A Burden for Boulder: World Missionary Couple Responds to God's Call Back to the U.S.

“It felt like a different, more divided, angry country,” U.S. missionary with Church Mobilization Paul Durbin says. After spending 11 years in Northern Asia as an Assemblies of God World Missions (AGWM) missionary, Paul and his family were experiencing reverse culture shock after moving back to the United States in 2019. Their newly appointed mission field – Boulder, Colorado – was a stark contrast compared to the hospitable and friendly culture they had just left.

“America had changed since we were gone,” Paul notes. Despite the challenges, the Durbins felt a strong calling to the people and city of Boulder.

Paul and Patty Durbin met while attending Trinity Bible College and got married following their sophomore year. They then started a traveling music ministry and have been in ministry together ever since, becoming youth pastors and then pastors in their home state of North Dakota. After 10 years of church ministry, they felt a calling to transition to become AGWM missionaries, and Paul, Patty, and their four children moved to Northern Asia in 2008.

The couple thought they were going to be there well into their 60s, but in 2018, both Paul and Patty felt a “surprise burden” for Boulder.

“We both sensed that God was really speaking to us about that city,” he says. They remarked that they had “never felt that clear of a calling before.”

The Durbins began the process of becoming U.S. missionaries in September 2019 and became fully commissioned in 2020. While packing, they labeled their stuff to be shipped to just “Boulder,” with no address line attached. Upon arriving in the U.S., they were still unsure how their ministry would unfold, only that the Lord would provide as they went. A week before they left, a couple offered to buy whatever house they picked to help them with their ministry. A year later, another couple reached out to them and offered to buy them a car.

“No other time in my ministry have I felt like the Lord has wanted us to expect beyond what we could think and imagine like right now,” Paul remarks. “God miraculously provides for us here.”

The Durbins’ ministry now includes a home-based church called Belay — a term from mountain climbing. To “belay” someone is to give enough slack on the rope for them to ascend while providing enough tension to catch them if they fall. Their church is built upon several core values, and what the Durbins envision is a space where people can belong, believe, become, and belay. Paul believes belonging should come before believing.

To begin tilling the soil of the community around them, the Durbins began to open their home for meals and worship services.

“One of the first things Jesus does in Matthew is show up for a meal. There is a reason why He was called a glutton,” says Paul. “We felt that opening our home for meals was the best thing we could do.”

A few weeks after moving to Boulder, they began having friends over for dinner every Friday night. A year later, they had already served approximately 1,500 plates of food.

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the area in 2020, the Durbins began to host Sunday morning worship in their home. Their small worship gathering evolved and grew into a church group of around 70 to 80 people. To accommodate the growth, they expanded the living room and added a nursery in their downstairs basement. The Durbins also began hosting a Tuesday night gathering for college students, attracting 30 to 40 students each week.

The Durbins still have meals in their home, now as a monthly potluck dinner on every first Friday of the month. It remains a key part of their ministry, as half of the families who come do not yet attend worship at Belay.

“My secret name for the dinners is our Matthew party,” Paul says, referring to Jesus dining at Matthew’s house in the Gospel of Matthew.

Throughout the years, the Durbins have been faithfully laying the foundation of Kingdom work, but being in ministry comes with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. However, each victory and loss is just a cobblestone in the grand path He leads us on.

When the Durbins first moved to Boulder, they found it hard to build long-lasting community, especially their youngest son in high school. In December 2022 they began to pray and fast for their children. In the middle of January, Samuel had a conversation with his classmate.

“This boy in my class (Dylan*) turned around and said, ‘I’m going to start bringing my Bible to school.’” Samuel asked if he was a Christian, to which he then replied, “I want to be.” Samuel invited him to their church, and Dylan went on to invite two other classmates.

In July 2023, Paul baptized all three in their front yard, with their unbelieving parents attending church that day. Now these boys are coming to church early on Sundays to have their own Bible study and have even preached at Belay.

There have been over 50 church plants that have tried and failed to take root in Boulder, and it has been over two decades since there has been an Assemblies of God church in the city. As the Durbins are looking to expand, their biggest need is patience for the long haul and continued fruitful community building.

“We don’t advertise. We just focus on building an authentic community,” Paul says.

The Durbins may eventually seek a building for their church, but they are leaving that in God’s hands.

“God has trained us to expect miracles,” Paul says. “We are just going to keep praying and trusting for miracles from Him.”

*Name changed for privacy.