Dixie Jackson 2025 Story Book

SEEN + HEARD

DIXIE JACKSON ARKANSAS MISSIONS OFFERING | 2025

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“

As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard. ACTS 4:20

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SEEN + HEARD

God’s Word proclaims what was seen and heard,

+ the Gospel.

God’s people are seen and heard by the lost

+ as we profess the Gospel and our own story.

As God’s people, we should proclaim what

+ we have seen and heard Him do when we are faithful.

WHAT IS THE DIXIE JACKSON ARKANSAS MISSIONS OFFERING? The Dixie Jackson Arkansas

Missions Offering and Week of Prayer highlights and encourages Gospel work in our state.

During the week of prayer, Arkansas Baptists are asked to focus their prayers on these ministries. The suggested dates are September 14-21.

Prayer guides will be sent to each church and are available at absc.org/dj.

The offering taken during this season supplements the Cooperative Program and Arkansas CP gifts from Arkansas Baptists to provide additional funds for community missions, disaster relief, ministry to the next generation, equipping Arkansas Baptists for missions, and much more.

Who was Mrs. Dixie Jackson?

Dixie Farrior was born May 6, 1860, in Louisiana, to loving Christian parents. She married James Green Jackson in 1878, making their home in Dardanelle where they attended First Baptist Church.

Asked how she came to possess her apparent in-depth biblical insight as a busy mom of eight, Dixie responded that she was adept at churning butter, rocking the cradle, and reading her Bible all at the same time.

After moving to Little Rock in 1904, Dixie served as Chairwoman for the Executive Board of Arkansas Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU), and in 1914 became Executive Director.

Her greatest fulfillment came from traveling the state, training women, and spreading the message of Arkansas Baptist missions efforts. Her passion for missions led Dixie to ask the Arkansas WMU President to establish a week of prayer for Arkansas missions.

First held in 1926, the effort was soon instituted as a yearly week of prayer.

An offering was later added to aid projects statewide. In 1935, six years after her death, the offering was named the Dixie Jackson Offering for State Missions.

S

DIXIE JACKSON ARKANSAS MISSIONS OFFERING 2025 | 5

tories have the power to stir

them to stop speaking in the name of

His teachings, Jesus frequently

is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or

us in ways nothing else can. In referenced familiar stories

from Scripture, recalling the

lives of Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Jonah, and others. His daily interactions with people

Jesus. Their response is adamant: “Which to Him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

The simple distinction of being with

created stories that would burn in the

Jesus, of hearing and living in His story,

to come.

that they could not stop talking about it!

hearts and minds of His followers for years In Acts 3-4, we find Peter and John in

impacted Peter and John’s lives so greatly That is the focus of this year’s Dixie

the temple where they encounter and

Jackson Arkansas Missions emphasis.

The priests and religious leaders

has the name of Jesus impacted your

heal a lame beggar in the name of Jesus. arrest them for questioning, but

struggle to know what to do with these

uneducated, ordinary men whose only distinction is that they had been with

Jesus. They release the men, instructing

What have you seen and heard? How

life? Take your place in the narrative.

Don’t hold back from sharing all you

have seen and heard God do in your life and the lives of those around you.

SEEN + HEARD

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01 STORIES

Story

“

SEEN + HEARD

It’s true. We can do a lot more together than we can individually.

JIM LAGRONE

A

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rkansas Baptists are

an avenue for the local church to

“We have it drilled

“A church close to our house

missions people.

into us from a young

age,” said Owensville

Baptist Church Pastor Jim Lagrone.

One of Lagrone’s favorite state

missions opportunities is the One

Day Acts 1:8 Missions Experience, an annual opportunity for Arkansas Baptists to impact lostness in a specific area within the state.

Partnering with the churches

of a local association, Arkansas Baptists from across the state spend five hours on the first

meet needs and share the Gospel. hosted an event

and the people with needs showed up.

Arkansas Baptists

were able to meet

some of those needs.

I was told there was a man from Fort

Worth, Texas, and

another from Tulsa, Oklahoma,

which illustrates the needs people have,” he said.

Additionally, Lagrone touted

Saturday in October serving in

Arkansas Baptist Disaster Relief.

outreach and children’s ministries

home when we lived in the Bryant

various ministries. From community to block parties and more, Lagrone said One Day brings “a whole

experience.” He has seen and heard first-hand the impact of the event.

