And these [in Berea] were nobler than those in Thessalonica, inasmuch as they favorably received for themselves the message with all eagerness, investigating the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. [Acts 17:11, LGO]
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And these [in Berea] were nobler than those in Thessalonica, inasmuch as they favorably received for themselves the message with all eagerness, investigating the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. [Acts 17:11, LGO] |
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I was born on Veteran's Day (November 11) in 1953, into a family that had been affiliated with the Church of Christ denomination (hereafter, "CofC") for five generations. My father was Harlan G. Overton (1932-1989), a missionary/evangelist for the CofC. In 1958, Dad moved his family to live and work in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where we lived for five years. So my upbringing was bicultural and bilingual, which has had a lasting impact on my life. My years in San Juan and my father's influence impressed upon me early the truth that "God is no respecter of persons." Those years also instilled in me a love for the Spanish language, and a love for singing. And I love to sing himnos y corritos [Spanish for "hymns and choruses"]. I still read Spanish fairly well, although I am rusty when it comes to speaking and thinking in the language.
I committed
my life to Christ 37 years ago. From 1973-1976, I attended Sunset School of Preaching
& Missions, a CofC Bible school. Over the years, I have ministered in various
churches and denominations in varying capacities. I have initiated and/or participated
in planting a number of fellowships in the US, and served as a short-term missionary
(14 months) to Wewak, Papua New Guinea. Concerning my service to the body of Christ,
my primary spiritual gift is that of teaching. I am a retired business owner,
a Bible teacher, an author and a Christian apologist.
Beth
and I celebrated our thirtieth anniversary this year (April 21, 2003). The fact
that we have been married for three decades is a testimony to God's grace and
Beth's patience. We have three grown children: Kassy, Larry Duane and Jessica.
All three are married, and all three, along with their spouses, are following
the Lord. Kassy is married to Royce Kemp, Larry Duane to Hannah, and Jessica to
Chris Gregory. Thus far, we have eight grandchildren: Zachary (7), Elizebeth (5)
and Wendy (2) Kemp; Isaac (4), Isabel (2) and Alisia (1) Overton; and Corbin (2)
and Jordan (5 months) Gregory.
Pictured
on the left is my wife Beth with three of our eight grandchildren. Under Beth's
left arm is our oldest grandchild, Zachary. The baby next to him is Wendy, his
youngest sister. The other baby is Corbin, who is their cousin and only three
weeks older than Wendy. This picture was taken the day after Wendy was born. Both
of our daughters were pregnant at the same time, and Beth delivered both babies.
Beth
is a midwife, a fact that has a direct impact on a number of our grandchildren.
Five of our eight grandchildren were born at home, with "Grandma" delivering.
(Actually, Beth would say that our daughters delivered the babies and that she
"caught" them.) Beth says that she "was privileged" to have
assisted at Zachary's birth while she was a student midwife, and privileged to
have "caught" four other grandchildren (Elizebeth, Corbin, Wendy and
Jordan) since then.
Beth has been a loving wife for thirty years,
and a loving mother. She was a stay-at-home, homeschooling mother to our three
children. After our children were grown, she began her midwifery studies and apprenticeship.
She is now a very active midwife in the state of Texas. In addition to her own
midwifery practice (Gentle
Beginnings Midwifery), she is both the president and the web master for the
Association
of Texas Midwives (ATM).
Beth's primary contribution to this web site is its design and layout. She has always been gifted artistically. Over the years she has done charcoal sketches, painted (both in oils and acrylics) on canvas, done murals, even seasonal decorative art on commercial storefront windows! And for the last five years, she has applied her artistic creativity to web site design. We have on a number of occasions collaborated on writing projects. Most of these joint efforts have pertained to midwifery in Texas. However, a few years back we worked together on a series of articles on "Midwifery and the Bible" (link to articles).
For fifteen years, John and
Jane served the Lord in itinerant evangelistic ministry. They lived in Minnesota,
and their wide-ranging evangelistic endeavors took them throughout the Midwest,
Northwest and Canada. For the last six years, John has served as a shepherd in
Orange Grove Country Church, a small nondenominational fellowship in Orange Grove,
Texas. Jane is a Christian musician and a writer. In addition to providing prayer
support for this teaching ministry, they read the contents of this web site and
provide counsel, direction and literary criticism.
This page was last updated on October 7, 2003.
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