Years ago, God fashioned a friendship that has stayed strong and is now an important part of Mission Arlington^®.

Denny met Tillie Burgin when they both worked for the Arlington Independent School District in the early 80’s. A mutual friend suggested that they all meet for breakfast weekly, and that’s what all three of them did for years. Eventually, the meeting moved to Tillie’s office at Mission Arlington^®. The friend moved away, but to this day, Denny and Tillie still meet together once per week to pray.

Over time, Denny and his wife Candy joined the Mission Metroplex^® board, and about 15 years ago, Denny became the board chairman. Around that time, Denny also left the AISD to work at Dallas Baptist University where he still serves as the provost and is now an honorary alumnus.

Denny wanted to be a part of Mission Arlington^® because the gospel is the backbone of everything the ministry does. He says, “The thing that made me want to be involved then, and makes me still want to be involved today, is that this ministry stays focused on Jesus Christ, serving people, helping them, and trying to draw them to Christ. It’s not focused on buildings or getting recognition. It is just focused on the gospel.”

Denny and Candy do far more than attend meetings. They pray for Mission Arlington^® daily and volunteer at every special event. You’ll see them directing traffic and guiding families through the annual Easter Egg Hunt and Fall Festival. They dispatch volunteers to deliver turkeys on Thanksgiving Day. They stock and wrap presents at the Christmas Store. We are thankful that God brought them to be an integral part of the work at Mission Arlington^®.

[This article was originally published in December of 2015]

Sue was living in Michigan, working at Michigan State University, but had one foot in Texas for many years, while her husband was President of UTA. When in Arlington, Sue and her husband would often stop by to visit and pray with Tillie. When in Michigan, Tillie would occasionally write her a note saying how she was praying for Sue and praying for her permanent move to Texas – before Sue had any intention of moving south.

After retiring from 20 years as a volunteer fireman and 25 years at General Motors, Morgan Hogue, Jr. knew he wanted to keep taking care of the community in a special way. Community involvement has always been key at the GM plant. Morgan remembers the management allowing him to leave his shift early to fight fires, and he knew the employees had generous hearts. The plant already collected toys every Christmas for a national drive, and Morgan wondered if they couldn’t do more and keep it local.

It was time to visit Tillie. “There was no formal introduction,” he says, “Everyone knew Tillie.” He asked if she could use some Christmas toys. Of course she said yes, Mission Arlington^® could always use more toys. Back at the plant, the employees started to raise money to do more. A few ladies would make lunch for the staff, and instead of going out, anyone could stop by the break room, eat, and donate their lunch money. Another group of employees made little candy bags to sell to each other to add a little more to the pot. Eventually, the management arranged that, voluntarily, the employees could auto-draft a few dollars from each paycheck go to the toy committee.

Now, Morgan is the liaison between GM and Mission Arlington^®. He helps arrange a special day for Mission Arlington^® Bible Study children to visit the plant. The children eat lunch, and pass out candy canes to the workers on the line. Then Santa visits and each child from the small group picks a toy. After the last group, everyone helps load the trucks and drives straight to the Mission to unload.

Morgan says his favorite part is seeing people come together to help the less fortunate. He says, “God put us here for a purpose.” Morgan has certainly found a good position to continue serving the Arlington community.

This year, General Motors employees sent many boxes of toys throughout the fall. Then, on the officially delivery day, they filled 2 semi-trucks and 2 box trucks full of brand new toys. The toys went immediately to the store and helped many of the 7,351 families (30,415 children) that visited this Christmas. We are grateful for the way God puts the GM and Mission Arlington^® families together each year to bless so many.

Originally published December 27th, 2015. Morgan passed away January 8th, 2018. His homegoing celebration was yesterday, January 10th, 2018.

It started when Sam was seven, living at Westwood apartments in central Arlington. He remembers Martha and Earl gathering all the people to study the Bible. For Sam, it started as a place to get juice and cookies, but became so much more. He started learning about the Word. He remembers accepting Christ at that apartment church when he was eight years old.

Coble Middle School Students from Mansfield lifted the load Saturday as we get ready for Thanksgiving Day deliveries.