“We were part of a One Day

experience about two years ago in

“I had a tornado not far from our

area. DR teams were cutting and

trimming trees. We lost 29 trees that day. Without disaster relief teams, it would probably still be a mess,” he said.

Lagrone said all these missions

the Hot Springs area,” he said. “Our

opportunities are made possible

that day.… The One Day experience

Baptists” giving to the Dixie Jackson

church had 12 pray to receive Christ was incredible for our church. If

anybody has a chance to do one, they’re just crazy not to.”

Lagrone has also seen

and heard the impact of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention

“through the generosity of Arkansas Arkansas Missions Offering. They are also great examples of Arkansas Baptists working together.

“It’s true. We can do a lot

more together than we can individually,” he said.

Missions Team’s Medical +

Dental Clinics,

which serve as Jim Lagrone

One Day, funded by the Dixie Jackson Arkansas Missions Offering, brings Arkansas Baptists together to make an eternal difference in one targeted area of our state each year.

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02 STORIES

Story

“

SEEN + HEARD

I’ve watched as the Lord has

stretched students

and taken them out of their comfort zones while they share their faith or complete a missions project.

LAURA BRAMLETT

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aura Bramlett has

had a front-row seat at Engage Camp for the past four years,

witnessing firsthand the

impact it has on students.

The missions camp combines

biblical teaching, worship,

evangelism, fun, and fellowship with hands-on ministry opportunities to

help equip students to be engaged full-time in God’s mission.

“Every year, I’ve watched as the

Lord has stretched students and taken them out of their comfort

her to go overseas on short-term trips,

from Haiti and Belgium to West Africa.

Bramlett also had the opportunity

to serve through the

International Mission Board

Journeyman Program. While in New Orleans for seminary, she led GA and taught

girls about state missions in Louisiana. When she

eventually came to Arkansas, she got involved with the

state convention as well as Arkansas Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU).

Over the years, she has had

zones while they share their faith

the opportunity to travel and

she said. “Engage has most of the

mission opportunities such as

or complete a missions project,” elements of a typical summer

camp, but missions is the number one focus. Every aspect of camp

has a purpose and meaning. Even the organized recreation times

teach the students about the world and why it’s important that we share Jesus with others.”

Churches of all sizes are able to

be involved with several state

Family Missions Day at the Zoo, a missions discipleship event that

gives families the opportunity to

meet missionaries and learn about missions in Arkansas and around

the world. The event highlights how “missions can be a part of your everyday life.”

Through her involvement,

bring their students for a fun week

Bramlett has seen and heard

disciples who make disciples.

Jackson Arkansas Missions

of camp that focuses on making

Bramlett’s first experience with

state missions goes back to when she was a

teenager in Florida and got involved one summer with Girls in

Action (GA)/

Acteens Camp. It

opened doors for

firsthand the impact of Dixie

and the cooperative efforts of Arkansas Baptists.

“There are so many

different ways to

be involved that Dixie Jackson Arkansas

Missions offers,” she said.

Laura Bramlett

Reaching Arkansas for Christ involves preparing the next generation to be missionsminded.

Dixie Jackson funded ministries such as Engage Camp help ignite a passion for being on mission.

DJ AMBAS HOW TO BE A

BECOME A DJ AMBASSADOR Like Mrs. Dixie Jackson herself, sometimes all it takes is one

person to inspire an entire church to become actively involved in

Arkansas Missions. You could be that one person!

Start by talking to your pastor.

Ask if you can take responsibility

for educating your church family about Dixie Jackson Arkansas

Missions. As more people learn

about the opportunities available,

ask for volunteers to help coordinate church-wide missions events.

Many Arkansas Baptists know

that there is an annual offering taken up for state missions, but they don’t know how that offering is used or

why the offering is named after a

woman named Dixie Jackson. You can help!

Next, educate yourself. How much

do you know about Dixie Jackson and the state missions offering,

week of prayer, and mission work

that carry her name? Here are a few avenues to explore:

zz Visit absc.org/dj to learn about

Dixie Jackson, dive into this year’s theme, and explore the variety of resources available there.

zz Sign up for the monthly electronic newsletter at absc.org/subscribe.

zz Follow “Arkansas Baptists” on

social media to see all that is happening around the state.

