MEET THE STAFF

Pastor Matt Hudson

Pastor Hudson has served at Bella Vista Baptist Church since 2014. He was a teenager at Bella Vista during the 1980's while his father, Bob Hudson, was on staff as an evangelist. It was during one of the late Pastor Clyde Gilman's messages that God called Matt as a 15 year old boy to the ministry. He graduated from Bible College in 1994, where he majored in Pastoral Theology. In 1995, he and his family began deputation as missionaries to the former U.S.S.R. and specifically the country of Ukraine.

Pastor Hudson attended Russian language school in Belarus, and then moved to Ukraine to begin a church planting ministry. God used them to start a church in Kyiv, Ukraine in 1998. God blessed and allowed that church to grow to maturity and then sent them to another city in Ukraine to plant a second church in 2004. They served as missionaries for a total of 17 years. After nearly 18 years of marriage, Matt's first wife went home to be with the Lord after a short battle with cancer.

God allowed Matt and Johanna to meet while attending an Enrichment Week at Baptist International Missions Inc., and they were married in 2014.

In 2019, God placed upon Pastor Hudson's heart and the Bella Vista Baptist Church to start the Bella Vista Baptist Camp. The camp ministers to churches spanning from Texas to California.

Pastor Hudson enjoys spending time with his family. Pastor and Mrs. Hudson have four children: Daniel, Rachel, Deborah and Lydia

Don Rardin

PRINCIPAL

Bro. Don Rardin serves as the Assistant Pastor of Bella Vista Baptist Church and the Principal of Christian Heritage Academy. He and his wife Dawn met at Bible College in the 1980's. Bro. Don is originally from Illinois and his wife is from Michigan. He has served as an assistant pastor and school administrator for over 25 years in both Illinois and Texas. They have three married children: Caleb, Brianna, and Andrew, and they have six grandchildren.