Tell me a little about yourself?
I was born in Memphis. Lived in Bham for 35 years. I’ve been married for 39 years and we have one daughter and two granddaughters. I’ve spent about 35 years in pharmaceuticals as a sales manager. Worked with about 5-6 companies due to mergers. I am a competitive cyclist and have a healthy interest in muscle cars.
How did you come to know the Lord and how has that relationship impacted your career, family, and ministry?
I came to know the Lord one night when I wasn’t looking for it. That changes everything. I was laying in bed watching TV and realized that I needed to read the Bible and pray. I was a lost church person. I was probably mid 30’s. Wasn’t in a bad situation-nothing really going on. Wasn’t searching. I attribute my conversion to the prayers of my family that have gone on before me. I was religious but lost. I was religious but not born again. I wanted to go into full-time ministry, but it didn’t work out. The Lord told me to stay here. Being a disciple is all about making disciples. He sent people into my life to show me how to make disciples. Before, it was all about me, but now it’s about what can I do to bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ. My family would say I’m a different person because I’m not religious but a disciple. At first, preaching and teaching were terrifying. I was so terrible at leading small groups, My boss sent me to a class to learn how to lead a group. Several years later, I won an award for leadership and was asked to speak at a large gathering. One colleague asked me, “What happened to you?”
One of the things I love about you is your passion to help others see their value and dignity as part of God's design. How did this become so important to you?
One of my passions is for people in church that believe that they are saved are to come to know the Lord in a real and personal way. I learned a long time ago that people can do and achieve a whole lot more than they think they can. They have to continue to learn and work hard. The key to becoming successful is humility and overcoming pride in order to learn from people so that you can continue to grow and improve your skill sets. Once in an interview I told the interviewer that my biggest challenge in advancing my career has been my ego. I believe I can learn from anyone including people that I’m serving.
You are currently volunteering with WorkFaith in our initial workshop at Bibb Co Correctional Facility. Can you share what you think people need to know about the guys that you are serving?
There is a huge lack of hope. The guys are discouraged and hopeless. Part of our job is to not just to train, but get the guys to see the hope of the gospel in us. The key is to build relationship to foster trust so that they will be more receptive to the gospel. They have to see that they are valuable and can be productive citizens in the world. They have zero self-confidence. They have been beat down for decades.
What has serving with the guys at Bibb County shown you?
It has taught me how different the world is inside prison. Disciples are needed in every environment. We are called to take the gospel to the entire world including forgotten segments of our society. It takes a lot to scare me, so send me to the gates of hell and let me take out one at a time. One eternal soul is extremely important.
There are a lot of great places that you could serve in and around Bham. Why WorkFaith?
I am uniquely trained with the gospel and my interviewing experience (interviewed thousands), to share that with the guys at Bibb. At one point, I was interviewing people every week for over 15 years. Those guys will never be able to learn from someone that has that much experience.
What else would you like to share?
I am beginning to think of how to engage other people to get involved in WorkFaith. Just this past week, I spoke with another small group leader at church to ask him if I could share about what God is doing through my serving. It’s all about multiplication. This is not just about helping guys get a job. It’s not just about making disciples. This is also about them making an impact for the next generation. For them to go back into the prison to share with others. If they train the next generation, then it can continue past just the participants now.