“WHEN WE PUT OUR ‘YES’ ON THE TABLE, GOD PUT IT ON LONGMONT. AND AS WE HAVE DRIVEN DOWN THIS ROAD, IT FEELS LIKE ALL THE LIGHTS HAVE BEEN GREEN.”

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Doug & Dana Hixson are no strangers to Arkansas Baptists, having spent half of their ministry life in Arkansas. And they are no strangers to planting churches either. Doug recently served as the Director of Church Planting for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention from 2017 to 2021. Prior to that they spent eight years church planting in South Dakota. So, when God began to call them to plant again, their hearts were already drawn to the Western United States.

“But church planting,” says Doug, “is still the most intense spiritual battle I’ve experienced in ministry; and the spiritual warfare in a place of little Gospel influence is unique.” There are 100,000 people in Longmont, and according to NAMB the city is 90% unchurched. “There is a mindset that they, like many places in Colorado, are too far gone and do not care about Jesus. But I believe they not only need him, but they want him – they just need to discover that.”

Doug would encourage churches not to write off places like this, but rather to lean in to the difficult, because the Gospel is still the power of God for salvation.

PRAYER POINTS: Let’s pray for the Hixsons to continue depending on God’s provision and for favor in developing their Core Team. Let’s also pray for their initial outreach efforts and for favor among Persons of Peace in the community.

When you give to your church, you give to missions through the Cooperative Program, bringing the Good News to the whole world. Find more CP resources at ABSC.org/CPShare.