Happy Birthday, Miss Freeman

My daughter was teasing me about having a photo of Miss Freeman among the family photos on the shelf. “Who has an 8 x 10 framed photo of someone not even in the family but grouped with the family photo’s?” she said. Right then and there I was able to express once again, my gratitude for the influence of Guinell Freeman, the former First Baptist Church Jacksonville Education Director and leader for almost 4 decades.

Today, October 15th was her birthday. She was born in Hickory, NC to Ossi and Jessie Freeman. Her father was a furniture maker. Her mother was a housewife with the skills of a master seamstress.
Guinell attended elementary and high school in Hickory. After graduation she attended Bob Jones College with a call on her life to serving Christ. It was there Dr. Lindsay, Sr. found and hired her to work at First Baptist.

To hear her tell it, she was called into the ministry at a young age. When she was 12 years old she could be found all alone in the small country church in Catawba County. She said she was so happy to file papers, answer calls and most importantly fold the Sunday bulletin. She said that she prayed over every bulletin because she knew the information in it would draw those who read it, towards the events of the week and she wanted them to respond.

Guinell was many times called a “one of a kind” leader. Her focus was more than just education, it was growing the fellowship. Her heart was helping build the church through the Sunday School. She said that after reading about the techniques of Arthur Flake, she was more and more inclined to see Sunday School as the launch pad for all church activities.

Every single time that I sat with Miss Freeman in any church service, I witnessed her zeal for people. It was as if she would zero in on someone at the beginning of the service. During the handshake time , she made a B line to that person, couple or family. She would offer her hand, introduce herself and before leaving them, would have their name, phone number and ages.Then, after the service, she would hand that information to someone for a follow up. It was an amazing living witness and example.

I miss Guinell Freeman. Every Sunday I think of her and how she encouraged all of those under the sound of her voice to serve Jesus with fervor. On this day, her birthday, I just wanted to give her a shout-out and say that many still her her voice as we call, visit and promote our Sunday School programs in hopes to bring people to Christ. That is a task we should all find important.