CROSSETT, Ark. – As an associational missionary, Joel Whitenton is looking to help promote the health of pastors and churches.
“Without healthy churches, we can’t accomplish what God wants us to do. Without healthy pastors, you don’t have healthy churches,” Whitenton said. “We’re always working on ways to make churches more healthy whether it be by training, encouragement, mentoring or filling in and helping churches during times of transition.”
Whitenton, who has served as the associational missionary for Ashley County Baptist Association since August 2021, said missions’ strategy is also a focus.
“My job is not just to look at the local church inwardly, but I am looking at the community as a whole. I am looking at it from 30,000 feet. I am looking at how can we reach people in the community not being reached,” said Whitenton. “And then we go beyond the community, we look at the state, we look at the nation and the world. How can we fulfill the Great Commission?”
An important part of all of that is cooperation, which Whitenton encourages among the 25 churches of the association.
“My job is to help the churches to see that they can’t do this task alone. We’re going to have to cooperate together to get to the end goal,” he said.
As a family of healthy churches serving the Lord Jesus Christ together to fulfill the Great Commission, the association has several ministries. Whitenton said one they are most excited about this year is their rodeo ministry. For the first time in the history of the rodeo, the Ashley County Baptist Association through its member churches is sponsoring Thursday night, May 30, of the Crossett Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Rodeo.
“The rodeo is pretty big here in Crossett,” he said. “We’re getting the opportunity to set up a tent in the middle of the rodeo and we’re going to have opportunities to share our faith. … We’ve never done anything like that before, so we’re excited about that.”
Additionally, the association has a missions trip planned to San Antonio, Texas, where they are going to be ministering to Muslim children and helping an Arabic pastor. They also have outreach events, like block parties, in the works to further reach folks in their local community.
“We’ve got a lot of things going that we are excited about,” Whitenton said.
Whitenton grew up in Tennessee, where he eventually pastored for about five years before being called to serve as a missionary with the International Mission Board. He, along with his wife Tamara and their children, spent 12 years sharing the Gospel in Brazil.
At the end of those 12 years, they returned to the states. Whitenton then felt called to be an associational missionary.
“We prayed and saw His will and He led us here to Ashley County in Arkansas,” he said. “It’s been great. I am doing what God called me to do. It has been a real blessing.”