Though we set aside food for Thanksgiving Day deliveries all year long, the efforts to prepare for the holiday truly ramps up in November. If you come by Mission Arlington^® anytime this month, you will see a “front room” full of people signing their families up to receive food on Thanksgiving day.  Out back you will see people dropping off turkeys and other Thanksgiving food – while other volunteers help unload it and place it in freezers.

If you were to drive by our place this past Saturday, you would have seen an amazing food sorting process in motion. Teams of people from every age group (young to old) were separating food into like kind (boxes of corn, green beans, etc.).  You would see another group taking the sorted food and building boxes filled with assortments of that food which will go with a family’s turkey on Thanksgiving day.  More than 2,200 boxes were built by these teams this past Saturday.

We are so honored to be a partner with this community in providing food for families in need during an important holiday. On Thanksgiving morning, with the help of so many generous volunteers, we hope to provide food to more than 6,000 families again this year.  We love how the Lord brings all of this together, and we are so thankful for each one of you who pray, give, and help during these days.

Please come see us when you can, and join the fun!

When Tillie Burgin returned from Korea, a woman named Doris who she did not know approached her saying, “I’ve been praying for you.” This began a decades-long friendship that continues to this day.

Doris has volunteered at Mission Arlington in countless ways. From clerical work to cleaning the kitchen, she has been a familiar sight around the office for many years. She also serves on the Mission Metroplex Board of Directors.

The position most important to her, though, is the time she spent teaching the ladies’ Bible Study at South Street Church. She guided the women that she taught to follow God. They love her so much, although she no longer teacher that class, the women still love her and ask about her.

Doris loves telling people about the Lord. She once found, while proofreading a Mission Arlington publication, someone had written the phrase, “a chance to tell people about Jesus.” She suggested a word change, explaining it was not by a lucky “chance,” but telling people about Jesus is always an “opportunity.” She takes these opportunities seriously because of her deep love for her Savior. She wants everyone to know him the way she knows him.

We are thankful to God for sending this beautiful woman to teach us all how to love the Lord and serve people. Doris is a blessing.

Originally published Feb 5th, 2015.

Cesar grew up around Mission Arlington as part of Heritage Church. Read more about his early years here.

Around a year and a half ago, Cesar felt God leading him out of the comfort zone of the church family he had always known into East Arlington. He called it his “mission trip to the city” and now it’s just his way of life. He now serves at a house church on Claudia Street and an apartment complex nearby.

The apartment Bible Study meets outdoors twice per week. To reach more people and have more time to teach, Cesar splits the adults and children into different study times. First the children learn while the parents cook dinner or drive home from work. Then the parents meet while the children play at the playground nearby.

As the sun sets, the parents walk from all over, bringing their Bibles, songbooks, tambourines, and some babies in strollers. Cesar finishes passing out snacks to the children, with the help of a few volunteer teenagers from a different Mission Arlington Bible Study, and walks over with his cajon drum to sing with the women. One woman picks up her tambourine and songbook and leads everyone in praise and worship songs. More women gather singing on their way. No doubt friends in the neighboring buildings enjoy the beautiful music floating into their windows.

Then they pray and study the Bible together. Cesar knows the Bible and has much to share.

When church time is over, it’s not really over. These ladies have an ongoing group text that they use throughout the week to remember what they learned, to encourage each other, and to make everyone aware of needs in their community. With nearly constant communication, they are building a church built on Acts 2: sharing their resources and helping each other.

What a blessing to be part of this growing church and to see what can happen when people follow God’s call.

Twenty-three years ago, Marne agreed to substitute for a friend’s Mission Arlington Bible study while the friend was out of town. It only took one week for Marne to fall in love with the people and the ministry.

Since then, Marne has worked in many facets of Mission Arlington: child care, community service, transportation, and in many apartment complexes. She now works with a team of volunteers, many of whom she met and taught in Bible Studies over the years, leading many small churches around Arlington: several in East Arlington and two in retirement communities.

Their team is small but makes a big impact. In places where only one person is available to lead a Bible Study, it would be easy to say there is not enough help and stop going. Instead, they find a teenager or another adult within that community to be an assistant. Marne says, “we don’t want to give up anything.”

