Dr. Gordon (“Chip”) and Laurie Phillips were both raised in Christian homes and saved at an early age. Chip recalls that he had always been a ”good” kid, but during a Sunday morning sermon while out of town on a family vacation, he realized that he needed cleansing from sin.
“My Dad was recently saved and made a special effort to take us to a Bible preaching church. His faithfulness directly led to my understanding the Gospel,” he noted, adding that it wasn’t until he was 13 years old that he understood that being a “real Christian” meant 100% surrender to Jesus. During medical school, Chip went short-term to a hospital in Haiti, and felt the Lord’s confirmation for a career as a medical missionary. He went on to special in surgery “since it would be more versatile on the mission field.”
Laurie says that she understood the Gospel through a Good News Club lesson. Her interest in missions began through meeting many missionaries her parents entertained over the years. “When my sister mentioned an interest in missionary nursing, I thought that would a great choice for me also,” she remarked. During nursing school she went short-term to Amazon Baptist Hospital in Santo Antonio, Brazil. This confirmed her desire for missions, but also helped her realize her need to return to the field married. In preparation for a nursing ministry, she became part of ABWE’s SET program and completed her graduate education in rural community health.
Laurie and Chip met in a College and Career Bible Study while Dr. Phillips was in medical school. They were soon married and during his second year of surgery training, their focus centered on missions. While in residency, the couple went short-term to the Karolyn Kempton Memorial Hospital and again felt the Lord’s direction toward full-time missionary service. “It was wonderful to see a team of such varied backgrounds working together in their areas of secular training, but also all involved in discipleship and Church planting,” Chip noted.
In 1984, Dr. Phillips received his B.S. from Pennsylvania State University; later in 1986, he acquired his M.D. from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA; and in 1995 earned an M.S. Philadelphia Biblical University in Langhorne, PA. His postgraduate training and fellowship appointments include: Residency in Surgery, SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY; and Fellowship in Traumatology and Surgical Critical Care, at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA.
He also has held several faculty appointments which include: Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY; Instructor of Surgery, and Assistant Professor of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania, Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA. He also served as attending Physician in the ER at Buffalo General Hospital in Buffalo, NY and at the University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA.
Dr. Phillips received certification as Diplomat, The American Board of Surgery, 1992; and, was ordained to the Gospel Ministry at New Life Baptist Church, Philadelphia, PA, 1996. He obtained medical licensure in Pennsylvania, from Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and in Conselho Federal de Medicina, Amazonas, Brazil.
Since 1998, Chip has been Surgeon in Chief and Hospital Director at the Amazon Baptist Hospital in Santo Antonio do Ica Amazonas, Brazil. Also while on the field in Amazonas, Brazil, he has served as Chairman of the Field Council with ABWE Int’l.
The Phillips joined ABWE in 1994 and arrived in Brazil in November of 1996. Currently they have finished their third term of service at the Amazon Baptist Hospital in Santo Antonio do Ica Amazonas, Brazil.
Since their arrival in 1996 as full-time missionaries in Amazonas, Brazil, the Phillips family has been involved not only in hospital work, but also in church planting efforts through various evangelistic efforts, Bible studies, children’s ministries, marriage and family counseling, and discipleship training.
Chip and Laurie have five children.