Baptist Mission in Winfield, Kansas.
Growing up in Laos, Phothisane lived under a communist and Buddhist regime. After high school he worked in construction and was not allowed to continue his education. He says the government discouraged adults from any kind of reading or writing, especially in English. In 1991 at the age of 38, Phothisane decided it was time to follow his dreams and immigrated to the United States. Little did he know that decision would not only lead to more education, but also a life with Christ and a call to ministry. While living in Minnesota, he met a former missionary to Laos, who was able to answer many of his questions about religion and point him to Christ. Phothisane later surrendered to ministry and earned a degree from the Lao School of Ministry, which is a joint effort of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the Kansas-Nebraska Convention and the North American Mission Board. According to Phothisane, approximately 500 Laotians live in Winfield, with the vast majority of those being Buddhists. The Laotian Community in Winfield began in the late 1970’s when many Laotians fled their homeland following the Vietnam War. After a few families settled in Winfield, their friends and family then followed. Several years ago, the staff at Central Baptist Church in Winfield started to realize the great need for ministry to the Laotians in their community. There were several Laotian families attending Central, but they needed a service in the native language. After a long search, God led Central Baptist to Phothisane to start the work which is his first pastorate.
The Laotian Baptist Mission held its first service in July 2006 with 6 people. Since then they’ve grown to about 20 members. Phothisane spends most of his time building relationships with people in the community. Phothisane says as a former Buddhist, he can relate to the people and understands the difficulty of leaving their ancestral religion. “I have a list of all of the Laotians families in Winfield. I’m working to meet with each of them and see how I can help.” Phothisane and his wife Kone (pronounced Con) work countless hours each week helping people with immigration issues, doing hospital visits, and driving them to appointments. SiSouk and Kone say they are well accepted in the Laotion community because of the help they provide. “They may worship Buddha, but when they have a problem they call and ask me to pray for them,” said Phothisane. The couple sees this as a great step toward winning these people to Christ.
The Laotian Mission currently meets in Central Baptist Church’s former sanctuary, but because of space limitations, they plan to move across the street to the new South Central Association Building which should be completed later this year. “We’re very excited to have a new building that we can use just for our services,” said Phothisane. The congregation holds a Saturday evening Bible study and fellowship as well as Sunday School and Worship on Sunday mornings. Phothisane says he’s leading the church to become more independent. “We now have our own checking account and we are giving part of our offerings back to the association and the missions offerings.”
Phothisane realizes his ministry would not be able to continue without the help of his fellow Kansas-Nebraska Baptists. The money from the Viola Webb Missions Offering gives the mission the resources needed to reach the community, and the church is now seeing the results. In May they hosted a revival with more than 100 people attending. In June, they held their first baptism service for two former Buddhists. Despite the long hours and the challenges of being a bi-vocational minister, Phothisane definitely loves what he is doing. “I love meeting the people, praying for them, but most of all preaching.” SiSouk Phothisane never would have dreamed growing up in a communist, Buddhist nation that one day he would be living in freedom in the United States and serving as a Baptist pastor in Winfield, Kansas. However, the smile he wears continually on his face, shows how glad he is to be a part of the work done for the Kingdom in Kansas-Nebraska.