In 2016, Don E. Atkinson felt led by God to found Day by Day in the Word, an evangelical, non-denominational, Christian ministry. Part of this leading was to write Christian educational materials to help fellow believers of all denominations. Further, he established a webpage, daybydayintheword.org, to help reach out to the worldwide public with his Christian educational resources. To help fellow believers increase their knowledge of the Bible and God and develop their faith, he wrote two devotionals in an expository format: “Day by Day in Ephesians” and “Day by Day with Hebrews.” In these devotionals, he covers every verse in Ephesians and Hebrews chronologically. His goal is to publish his third book, a Bible study guide, “Day by Day with Messianic Prophecies,” by the end of 2023.
Mr. Atkinson became a Christian at the age of 10 while attending a children’s summer camp. He commenced his Christian education and ministry career by teaching a children’s Sunday school class in 1964. Beginning in 1977, he has also been involved in a lay-preaching ministry, having preached in five states. From 1975 to 1977, he served as the chaplain of his adult Sunday school class in Tyler, Texas. During the last year, he participated in its weekly, 30-minute radio broadcasts, which were aired over radio stations in the Tyler area. In later years, he taught adult Sunday school classes and Bible studies in Missouri and Nebraska.
Mr. Atkinson pursued formal education in the fields of biology and natural resources. He attended Southern Nazarene University and Colorado State University (CSU), earning a Bachelor of Science in wildlife biology from CSU in 1970. In 1976, he completed his Master of Science in the same field from Texas A&M University. From 1986 to 1988, Mr. Atkinson attended two seminaries, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. At both seminaries, he worked toward a Master of Divinity degree.
In 1973, Mr. Atkinson began his natural resources career as a wildlife technician for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department until 1977. Subsequently, he worked for the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) as a soil conservationist in three duty locations in Nebraska from 1979 to 1983. From 1983 to the end of 1985, he held a district conservationist position in Minnesota. In 1990, Mr. Atkinson resumed his conservation career, taking a soil conservationist position with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (U.S. Department of the Interior) at the Winnebago Agency in Nebraska. In 2002, he began working as a resource conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA–NRCS) in Nebraska, retiring in 2010. Both the NRCS and the Bureau of Indian Affairs recognized Mr. Atkinson on several occasions for his commitment to the field of soil and water conservation.
Mr. Atkinson has a desire to minister to people, especially Christians of all denominations, both in this country and in other countries. You are encouraged to visit his web page and learn more about Day by Day in the Word ministry. Please feel free to contact him if you have suggestions for future Christian educational materials or if you have biblical questions that you would like him to address. Mr. Atkinson wishes God’s richest blessings on each and every one.
