BS/RN in 1985 from University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Appointed by the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board to Mali,
West Africa, as a public health nurse in December 1990. • Studied
French in Tours, France, from March 1991 to June 1992.
Studied Malinke in Bamako, Mali, from July 1992 to April 1993.
Moved to Kenieba, Mali, completing language study and working in
villages as a public health nurse and leading Bible studies. "When I was seven years old I attended Vacation Bible
School, and we talked about missionaries. I went home and was so
excited. I told my mother and father that when I grew up I wanted to be
a missionary. I also had many other things I wanted to be at that time
like an actress, a singer, and a lion tamer. My parents just passed it
off since my future career changed weekly. Many years later I attended
an Acteen State Convention [where] I. . . made a commitment as a career
missionary. When I was sixteen I went to church youth camp in Florida. I
would get up early every morning and walk the beach and watch the
sunrise. One particular morning--it happened to be July 4th--the water
looked so inviting I waded in up to my waist. I grew up in church. I
knew my memory verses and my Bible stories, but I realized that I did
not know Jesus personally. So I took a moment and prayed and asked Jesus
to take charge of life and forgive me of my sins. I was so excited that
I. . . knew I was a Christian. Yet I remembered the water I was standing
in was touching the shores of other countries. Then I heard the still,
quiet voice of God speaking in my heart, asking me if if would be
willing to go to one of these countries. I said, "yes Lord I can do
that, I can be a missionary." Susan has lived in Kenieba, Mali, as a public health nurse
since 1993.