Urbandale church distancing itself from US missionary accused of attacking woman in Liberia
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Updated: 6:15 PM CDT Sep 18, 2023
URBANDALE, Iowa —
An American missionary connected to an Urbandale church is accused of attacking a woman in Liberia.
Last week, Creekside Church posted a message on its Facebook page asking for prayers for missionary Lucas Richard, saying he was attacked and robbed. That post has since been deleted.
The church said Richard, who is from Louisiana, has been affiliated with Creekside for years and is currently working in Liberia.
However, Liberian media outlets and social media posts allege that Richard attacked a woman named Jessica Lloyd, cutting her throat. The media outlets report that Richard is charged with attempted murder.
Late Monday afternoon, Creekside Church pastor Steve Smith shared an update. The church acknowledged its original post came off to the Liberian community as insensitive to the victim.
The church said Richard no longer represents Creekside or receives their support. Church officials said they are working with the U.S. Department of State to address the allegations.
The State Department told KCCI they are aware of reports of the arrest of an American citizen in Liberia but declined to comment further.
Search continues for woman missing from Mills County, Iowa[/URL]
Some local Liberians are planning to hold a gathering outside Creekside Church Sunday morning to continue to keep the story alive.
You can read Creekside's full statement below:
On September 14th, Creekside Church was made aware of a situation involving one of the missionaries we support, Lucas Richard, in Liberia. The information we received from his wife, who was serving with him in Liberia, was that Lucas was attacked and robbed, so we posted a prayer request for our congregation. News later broke that Lucas had been incarcerated and accused of the attempted murder and aggravated assault of a Liberian girl, Jessica Lloyd. He maintains his innocence.
Lucas is not a member of Creekside, but of a church in Liberia which he founded consisting of its own board of elders and accountability structure. Our social media post calling for prayer made it seem to the Liberian community that we are insensitive to the victim and appearing to defend the accused, and by extension dismiss his charges. This was not the case. Prayer is our first priority when confronted with a situation such as this. The church is sensitive to Jessica, who also accuses Lucas Richard of perpetrating the act. For her sake and in light of our relationship with the Richards, it is always our obligation to seek the truth, a task made more difficult considering that the eyewitness accounts are radically different.
We trust the legal system in Liberia to find the truth and render justice regarding the allegations. Sadly, we have confirmed today through an eyewitness from Liberia that Lucas had in fact entered into a marriage with Jessica, which neither we nor Lois had any prior knowledge of. While there are many points of allegations we cannot confirm, since the extramarital relationship has been verified, this alone makes Lucas ineligible to represent our church or receive our support. We are continuing to work with the State Department, contacts in Liberia, and others to seek both truth and justice. Please continue to join us in prayer for all involved.
Iowa church distancing itself from US missionary accused of attacking woman in Liberia
Creekside Church told KCCI it is working with the U.S. Department of State to address the allegations.
www.kcci.com
