Hometown: Pulaski, Tennessee
Present City: Harlingen/Dallas
Education: A.S., Samford; B.A., UT–Brownsville; Clinical Pastoral Education Residency, Valley Baptist Health System; Master of Divinity, Logsdon Seminary.
Profession: CEO of Human Development/Spiritual Formation for the Mann Family and outreach; former chaplain in Clinical Pastoral Care at VBHS and Rio Grande Valley Hospices.
Tell us about your family.
David and I have been married over 41 years. Our stories mirrored, and our vocational callings to “foreign fields” were shared. We became engaged at Samford about four weeks after our first group date — to a Truth concert. My mission field quickly became our four children, born within five years in two states. As they grew, so did our areas of outreach. Our family now includes Carley (James), Evan (Kelly), Elliott (Elle) and Drew (Rhi). Our grandchildren — Ruby, Francis, Claire, Kirk, Evlan and Kai — range from 3 to 19 years old. David and I also share my elder parents and extended family with my younger brother Noel (Rene), along with our nephew Timmy and niece Abby. Family is a wide, blessed circle for us.
How about your faith journey?
I cannot ever remember not knowing God. I was the one who asked my mother to teach me to pray — though I had never heard her pray aloud. One of my earliest theological memories is watching men in Sunday suits on TV sing “Jesus Loves Me.” At 3 years old, I asked my mother why they sang like Jesus only loved them. She wisely told me, “We’re all supposed to sing along.” Later, in rural Tennessee, I caught the school bus at dawn and was discipled in Christ’s ways by Lydia, the daughter of a Church of God minister. She taught me about Bible study, prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit. I began reading the Bible and praying nightly. Two gifts shaped me early on: The Living New Testament for Children and The World Book Encyclopedia. I professed my faith at 8, though my parents insisted I wait to be baptized until I was “of age.” I was baptized at 15 in a Southern Baptist church and answered God’s call to full-time ministry at 16. I expected to be a foreign missionary — probably to Africa. Learning firsthand from Scripture before formal church involvement gave me a priceless foundation, later built upon through theological education.
What’s something interesting most people wouldn’t know about you?
As an underclassman, I was once required to conduct a critical analysis of the entire curriculum published by the Baptist Sunday School Board. A daunting but eye-opening experience!