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Barth and Sally Middleton

 

 

Barth Picture    Barth
   *    Grew up in Montrose, Michigan
    *    Received Christ at age 15
    *    Graduated from Hill-McCloy High School in 1964
    *    Holds two degrees from Western Michigan University:
            B.S. (music and education), M.A. (education)
    *    Taught in public elementary schools for six years

 

Sally Picture    Sally
    *    Grew up in Traverse City, Michigan
    *    Received Christ at age 6
    *    Graduated from Traverse City Central High in 1962
    *    Graduated from University of Michigan with a
            B.S. (mathematics and physics)
    *    Taught junior high school for six years

 

Barth Picture    Barth and Sally    Sally Picture
    *    Met as young teachers through a mutual friend and attended an off-campus Bible study by Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship
    *    Married April 3, 1971 in Kalamazoo, Michigan
    *    Began serving God together at Oakwood Bible Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan
    *    Joined The Gideons International in 1972 and have since served in many state and local offices
 
In 1999, Gideons celebrated their 100th birthday. Sally, serving as Michigan Auxiliary State President, was selected to serve on the program committee for the Gideon International Convention this milestone year. The event for over 8,000 people was held at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. Because they worked together staging the various presentations, their resume can also read "Opryland Stage Hands"!
 
    *    Taught their first Good News Club® in 1973
 
Only God could lead this couple to purchase their first home in a small neighborhood at the very corner where all the kids caught a school bus. A total of 22 children lived in the area and 20 received Christ in this club. What a great introduction to CEF®!

 

    *    Graduated from CEF's Leadership Training Institute (now Childrens Ministries Institute®) the summer of 1974
 
While at the Institute, before they graduated, they were asked to conduct a training session at an instructor's church - an absolutely petrifying experience! They didn't foresee that they would conduct training sessions in 477 churches (58 of them called First Baptist!) in 27 states and Canada.

 

    *    Became CEF Directors of Kalamazoo County in 1974
    *    Became the Michigan Training Team in 1978 and for 11 years traveled full time including teaching at CEF's International Headquarters in Missouri
    *    Began writing regularly for Evangelizing Today's Child® magazine in 1981, have been columnists since 1984 with their current column called "Leader to Leader", and serve as Contributing Editors for that publication (CLICK HERE to go to the magazine website)
    *    Became Executive Director for Capital Area CEF in Lansing, Michigan
 
For 18 years they served as Educational Coordinator for Michigan's Christian Youth In Action® training school. At first their unwritten job description was "Teach all the classes to all the teens!" In time God gave them understudies. They delegated more each year until the summer of 1993 they turned 100% of the classes over to instructors they had trained and they stayed home!

 

    *    Moved to Montrose in 1996 to assist Barth's parents, setting up an extension office in their home and becoming Director of Special Projects for CEF of Michigan, the position and title currently held
   *    Started advancing CEF of Michigan's presence on the Web in 2002, with an eventual goal of developing Internet teacher training for interested Christians worldwide
  *    Web World Teacher Training introduced at www.wwtt.org on February 15, 2003.

 

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