Former pastor speaks at Oakfield church

OAKFIELD, Maine — Pastor Phil Smiley spoke recently at the Oakfield Seventh Day Adventist church where was a pastor in the late 1980s.
Pastor Smiley left the Oakfield church and joined the U.S. Army National guard chaplain service and is now on active duty serving the U.S. Army as a chaplain.
     Pastor Smiley was warmly welcomed by members of the Oakfield church and many memories where shared by all those who remembered him. Pastor Smiley told the church members some of what he has been doing since he left Maine. He was stationed first in the Balkins in Europe during the war there and then in Iraq in later years. He said that one of his hardest jobs was escorting body-filled coffins out of Iraq to Kuwait; he talked of how sad it was to see those coffins.
Pastor Smiley said it was a real privilege to minister to the soldiers in Iraq, although there was not always much time for a long traditional service.
Pastor Smiley says to keep the soldiers in prayer as it is a hard job they are doing and many get depressed at times, being away from home and family for so long.
Pastor Smiley holds the rank of Major in the Army and is presently stationed at a base in Pennsylvania and awaiting orders to go again to Iraq for another deployment.
In other news, Oakfield Seventh Day Adventist church is in the final stages of improving their church. New siding has been put on the front part of the church and a new set of steps and handicap ramp has been built. Also new lights where installed on the front of the church for better lighting at night. More work is planned in the future on the lobby of the church and the stair way to the basement.