Daylon Hick's Story: A Blessed Hope

Growing up, Daylon Hick’s family didn’t attend church as his parents ran a small store and worked there from “can till can’t,” as they say.

For some reason, his mother and two younger sisters started visiting First Baptist Church in the nearby town of Point Comfort, Texas. One Sunday, someone gave the invitation, and the Holy Spirit convicted Daylon so strongly that he started crying and hurried down front, surprised by the Holy Spirit.

Daylon graduated from high school in 1955 and returned home after spending some time in the army. He soon met his sister’s roommate, Lynda. Eight years later, Lynda became Daylon’s forever roommate as they were married and shortly thereafter called to the mission field.

The Hicks planned to go to the British Virgin Islands and considered building a boat to help reach the islands with the Gospel. Lynda said, “If you’re going to build a boat, build one large enough to live on. So began the work to build a ferro-cement boat, the “Blessed Hope.” The boat measured 51 feet by 17 feet wide, had four cabins below, and took five years of long hours, from start to finish. The Hicks moved it 250 miles down to the coast and set sail in 1973. They had five children and one on the way.

Together, they were able to reach people for the Lord Jesus Christ as they traveled through the islands — ultimately settling and serving in Haiti for 16 years. All told, the Hicks served for 55 years in missions and were married for 58 years until Lynda went to be with her Lord.

In the years following, Daylon found himself in financial difficulty. His age began to prevent him from traveling and serving like he used to. “I could not make it through the month in my current financial situation,” he said. Daylon’s son, Tim, referred him to Mission:Dignity® who quickly came alongside to help. Now, Daylon is thrilled to be able to make ends meet, still serve where he can and spend time with family – all because of Mission:Dignity.