As you process through the

various resources, you’ll probably notice that Arkansas missions

efforts rely on more than just the

annual offering. They also depend on Arkansas Baptists just like you!

Your next step is learning how to get involved.

ASSADOR

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IN YOUR CHURCH

Prepare

Promote

Participate

zz Pray about your church’s

zz Put up posters that your church

zz Guide your church to pray daily

involvement zz Talk to your pastor about how you can help zz Plan to participate with resources found at absc.org/dj zz Set a giving goal for your church zz Use the resources found at absc.org/dj to plan lessons for all ages

+

Discover a full range of promotional resources, including videos to share online and in your church, at

ABSC.ORG/DJ

will receive in the mail along with any other display ideas you may have zz Distribute the prayer guides zz Make offering envelopes available

from the prayer guide

zz Watch the video available at

absc.org/dj zz Share on social media from the resources found at absc.org/dj and tag us on Facebook, Instagram, and X zz Collect your church’s offering (see back cover for ways to give)

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03 STORIES

Story

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SEEN + HEARD

I told him ... ‘God loves you ... trust in Him, and He’ll see you through it.’

SANDRA VALDEZ

I

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t was an amazing day.”

He doesn’t want this for you. We

described her first time

You put your faith and trust in Him,

That’s how Sandra Valdez volunteering with the

One Day Acts 1:8 Missions

Experience in October 2024. She was excited to share what she had seen and heard.

Valdez, a member at First Baptist

Church in Jacksonville, was one

of the more than 1,500 Arkansas

Baptists from across the state who

descended on north Pulaski County

all have a path we have to take. and He’ll see

you through it.’ A

couple of the other ladies and men

talked with him as

well, and he ended up making his

profession of faith,” Valdez said.

The homeless

to serve as the hands and feet of

individual was

together as a community to serve

Valdez’s team

Jesus. She said everybody came the community.

For One Day, Valdez’s team

provided food, haircuts, showers

and more, as well as the opportunity to hear the Gospel. “We were just

open to the community,” she said, sharing God’s love.

One person they served was

one of 10 people reported who gave their lives to Christ that day. “God just made it all work.

It was really a rewarding day. The

professions of faith were wonderful,” she said.

Valdez said her team was made

a homeless individual who was

up primarily of volunteers from

considering ending his life by

on October 4, 2025

having a rough time and was

jumping in front of a car. Valdez

Jonesboro—the location for One Day “I recommend [One Day]. I would

knew the man from having served

say to anybody that was thinking

Jacksonville area every Monday for

do it, you’ll want to stay doing it,”

food to the homeless in the more than two years.

“I talked with him,

about it, do it. Because once you she said.

and I told him, ‘You know me, and I know you and, yes, times are hard, but you know God

loves you, and Sandra Valdez

An army of volunteers puts hands and feet to the Gospel during One Day, serving the physical and spiritual needs of Arkansans.

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Story

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If you are reaching every college campus, you are reaching the nations. Why wouldn’t we be a part of that?

HANNAH ZIRBEL

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rowing up, Hannah

being disobedient to the Lord and

with Girls in Action

of us,” Zirbel said. “It’s a form of

Zirbel was involved (GA), One Day, and

more. Missions was

just part of life.

“I was fortunate to grow up in a

scenario and circumstance where

I had people around me who loved the Lord. It was how they lived, so it

His Word and what He commands discipleship and

a form of helping people grow and spurring on to what the Lord

calls them to do.”

Zirbel

was how I lived. It was the culture,”

attended college

college ministry for Woodland

where she got

she said. Now, as the director of

Heights Baptist Church in Conway, Zirbel is continuing that culture.

One thing she does each year is

take a handful of college students from the church to the One Day

Acts 1:8 Missions Experience. She

urges them to participate in doorto-door evangelism with her. She recalled two girls who had been

nervous at first, worried they would

in Conway,

involved with the

Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM).

Her experiences

with BCM helped her grow in

her faith and

fueled her call to ministry.

“When I felt the call to ministry,

mess up, but once they did it, that

a lot of it was because I had been

Eager to share what they had seen

the BCM. That helped show me this

nervousness turned to excitement. and heard, they asked Zirbel if

they could do more evangelism at their church.

“Yeah, we can,” Zirbel said.

Zirbel saw her students become

more confident in their faith and sharing the Good News.

