Last July, members of the Covenanter Youth group from the Stillwater, Okla., RPC went with an RP Missions team and some parents to what is left of the old RP Cache Creek Mission near Apache, Okla. The trip included camping and rappelling in the Wichita Mountains. In addition, the group enjoyed the hospitality of the Sam and Robin West family, who invited the group for a midday meal at their ranch.

The site of the Cache Creek Mission had a profound effect on several members of the group. Logan West has given permission to print some of his reflections on the experience of seeing the place where so many Reformed Presbyterians—Native American as well as American—lived, worked, and died for God’s kingdom.

The Cache Creek Indian Mission was started in the 1889 by dedicated RP missionaries. At one time, the membership of the church was almost 120, mostly of the Comanche and Kiowa Indian nations. A school was established for the children, with peak enrollment over 300. Indian elders were ordained for the church that was organized there. Elders translated the sermons into the Kiowa and Comanche languages.

According to Logan, “We saw there were only four buildings remaining: part of a girl’s dormitory, a water tower, a small garage or shed, and the main mission chapel building. We were mainly interested in the chapel. The place was shut down many years ago. Since the land is currently part of a ranch, there were cattle grazing in the church yard, and the building is full of dust and dirt. The upper floor, which used to accommodate the worship services, had been turned into a small basketball court. A side room, which may have been used for classes, had been turned into a homemade weight room. The floor was covered with pieces of broken doors, wood, and bits of glass; it once was used as a storage area and then forgotten. All of the windows had long since been staved in. The building itself was constructed of stone quarried from the nearby mountains and looked like it will last another hundred years. The floors were still relatively solid and the building looked like it could be restored with a bit of work.

“The woodwork at one time must have been beautiful. The doorways, arches, and rosette pieces (shaped as a crown, for Christ’s kingship) were apparently once polished, and not painted and peeling as they are today. As one of our group said, it would have been a beautiful place to worship. “We next visited a nearby cemetery where Pastor Bruce Parnell looked for the headstone of Anna Coleman, one of the missionaries. On her monument was inscribed ‘and hath made of one blood all nations of men.’ On the other side was an inscription that related how she is resting with her people. That particular cemetery appeared to contain almost exclusively headstones with Indian names; the other cemetery down the road (which was much smaller) contained headstones with English names. It seemed very apparent to me that the cemeteries were segregated, as Bruce also mentioned later. Anna Coleman, however, chose to be buried with the Indians, understanding God’s larger vision and that they weren’t just savages or people to be looked down upon, but brothers and sisters in Christ.

“I was struck at first by the emptiness of the Cache Creek Mission and cemeteries. Yet I came to realize that the church isn’t made up of buildings or the mere shells of buildings, but is made up of living people, souls that shall never die because they have a King who never dies, who has promised to preserve them.”

Logan and others have related that the visit to the Cache Creek mission site helped them develop a greater awareness of the responsibility they have to pass on the gospel to the next generation. In this way, they hope to see the RP Church grow with people who delight in the truth of Scripture and the doctrine taught and practiced by the RP Church. In addition, they desire to equip the next generation with the ability and vision to pass on that zeal for Christ when their turn comes. The RP Missions team remained in Oklahoma and labored with others in the RPC in Stillwater and Enid for most of July. The team was made up of Clay Finley (leader), David Landow, Nathaniel Pockras, and Logan West. They distributed literature announcing vacation Bible school (VBS) in Stillwater and Enid. Their work was fruitful. Several new children came to the VBS in Stillwater. Forty community children attended the VBS at the YMCA in Enid the following week. The team also participated in door-to-door visitation along with Stillwater CY members in Enid and Stillwater. Many people heard a presentation of the gospel and received an invitation to worship services.

View photos of the Cache Creek mission site at: http://www.stillwaterrpc.org/cyrpmissions.