At the age of 6, I attended a Vacation Bible School at the church my family had begun attending.  My parents had been saved as children but backslidden, and it took a near tragedy to bring them back to church.
    While in VBS, my teacher talked about Heaven and sin and how those who have sinned and not trusted Jesus as their Savior would die and go to Hell.  Though I was only 6, I knew that I had sinned and I knew that I did not want to go to Hell.  After we bowed our heads, she asked if anyone wanted to know how to go to Heaven when they died instead of Hell.  I raised my hand.  After class she had me sit down with our Assistant Pastor and my mother to share the Gospel with me.  I prayed and asked the Lord to save me.
    As a teenager, I re-dedicated my life to the Lord and surrendered to do whatever God wanted.  I went to a Christian college where we often had missionaries and mission conferences, but I never thought God wanted me to do that.  God allowed me to meet and marry Stacy, and he had dedicated his life to Christian service as principal of a Christian school.  I became a teacher and for four years taught a various grades in Christian schools.  God moved us out of the ministry after that, but always kept teaching dear to my heart.
    After our 2007 missions trip to Peru, it became crystal clear to both Stacy and myself that God wanted us back in the ministry as missionaries ministering starting a Christian school for the children of the New Life Children’s Home and New Life Baptist Church in Cieneguilla, Peru.  I am excited to answer that call with my husband and to serve the Lord in this capacity.

    My family began attending church in the late ‘70’s when we were in the process of building a new house.  The builder invited us to church one weekend since we were staying in a hotel while the house was being finished.  Since we had nothing else to do, we decided to go.
    My mother was the first to get saved and then she was able to lead my father to the Lord several months later.  I made a profession of faith in July of 1979 at a Vacation Bible School and became very active in our church’s youth group, even traveling with our youth choir out West and to Canada.
    I began attending Calvary Baptist Christian School in the seventh grade and graduated from there in 1987.  During my junior year, I was given the Christian Character and Leadership award and I graduated as valedictorian.
    I started at Pensacola Christian College in the fall of 1987 with a major in Business Administration and minor in Accounting.  I believed that I wanted to go into corporate business, but during my sophomore year I changed my minor to Bible and felt that I was being led into Christian education.  I met Jennifer our freshman year through mutual acquaintances and began dating our junior year.
    Jennifer and I got married in 1991, and we moved to Indiana for a very short and seemingly unprofitable ministry at a church and Christian school.  We moved to Louisiana the following January and served there for two and a half years at Faith Christian Academy.  In May of 1994, we moved to Salisbury to be principal and teacher at Gospel Light Baptist School.
    We knew going in that the school had some problems, but we were able to make some beneficial changes.  The changes came a little too late and the school closed after the following school year.  We decided to stay in the area and sought secular employment.  We remain members of Gospel Light Baptist Church where we continue to serve as faithfully as we can.
    In September of 2000, we were having revival services and the Lord showed me that I was lost.  I did not go forward that night due to pride, but the Lord would not give me peace until I took care of it.  Jennifer knew something was wrong that night and she had sensed that I was unsaved for several years, but just prayed that the Lord would take care of it.  Later that night, I went to a friend’s house and got saved.  What a relief!
    The next night I shared with our church what had taken place and several others got saved—including our choir director.  In the years since then, my testimony has continued to show others that being a church member and acting like a Christian will still send you to Hell unless you have the conviction of the Holy Spirit and Christ living in your heart.  Many people that I knew prior to 2000 and have met again tell me that I am not the same man they knew before.  Praise the Lord.
    In 2006, we had the opportunity to take several of our church teenagers to camp and it was there that I surrendered my life to the Lord.  The Lord began opening new opportunities to serve Him, including preaching at church, local nursing homes, and in prison.  I believed that the Lord was going to put me back into full-time Christian service, but I did not know exactly how or when until we went to Peru on a mission’s trip in 2007.  I praise the Lord that He has ordained my steps and directed my path to bring me to where He has.