“If we are not

living our lives in the community

and sharing the

given opportunities to lead through is what I am passionate about,” she said. “It’s opened a lot of doors.”

By supporting Arkansas Baptists,

Zirbel said people are helping to

reach every college campus, “and if you are reaching every

college campus, you are reaching the nations. Why

wouldn’t we be a part of that?”

Gospel, then we are completely

Hannah Zirbel

On more than 30 college campuses throughout Arkansas, Baptist Collegiate Ministries are making disciples and future leaders.

S

een and heard” is a frequent refrain

throughout

Scripture—Old and New Testaments alike. It’s a

theme that reminds us that our invisible God

is ever-present with us day by day in a very

real way, working in us, for us, and through us

The people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had paid attention to them and that He had seen their misery, they knelt low and worshiped.

—Exodus 4:31

for the whole world to

You said, “Look, the Lord our God has shown us His glory and greatness, and we have heard His voice from the fire.

Today we have seen that God speaks with a person, yet he still lives.”

SEEN + H —Deuteronomy 5:24

witness.

Just as we heard, so we have seen in the city of the Lord of Armies, in the city of our God; God will establish it forever. Selah —Psalm 48:8

Go and tell Hezekiah, “This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I am going to add fifteen years to your life.”

—Isaiah 38:5

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told.

—Luke 2:20

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What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life.

Since you will be a witness for Him to all people of what you have seen and heard.

“Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news”

See, we count as blessed those who have endured.

You have heard of Job’s endurance and have seen the outcome that the Lord brought about— the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

—Acts 22:15

Do what you have learned and received and heard from Me, and seen in Me, and the God of peace will be with you.

—Philippians 4:9

HEARD —1 John 1:1

—Luke 7:22

—James 5:11

What we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

—1 John 1:3

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A WORD FROM OUR

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

“

Spiritual lostness in Arkansas is a challenge before us. ... nearly half of residents are unchurched in our state. Can you imagine the challenge Dixie would issue to us today?

DR. REX HORNE

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early 100 years

through the One Day Acts 1:8

encouraged the

multiple evangelism opportunities.

ago, Dixie Jackson state to take the first offering for

missions efforts in Arkansas in

connection with a week of prayer. In 1926, $1,000 was given for missions

efforts in Arkansas. The 1920s was a challenging time in Arkansas and

America. There was the challenge of war, depression, and scarcity.

Dixie Jackson died in 1929, the year the stock market and America’s economy collapsed.

There are still challenges

today. In that first year of the state missions offering, there were just

over 1,000 churches in the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, and

they reported over 9,700 baptisms.

At that time, the population of

Arkansas was 1.8 million, according

to census data. Currently, our state population is more than 3 million.

The ABSC has over 1,400 churches

reporting 8,500+ baptisms in 2024.

Spiritual lostness in Arkansas is

a challenge before us. According

to the Association of Religious Data

Missions Experience that provides Additionally, medical+ dental clinics provide opportunities to

meet physical and spiritual needs. We

have opportunities

on college campuses across the state

through the work of

Baptist Collegiate Ministries that is seeing lives changed in next-gen

students. We have opportunities to respond immediately to disasters that strike with trained and skilled Arkansas Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers who serve with their hands and heart to share the

Gospel. We have opportunities

to assist local churches through training events and church

revitalization. All these opportunities and others are advanced through your giving that impacts Arkansas

ministries. One hundred percent of

the Dixie Jackson offering is used for missions efforts in our home state.

From $1,000 in 1926 to the

Archives, nearly half of residents are

possibility of reaching $2,000,000

imagine the challenge Dixie and her

your giving through the Dixie

unchurched in our state. Can you

contemporaries would issue to us

today? Although these are troubling days in our nation and world, we are blessed. We have endless opportunities.

Think of the opportunities for a

moment. We have the opportunity

to impact communities and families

(yes, million!) in the next year, Jackson Arkansas Missions

Offering strengthens what we do together as Arkansas Baptists.

Thank you, Arkansas Baptists, for all you have done. May we seize

the opportunities we have today to share what we have seen and heard!

Dr. Rex Horne, ABSC Executive Director

+ Online at ABSC.ORG/DJ

+ Send a check directly to ABSC

+ Through your church

WAYS TO GIVE

YOU NEED TO SEE + HEAR ABOUT THE DIXIE JACKSON ARKANSAS MISSIONS OFFERING

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