I was born and raised as one of eleven children on a farm in Mississippi, USA. At the age of twenty-one, God saved me. 2 Corinthians 5:17, one of my favorite verses, describes what God has done in my life: “If any man be in Christ he is a NEW creation, old things are passed away, behold all things are become NEW.”

During the early years of my Christianity, I was challenged by my pastor to learn and discover which spiritual gifts God had given me, and to use them in serving Him and building His kingdom. Reading and studying the Bible became my favorite past-time.

On October 29, 1987, I was asked to attend a Bible translation banquet in Jackson, MS. It was a miracle of God that got me there, and for the first time I heard about Bibleless people. While listening to people talk about this work, I was certain that I did not have the skills needed for this work, that God was calling me just to pray for these people. After all, I was only a secretary. Suddenly, the speaker mentioned the urgent need that the organization had for secretaries. I had been working for nine years as a secretary in the state government, and immediately Esther 4:14 came to mind: “…who knows but that you have come to [this] position for such a time as this.” I knew right then that God was answering my prayer of many years, and that he had led me to this banquet to hear about Bible translation “for such a time as this.” I quit my job and joined Wycliffe Bible Translators, eager to use my secretarial skills for the Kingdom of God. In the years since, I have become very passionate about mobilizing young people and churches, particularly African-American, to be involved in the ministry of Bible translation.

I met my husband, Mark, in 1991 at Wycliffe's orientation course. Together we served in the Discovery program for eleven years, bringing young people on short-term mission trips to Papua New Guinea and helping them “discover” how their gifts and abilities can be used in missions, at home and overseas. I am thankful to God for the spiritual gifts of “encouragement” and “faith.” He has given me the opportunity to use these gifts to help build his Kingdom.

For five years, we served as Missionaries-in-Residence at our home church in Texas, Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship. This program is a partnership with Wycliffe Bible Translators designed to help educate and encourage African-Americans to get involved in global evangelization. God has and is doing some wonderful things in that church body.

In July 2009, we moved to Papua New Guinea to serve in Church Engagement with the Papua New Guinea Bible Translation Association (BTA). BTA consists of Papua New Guineans committed to translating the Word of God within their own country. We plan to continue leading short-term mission trips here from our home church from time to time.

As much as I love BTA, I feel like my first ministry is to my family, my husband and our two precious sons, Timothy, who was born in 1997, and Micah, who was born in 1999. It is a joy to serve here in Papua New Guinea as a family. We trust our time will be a blessing to the people of this country as well.