DOUG AND BRENDA LEE | NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA


HARVEST IN THE HEARTLAND


By Mickey Noah F


or the last 12 years, Doug Lee has served as direc- tor of missions for the vast Oregon Trail Baptist Association, based in North Platte, Neb. Geographi- cally, the Oregon Trail Association is huge— spanning 400 miles by 200 miles.


“We range from very desolate places to little tiny towns to North Platte,” says Doug, who typically puts 60,000 ministry miles a year on his red Toyota Camry. On Thursdays, he and his wife, Brenda, make the 300-mile trek to lead a Bible study in Hastings. Every Sunday night, the couple travels 100 miles round-trip to Ogallala, where Doug is pastor of Ogallala Com- munity Church.


“The people living out here in western Nebraska have a strong work ethic,” says Doug.


“A lot of that comes from the early days when the settlers came. There was nothing here—no towns, no schools, no railroads. They built things from scratch, so people here are very independent and self-sufficient.”


came in later to work in the meat-packing plants. Add an influx of Sudanese, Indians and city- dwellers—moving out of Omaha and Lincoln to rural areas—and Doug’s mission field suddenly


When the settlers came there was nothing here—no towns, no schools, no railroads. They built things from scratch, so people here are very independent and self-sufficient.”


ON MISSION • Spring 2011 17


But Anglos are not the only ones here with a pioneering spirit and strong work ethic. There are the Native Americans in Nebraska who got here first. Ne- braska’s first Hispanic immigrants arrived years ago to work in the soybean and potato fields. A second wave


PHOTOS BY JOHN SWAIN


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