For Argeline Yarbrough, or “Miss Argeline” as most know her, the missions field is not only a place you go to witness and minister. It is a place within arm’s reach.
“You don’t have to pack up and go,” Yarbrough said. “As you go wherever God puts you for that day, you have opportunities (to witness).”
Yarbrough will retire as sales associate in charge of the gift department at LifeWay Chris- tian Store in Birmingham May 24 after 20 years to write books about her experiences serving God.
“I’m not retiring,” Yarbrough said. “ I’m changing my missions field.
“I would like to be able, in my writing, to help people realize that to go into the world is for everybody. To realize what it could mean in their life and spiritual growth to be a missionary as they go into the world.”
And as she goes is when Yarbrough carries out her missions work. Wherever she is, Yarbrough keeps an eye open for opportunities to witness.
“Just anybody that gets close enough,” Yarbrough laughed. “Everyone, whether saved or lost.”
When she gets a break from work, Yarbrough can often be found outside handing out tracts or taking a moment to sit on a bench and talk. “I go just as there’s time, or as the Lord brings it to mind.”
She does not discriminate between Christians or non-Christians, because, as she says, “If they’re lost, they need it, and if they’re saved, I challenge them to share it with others.”
Yarbrough said she thinks fear is why many Christians in America hesitate to openly witness to others. But she has found in her nearly 50 missions trips at home and abroad that people are open to hearing about God.
“I believe that God is preparing people’s hearts to hear the gospel all over the world,” Yarbrough said. “And I don’t believe He would leave America out.
“Very seldom have I had anyone refuse a tract or Bible,” she said. “I pray before I go (witness) that God will prepare people’s hearts.”
Yarbrough is president of the Gideon’s Auxiliary, has worked with the International Mission Board and the Birmingham Baptist Association and is a member of First Baptist Church, Center Point. She is also a two-time president of her church’s Women on Mission.
“That’s where I got my basic training as far as missions and what a missionary does,” Yarbrough said. “It informed me of the different areas of witnessing and evangelism.”
The church also introduced Yarbrough to her main concern. “I have been trained, and have trained, others to evangelize. That’s my biggest interest, training others to evangelize.”
“I feel like the Lord, through the power of His Holy Spirit, guided my life to this point,” Yarbrough said.
“The first title that God gave me was “On Mission for the King,” Yarbrough said. “It means that as a Christian, every person should share, go and tell.”
LifeWay will hold a reception May 31 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to honor “Miss Argeline.”
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