Douglas Beason was born the night before Thanksgiving in 1922 in Bellefontaine, Ohio. At the age of eight, he accepted Christ as Savior in a little country church in Indianapolis Indiana. At the age of twelve, he yielded his life to full time service while at a summer Bible Camp.
    Throughout his teenage years, high school and college days, he intended to be a foreign missionary. He participated in church youth outreach activities, taught mission Sunday School classes, played musical instruments, sang in youth-choir in vacant churches, distributed tracts, participated in jail service, county home services -- everything and every place possible.
    While in Bob Jones University he attended all the Mission Prayer Bands seeking God’s leading to any field. He preached every weekend, led music or served in some way in area mission churches. Just before graduation from college, several invitations came to serve large churches and small churches. Douglas, sensing God’s leading and blessing, chose to pastor a brand new local Baptist church in Springfield, Ohio.
    While in Springfield, the church grew from a couple dozen to over a hundred members. He organized a Gospel team for various churches to conduct jail services, street meetings. He started the Clark County Youth for Christ, He served as South Bethel Youth Leader for Southern Ohio. He served as State Camp Registrar and a Postal Evangelism program, plus a weekly radio program.
    Dr. Bob Wells was invited to come to town and conduct a City Wide Evangelistic Crusade. It was at this time that he met his wife-to-be. Arlene Reinhold sang with the Minneapolis Ladies Quintet and Douglas refereed to her as his Swedish Nightingale. They married a year and a half later in June of 1949.
    For six more years, they ministered in the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Toledo, Ohio and then it was off to California. In California Douglas attended the Los Angeles Baptist Theological Seminary. During that time he pastored the Bible Baptist Church in Santa Monica. After graduation, they accepted the call to pastor the First Baptist Church of Sedro Woolley Washington. After sex years in each of those two churches, they accepted an invitation from Bethel Baptist Church of Kalamazoo to be their full-time visitation pastor. Through the years, with the changing of staff, he served as Music Director, Youth Pastor, Interim Senior Pastor as well as Visitation. Through the years they worked constantly in Youth Camps, Mission Board member, etc.
    After 11 years in Kalamazoo, they chose to retire. For the next six months are retirement he preached every Sunday but one. They discovered that they hadn’t really retired. After three invitations, they finally returned to the pastorate by accepting the call of Maplelawn Baptist Church. He would pastor for eight years and associate pastor for another 5, with two succeeding pastors. It was during these years they them became a part of the Committee On Missionary Evangelism as a Board Member and soon as its General Director.
    COME (as the mission was called) had seven missionary evangelists at the time. In the next few years it grew from 7 to 25 – available to go anywhere in the world to preach the gospel. They worked mainly with other mission agencies and mission churches. While leading the mission, they also did all the office work of accounting and communication. After 13 years of growth and leadership, they stepped down to serve as General Secretary, retaining all the office responsibilities. For various and different reasons, the total number of missionary evangelists has dropped to 13.
    Currently, Rev. Douglas and Arlene Beason serve with C.O.M.E. (Committee On Missionary Evangelism). In addition, Pastor Beason is the Calling Pastor for Middleville Baptist Church.
    They have three grown children: Paul, Joy (Bill) and Tim (Lori) and four grandchildren.

Wedding Anniversary: June 3
Birthdays: Doug, Nov. 29; Arlene, Oct. 28