Ouachita Stories

“I surrendered to the gospel ministry in 1969. Mary Ann and I knelt by our bed and prayed. .. We had no idea of the path God laid out for us.”

That was Don Jones’ comment after being named Arkansas Associational Missionary of the Year at a banquet held Feb. 23 on the campus of Ouachita Baptist University.

Ouachita sponsors the award annually to highlight the work of associational missionaries across the state. The award is the highlight of the Associational Missionaries Retreat sponsored by the Arkansas Baptist State Convention and held at DeGray Lake State Park.

Prior to making the announcement, Ouachita President Rex Horne thanked associational missionaries from 42 associations in the state for their faithful service.

“Each year we do this, we present the award to one Arkansas Baptist associational missionary, but by selecting one, what we really hope to do is to honor all of you and the work that you do,” Horne said. “We understand and appreciate the role that you play in the kingdom of God.”

Concerning Jones, Horne said, “The man we honor tonight is typical of the qualities found in all of those who have been called to the important tasks of associational leadership.”

Jones leads Little River Baptist Association in Nashville, which includes 29 churches and two missions in southwest Arkansas. Over the past 19 years, Jones has led the association to establish four new churches, and he has also organized the two missions to reach out to Hispanic and Hmong people groups. Additionally, he has led a church planting movement among cowboy churches, helping form the Arkansas Fellowship of Cowboy Churches, which he served as president for two years.

“(Of) all the experiences we’ve had in 40-plus years of ministry, this is one of the highlights,” Jones said of his work with cowboy churches.

“I’m a cowboy at heart. I was raised in that heritage, and I’ve been involved in western heritage ministry before starting the cowboy church. We preached in sale barns and that sort of thing.”

What has been most gratifying is how cowboy-style churches are reaching people for Jesus Christ who previously did not attend or who were disenchanted with church, Jones noted.

“It has been unreal this past year – seeing guys up in their 60s, 70s and even up in their 80s coming to know the Lord. We baptize more adults than we do anyone else,” he said. “And it’s not just us. We are seeing it in all of our other cowboy churches across the state.”

Five years ago, Jones led in the establishment of Cross Point Cowboy Church in Nashville to reach out to people with a strong western culture. The church has experienced tremendous growth.

“We started out with 29 our first Sunday. The Sunday before last we had 187. We’ve had as many as 300 in special services – actually 340-something in one of our camp meetings,” Jones said. “Some of them have never been in church. Some of them have been in church in the past and, for whatever reason, got burned. But when they come there, they find a sense of welcome and a sense of belonging.”

Jones was pastor of First Baptist Church of Mount Ida, when he was called in September 1991 to serve as associational missionary in Little River Baptist Association. He was employed as a fisheries biologist with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and as vice president of Water Resources Inc., in DeQueen while serving as pastor of churches in Blevins, Wickes, Hatfield and Bloomburg, Texas.

Jones and his wife, Mary Ann, have two children and four grandchildren.

By Tim Yarbrough, editor of Arkansas Baptist News