I grew up in a home where we were in church every Sunday. I wouldn’t say it was a Christian home, but we were in church every week. When I was 10 years old I came home from school and found my mom had our old white station wagon packed and ready to go. Where I didn’t know, but I knew my parents were splitting up. Divorce deeply impacted my family. At the age of 13 I found myself getting involved with the wrong friends and being places I shouldn’t be. It was escape from home.

One Saturday morning, a group of students from Thomas Road Baptist Church came and knocked on my door. They invited me to church and I went the next morning. I found they showed real interest in me and cared about me. As a different means of escape, I immediately became involved and spent most of time involved in the “work of the Lord” for many years. Fast forward several years and you find me heavily involved in church, married, and singing in a Southern Gospel Quartet. One night while in the middle of singing an old Gaither song, “He Touched Me”, conviction fell on me so deeply that I couldn’t sing for the rest of the concert. I finally realized that I had been involved in the “Work of the Lord”, but didn’t know the “LORD of the Work.” How could this be? I was working for God, singing gospel music, going to church - how could I not be a Christian? How could I face everyone and not feel like a hypocrite? God assured me that the most important thing was getting my relationship right with Him. No matter what anyone thought.

From that time on, I’ve found a peace that no one can explain and a joy that persists in spite of whatever circumstance I face. Even more importantly, I’ve found a purpose and a calling to reach others for Christ through the gifts and talents He’s given me in full-time Christian ministry for more than 15 years.