Forty Under 40: Dexter L. Howard

Dexter L. Howard, 32, signed to play football for the University of Oklahoma, but when Barry Switzer got fired in 1989 Howard was allowed to transfer and sign with another school. Then-Razorbacks Coach Ken Hatfield made sure he had a scholarship for the Little Rock native.

I really had a passion or a burden to begin a ministry in Northwest Arkansas, said Howard, who said hes known since he was 11 that he had a call from God to do something special.

After college, Howard worked for J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. as a logistics manager. Fear, he said, kept him from taking on ministry immediately. He then spent a few years in Fort Smith, first working as the western Arkansas area director of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and then as associate pastor of City Church. Howard returned to Fayetteville in 1997 as assistant director of on-campus programing for the University of Arkansas Alumni Association.

In November 1998, he launched Life Harvester Church on Government Avenue, and thats where he plans to stay. Howard and his wife both work for the church. He hopes to help the church grow and continue its active community ministry. The church has 300 partners.

Howard said his greatest joy is watching people meet their potential.