Doug Doster’s faith fuels a global outreach, though the 85-year-old former grocer has worn out a path to Mexico. His tireless service transforms lives through sharing the Gospel and tending to the needs of the poor.
If there was just one epithet that could be added to Doug Doster, it might well be “Man on a Mission.” Grounded in faith and marked by service, that mission has often led the 85-year-old to distant places around the globe. As a young boy, he rarely ventured far from his home in Porterdale, where he was born and raised. “Growing up,” he said, “I had no idea that I would ever go outside the United States.” However, as a young man, Doster saw horizons expand and borders disappear. “I’ve just always had a desire and a heart to help people,” he said. “The Lord opens the doors, and I stumble in.” To date, Doster has visited Cuba, India and the Philippines, but he has most often traveled to Mexico, sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ and helping to feed the poor along the way.
Looking back, Doster remembers growing up in church and feeling a “spark of interest” whenever a visiting missionary came to speak. The spark ignited a flame inside Doster when, in his 30s, a chance meeting at a South Georgia Methodist Conference led to an invitation to go on a mission trip to Monterey, Mexico.
“I just kind of fell in love with the people there,” Doster said, “and God began to give me opportunities to go [on other mission trips].”
For a time, the work was mostly evangelical: “going, sharing, preaching.” Then Doster heard a Mexican seminary student share a stirring story about a poor, single mother and her children. With tear-filled eyes and halting voice, Doster relived the pivotal moment. “She told how these kids would go to sleep at night with hunger pains—crying,” he said, “and well, the Lord moved on my heart to start a feeding ministry down there.” Ten days later, Doster had finalized plans for a trip to Monterey, and $10,000 was donated for the effort. Upon arriving in Mexico, Doster met a local dentist named Dina Gomez who shared his vision to assist the poor in that area. “The Lord put us together,” he said, “and we began to raise money and to build and set up feeding stations.” The small concrete-block buildings served as a place where meals could be cooked and handed out while also functioning as a place of worship on Sundays. “We did the feeding ministry for a good many years and, for whatever reason, it ran its course,” he said. One door had closed but another, born of tragedy, would soon open.
“The Lord opens the doors, and I stumble in.”
Doug Doster
On July 15, 2000, Doster and his volunteer team of five men and one woman had just wrapped up a mission trip to Delicias, Mexico, where they had helped build a house for a native pastor. As they were making their way back home in the early hours of that fateful morning, the van in which they were traveling strayed from a Texas highway into the median and flipped over. Injuries from the crash ranged from none to minor to a broken leg. Doster suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung. Two of the men did not survive. One of them, south Georgia native Dillon Smith, was a recent acquaintance of Doster. The other was 27-year-old Matt Allen, Doster’s good friend and fellow church member.
“My life was spared, but I was broke up physically, mentally, spiritually,” he said. “I thought this would be an end to the mission we were doing in Mexico.” The day of the accident and the ones that followed were difficult for Doster. “You always ask ‘Why?’” he said. “And you never really get an answer.”
Four months later, Doster was working as an independent grocer and found himself on an early morning run to Atlanta Farmers Market to pick up produce when the Lord began to slowly open another door. “I got the idea that we could do Christmas gifts, like Samaritan’s Purse, for those children down in Mexico—first of all to honor the Lord Jesus Christ and, second, in memory of Matt and Dillon,” he said. With just a few weeks remaining before Christmas, Doster set an ambitious goal of 1,000 shoeboxes, each filled with a toy, a bit of clothing, personal hygiene products, school supplies and a note, written in Spanish, with the gospel message. With the help of his church and “a few buddies” in south Georgia, the goal was reached. “We lit out for the border with a thousand gifts in the church trailer and no idea how we would get them across the border,” he said. “We ran into all kinds of roadblocks.” After two days of trying unsuccessfully to accommodate Mexican customs regulations, the decision was made to try another border crossing. “I still don’t know how we got through, but somehow, grace of God, we got to Monterey and went to some of those poverty areas where the feeding stations were and delivered the gifts,” he said. Mission accomplished.
Doster and his teams have repeated the benevolent enterprise annually since 2000. The process of getting the gifts across the border and into the hands of Mexican children has improved dramatically. Utilizing contacts on both sides of the border, arrangements are made for local pastors along the south side to cross into the United States at strategic points, pick up the gifts and return to distribute them. It is a win-win for Doster and his team, as they avoid excise taxes on the gifts and minimize the likelihood of contact with increasingly dangerous cartels.
Over the years, Doster has made multiple evangelistic mission trips to Cuba, India and the Philippines. However, he has practically worn a path to Mexico, making the journey over 100 times to share the Good News and show the love of Jesus by feeding and caring for the poor. Doster is already training others to ensure the Christmas gift shoebox ministry outlives him.
“As long as the doors stay open and the help stays good, we’re going to continue to do what we’re doing,” he said. The mission is currently supported by several local churches, including Julia A. Porter Church, Dovestone Church, Gaithers United Methodist Church and Stewart Community Church, as well as Gatewood Schools in Eatonton.
Doster shares life and love with Carole, his wife of 57 years. “She has played a huge part in my ministry through prayer and seeing after things when I was away,” he said. Doster reflected on the motivation behind all his missionary endeavors.
“My purpose in life is to grow the population of heaven and to help hurting people,” he said. “God opens the door, and sometimes, we walk through it not knowing how whatever we’ve been called to is going to get accomplished, but some way, somehow, He makes a way.”
A Sacrifice Remembered
Emblazoned on the side of the trailer that transports gifts from Doster’s ministry are these words: “OPERATION 405 SHOEBOX MINISTRY — to Mexican Children — In Memory of Matt Allen & Dillon Smith.” Shoeboxes have actually been replaced by plastic bags, as they are easier to pack. “405” references the weight Matt Allen was able to bench press as a 15-year-old fighting back from the weakening effects of chemotherapy used to treat a brain tumor.
Click here to read more stories by David Roten.
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