By Paul White, Executive Director
Greetings from your State Missions Department, our missionaries and their families, and our staff. We are grateful for your partnership and faithfulness as we look ahead to the work God has set before us in 2026.
As a ministry, we desire to be more purpose-driven in the coming year. Our purpose is two-fold: to win the lost and to advance the child of God through sound preaching and strong doctrinal teaching. As the Lord has made a definite difference in our lives, we believe we are called to pass that difference on to others.
Because our time is limited, we must be intentional and personal in our gospel witness. While none of us has the power to save a soul, that reality does not lessen our responsibility to share the Word. Not a week should go by without believers being engaged in gospel conversations. People do not simply need fellowship — they need Jesus. A burden for the lost must always remain central to mission work.
With that focus in mind, our primary goals for 2026 include:
• Seeing one or more of our works reach fruition.
• Identifying more suitable meeting places and properties for developing works.
• Expanding outreach efforts by coming alongside additional mother churches and their missionaries across Arkansas.
Another ongoing prayer is that God would raise up men who will go — not primarily because of financial support, but in faithful obedience to His call. I am reminded of my own calling when I contacted Ed Stephenson, who was Missions Director at the time, to share that God had called me to the Highland–Hardy area to plant a church. I desired to represent our churches there, but regardless, I knew I was going because God had spoken.
For these goals to become reality, every aspect of our State Missions work must be permeated with prayer — prayer for the missionary and his family, for health and effectiveness, for the communities they serve, and that God would open hearts and minds to receive the message of the gospel.
We are also deeply thankful for the churches and individuals who faithfully give to make this work possible. We ask that you continue to pray that God will bless and sustain them, as together we seek to be obedient to His call and faithful in His mission.
