A Profile in Purpose

<p>The couple's love story though dramatic and riveting is secondary to the other story of their lives. That story is about being driven by a purpose energized by faith and guided by a compelling though at the time imprecise vision. Two days after their wedding they settled in a place neither had ever seen before and in a run-down unfurnished house by the side of the Memphis-to-Bristol highway one of the primary thoroughfares in Tennessee. Two years later they moved to the far more remote isolated poverty-stricken and backwoodsy open-country neighborhood of Big Lick. The move was deliberate self-requested and purposeful. For thirty-five years they labored in relative obscurity working on their purpose. They refused promotions to more prestigious and lucrative positions to continue clarifying and implementing their Big Lick vision. Eventually their pioneering efforts in community development and racial equality gain distinction among and replication by many in rural ministry locations worldwide. Then toward the end of their ministry to his surprise dismay and consternation but to her delight he is elevated and elected in what some described as the greatest upset their church had ever witnessed to the highest office in their denomination. This is their story.</p>