At one of the retirement centers, there is one 84-year-old woman, Darlene, who Marne calls “our head deacon.” Upon moving to the center four years ago, she came to the Mission Arlington church service and cried every Sunday. The woman later explained she had not been in church or sung in 50 years, and the words “would not come out.” To be home in the Lord’s presence again made her overwhelmed. Marne says it’s been a joy to see her come back, grow, and love the Lord. Now Darlene leads the morning prayer on Sundays and visits with other residents to pray during the week.

One of the greatest joys in the retirement centers is seeing people come back to God. Marne says Mission Arlington being in the community gives the people another opportunity “to reconnect with the Father and have a renewal of their spiritual life, and it’s amazing.”

Marne and her team feel blessed to be allowed to share God’s love with this special group of people.

During many road trips in west Texas, Larry would stop to visit with a good friend’s parents, Mary and Hollis. They would talk and Mary would always cook lunch for her guest. Every time he visited, Larry noticed that, although the only people in the home were Mary, Hollis, and Larry, his host always put out four place settings and cooked enough to generously feed four people. Finally, Larry asked the reason for the extra plate. Mary explained that her father taught her to always make a place at the table for the unexpected guest.

Thirty years later, on another trip through west Texas, God impressed upon Larry’s heart, “I want you to make a place at the table for hungry women…” And Mary’s Table was born.

In conjunction with Larry and his wife, Shawna’s, ministry, Baptist Center for Global Concerns, Mission Arlington^® sends a different group of women to Mary’s Table once per quarter. The women experience a morning of food, fellowship, and God’s love.

Shawna demonstrates several healthy recipes that are easy on a budget. Many volunteers help cook and minister to the group. They study the Bible, and the women are encouraged that, even if they only have two cans of beans, they have enough to share with their neighbors. To finish, each woman leaves with a week’s worth of groceries at no cost.

Most of the Mary’s Table volunteers are former participants. They took to heart what the said about sharing and share their time and skills with women in need.
One participant said, “I want to go home, come back and give.” She came back with $300 she had been saving as a tithe. One woman came back, crying, to say thank you for the butter in her grocery bag. Her husband had been asking for butter and they had not had enough money to buy any. The volunteers were crying, too. Larry says, “We literally love what we do. All of us leave thinking, ‘God really helped me to grow today.’

“The point is for Christ to be real, not only in the act of serving, but he serves us through those we are serving. That’s part of the extraordinary gift that Mary’s table is.” There’s room for everyone at Mary’s Table.

Many years ago, when Glenn and Sherri’s daughter moved from Missouri to Texas, God impressed on their hearts that they would end up in Texas someday. Ten years ago, God brought their family to Texas. Glenn says, “It changed our lives. The Mission did. God did.”

They had gone to church all their lives and taught Sunday School. But coming to Texas, Glenn says they “got a different perspective on what God was really doing.” Sherri adds, “We knew about church without the walls, and we appreciated it. But we had never been part of it.”

The couple started at Grace Street Fellowship and since then they have ministered at a number of retirement communities in Arlington, moving as God directed.

Sherri says, “It’s, no doubt, what we love to do.”

For about a year, they have taught on Sunday mornings and Wednesdays at Arlington Plaza, a retirement community in west Arlington. The church is growing. Recently, they had to move out of the chapel into the larger activity room. They strive to make friends with the residents through conversations, hosting activities and then presenting the gospel. Even some people who won’t come into the Bible study will sit at the door and hear the message that way. Sherri says they will do “whatever we have to do for them to hear the Word.”

No matter what, they make sure the people know that salvation comes through grace and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Every time and always they teach the plan of salvation.

Glenn drives the shuttle bus for the center 4 days per week, usually with Sherri riding along, and builds relationships while carrying people to their doctor’s appointments, grocery store, and other places. “It’s the perfect opportunity,” Glenn says, “we know nearly everybody.”

Last month, the team hosted a revival for the residents. Before the revival, they stopped by the dining hall to invite everyone. Because of the van trips, ice cream socials, and just walking the halls, they knew at least one person per table, making it easy to connect and invite everyone.

The revival was a great success with more than half of the residents attending. We are so grateful for the faithfulness of the Phipps family to invest their lives in the Gospel – knowing Him and making Him known.