DIGHTON, Kan. (BP) – On May 18, an EF-3 tornado struck Grinnell, Kan. There were no deaths, but in a town of just over 240 people, losing more than 28 outbuildings and homes easily counts as significant damage.
The recovery response included a missions team from First Baptist Church in Dighton, about an hour’s drive south. The group of 20 arrived on July 21 and over the course of five days, framed and sided a house, plus the wiring and plumbing.
First Baptist’s contribution was one of several to the town’s rebuild. The church schedules a summer mission trip each year within a day’s drive so they can stay semi-local. This is in addition to other missions efforts of longer distances.
“We just asked if there was anybody we could help out specifically, and the city nominated one of the families in town to get their house rebuilt,” Pastor Ken Bowden told the Kansas Reflector.
Bowden is an Arkansas native who had served as a pastor in Fort Collins, Colo., before attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. An associational missionary in central Kansas was perusing a graduate list and gave Bowden a call.
That led to stops in St. John and Hill City before a 17-year pastorate in Kiowa, less than a mile from the Oklahoma border.
He arrived at First Baptist Dighton six years ago. Its original building still sits on the corner of North 1st and Annabella Street. It was moved there around 1951 from the unincorporated hamlet of Amy, about 7 miles west. Bowden heard it was a one-room schoolhouse in its previous existence.
It’s a fellowship hall and Sunday School space now, accompanied by additional buildings since added. A deer blind in the yard across the road advertises those a neighbor sells for a friend (Bowden has bought two). The town’s water tower, with “DIGHTON” painted in a sun-scorched orange, stands in the back.
A previous pastor, Danny Parker, had established a missions culture. Involvement with World Changers helped get it started, with teams from First Baptist eventually going to the East Coast and other places like Mexico, Canada, Nebraska, Louisiana and Utah.
The ages of team members range from teens to the 70s. Outreach settings provide opportunities for discipleship alongside the types of skills one would need for, say, building a house.
“They eat it up, especially the teenagers,” said Bowden. “They don’t know what they’re doing, but we have guys who have done this a lot and take them along. They have a lot of patience with these kids.”
At least eight people from the church are trained in Disaster Relief. A training session for the food trailer was held on the Sunday evening before the Gunnell trip
The continual focus on missions – not just in giving, but going – brings dividends, he said.
“We give 25 percent of our budget to missions of some sort, and it’s not like we have rich people in our church,” said Bowden, 63. “But one of the goals isn’t to just give to missions. It’s to do missions. Be a part of it, physically. It has changed our church.
“I was hungry for it in every church I led, but getting people to do it can be hard. When I came here, they were already doing it. It was already part of the culture, and I fit into it really well.”
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