At a stage in life when most couples would think in terms of slowing down, Bill and Janice Morris have put their lives in overdrive. In May 1996, shortly after Bill’s retirement, the two packed their belongings and moved to Wyoming as volunteers with the North American Mission Board (NAMB).
Morris now serves as full-time pastor of First Baptist Church, Hanna, Wyoming.
But the couple first came to the state as nonpaid workers, soon after Morris retired from his job in south Georgia as an industrial electrician. During his working years, the Sylacauga native had been licensed to preach, worked in jail ministries, gone on short-term missions trips and had been ordained as a minister.
The Morrises, like many Baptist leaders in Wyoming, receive both spiritual and economic support from churches of whom they have been a part. Among these is Concord Baptist Church, Calera, which has sent two groups on missions trips to help the Morrises in their work.
“We worked with young married couples at Concord, and many of them have been very supportive with their prayers,” Janice Morris said. “Also, Gary East, our pastor at Concord, preached a revival here. He’s now in Kosciusko, Miss., and some members of his congregation will be here next year. We also receive support from friends at churches in Wilsonville and Siluria, Ala., where we’ve lived.
“A church in Crestview, Fla., is sending us a sound system. And the Hahira Baptist Church, Hahira, Ga., where we belonged several years, sends offerings.
“We had always been interested in missions, and had served as volunteers in Nicaragua,” Janice Morris explained. “We were sure the Lord wanted us in missions work. We chose to stay in this country rather than go abroad. There are many, many people here in the United States who have spiritual needs.
“The culture and mindset of people in Wyoming is different from what we’re used to in the South. The climate is cold and much of the economy depends on tourism. So many people have to work two or three jobs just to eke out a living. They think they’ve struggled through and … don’t need Christ in their lives. Commitment levels to churches are low. If it’s time to hunt or fish, and they need to do that for food, they may not come to church for weeks,” she stated.
First assignment for the Morrises was at Cody, where they helped form a congregation that became Cornerstone Baptist Church, of which Morris was interim pastor. At this point they were still volunteers. Then Morris was called as interim pastor at a church in Laramie. Two years ago, they moved to Hanna, a former coal-mining town in the bleak hill country of southwestern Wyoming. In Hanna, the church provides the couple a salary and rental house.
They didn’t have to start from scratch in Hanna. The neat brick structure, built in the 1970s, includes a sanctuary, meeting rooms, offices, nursery and a spacious kitchen-dining room that is a hub for many community get-togethers. Attendance averages 45–50 weekly. According to Janice Morris, that’s a large congregation for southern Wyoming.
The Morrises soon learned that newcomers to Wyoming must prove themselves.
“People around here don’t care a lot about what you’ve got to say,” Bill Morris said. “They come to know you by your actions. That’s the way to reach them.”
Janice Morris gave an example: “One night the police brought three little children to our house. Their mother, a single parent, had suffered a gall bladder attack. We kept the children that weekend and later when their mother was recuperating from surgery. There were people in town who didn’t understand that. But it helped gain confidence in our work, and now they call my husband ‘Parson’ and ‘Pastor Bill.’ They come to him day and night.”
Literacy director
Along with her work at the church, Janice Morris, who is trained as a literacy consultant, also serves as director for NAMB’s state literacy program.
She drives all over the vast expanses of Wyoming (the size of Alabama and Georgia combined) in the couple’s ancient front-wheel drive Buick.
She’s learned to arm herself with matches, blankets, water, snacks and other supplies in case she has car trouble on the state’s sparsely traveled roads.
“The illiteracy rate is high in Wyoming, and there’s a need for this sort of training,” she said, noting she works with various ethnic groups, including Mexican immigrants and native Americans. “In our programs for adults, children and English as a second language, we can use the Bible as a textbook. They can’t do that in public programs.”
For the Morrises, their mission is clear — “We’ll be here until the Lord leads us somewhere else.”
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