When Darryl Brunson and his family moved to Livingston, Montana, to plant a church in 2016, they didn’t know exactly how that process would look.
But they did know one thing — the community was going to need to see what the love of Jesus looks like.
Less than 10% of the population of Livingston claims Christianity, which was a bit of a “shock to the system” for Brunson, his wife, Veronica, and their children.
‘Started from scratch’
“We didn’t know anybody in town, so we started from scratch,” he said. “We just started serving in the community and meeting people, going to coffee shops and hanging out. Anything that could put you in people’s way, we did. That first year, we did all manner of community projects.”
They also hosted dozens of missions teams — many from their home state of Alabama — who could show the area a kind of love they’d never seen before. Before the Brunsons moved to Montana, he served as pastor of Tibbie Baptist Church. He also grew up at Grove Hill Baptist Church, and his wife grew up at Tompkins Baptist Church, Grove Hill.
Over the past six years, the area has been a sort of church planting factory for Montana — in 2014, Chris Baker, who at that time served as director of missions for Clarke Baptist Association, moved with his wife Kim and family to plant Summit Life Church in Whitefish, Montana.
Broken heart
Brunson brought a missions team from his church the following year, and God broke his heart for the lost there.
“We were over here one of those days and prayer walked Livingston, and we stood on the hill overlooking the town. Two of my deacons and I prayed for the next church planter,” he said. “Six months later, we realized it was us.”
And in late 2019, Morris Hill — then pastor of Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Thomasville— and his wife, Barbara, moved to St. Regis, Montana, to replant New Day Fellowship.
Along the way, others from Alabama also have lived and worked in the area or joined in the work by bringing missions teams.
For one, Kyle and Marisa Rosas and Bruce and Jessica Crockett — both with Scottsboro connections — planted Gateway Church in nearby Columbia Falls.
“It’s cool,” Brunson said. “God has definitely done a work in recent years in the heart of Alabama Baptists for Montana.”
After their first summer in Livingston, the Brunsons were able to gather a group for Bible study and a meal and from there launched worship gatherings for Expedition Church in May 2018. They’ve baptized 13 so far, including six recently baptized in the nearby Yellowstone River.
But when the pandemic hit, it brought Brunson’s plans for the year to a grinding halt.
“We had a huge year planned, and COVID-19 wiped that out,” he said, noting that 24 missions teams had been forced to cancel their plans to help out in Livingston this year. “Our teams also bring money with them to do projects, and we put that back into the community. We didn’t have that this year.”
That meant the community wasn’t getting the exposure to so much salt and light, something that had opened up avenues for conversations in the past, Brunson said.
So he got another idea — he posted on social media asking friends and family back home to help raise $50,000 for community needs for his 50th birthday. He called the effort #50for50.
At press time, Brunson had raised more than $46,000, around $34,000 of which came from Alabama Baptist churches and individuals.
With the money — all of which goes straight to the community — Expedition Church has been able to give $20,000 to meet needs at a local elementary school. They’ve also been able to help Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch, which provides support and counseling for foster families and foster children, and they’ve made progress toward buying a refrigerated box truck for a local food pantry and covering the cost of a service dog for a young girl in the church who has autism.
“God has truly been amazingly faithful,” Brunson said. “We have prayed for His favor with people we meet and for churches and individuals to partner with us. He has answered that prayer again and again.”
He asked for Alabama Baptists to pray for “God’s extravagant provision” to keep showing love to their community so that they might build relationships and see the gospel spread.
“No one loves Livingston like Jesus does, and we believe that the church should reflect that love,” Brunson said.
For more information about #50for50, visit facebook.com/ExpeditionMt.
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