|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Partners Speak Out: Bill and Dellanna O'Brien
We first became aware of Make Way Partners when we met Kimberly Smith, MWP's President. We had both been a part of international ministries on five continents, but had not personally studied the evils of human trafficking or been involved with any such ministry. Subsequent to that first meeting, we have studied the issue of trafficking from a global perspective, and focused our attention particularly through Make Way Partners. Here are some of the reasons why: 1. Make Way Partners' approach is preventive. There are several wonderful ministries that try to intervene and rescue those already trapped. Not many focus on prevention. 2. The ministry is proactive and holistic. The compound on the border between north and south Sudan provides shelter and food for orphans, education, health care, social interaction, and spiritual guidance. Collectively, all of this spells HOPE. 3. Morally and ethically, Make Way Partners is beyond reproach. 4. Make Way Partners embodies the vision and passion of Kimberly Smith that is contagious. 5. Make Way Partners is fiscally sound and benefits from the guidance of a dedicated board. We know that because we have met with the entire board and have seen their commitment, which is not passive, by the way. It is a privilege to know the people of Make Way Partners and to pray for them and all their work. We give regularly in support of this work dedicated to confronting a systemic evil that feeds the greed of those who engage in it, while destroying the lives of millions. They, too, desperately need our prayers. Bill and Dellanna O'Brien, Co-Directors BellMitra Associates CLICK HERE to become a partner today!
BIOGRAPHICAL VITAE – WILLIAM R. O'BRIEN Bill O'Brien was born in Ft. Worth, Texas. He holds a liberal arts degree from Hardin-Simmons University and a Master of Church Music degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His alma mater honored him with a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1981. O'Brien is Co-Director of BellMitra Associates. BellMitra exists to equip leaders for transformative action and netweave communities of shared vision. Through this entity he and his wife conduct workshops in Horizon Mission Visioning and Conflict Transformation. The O'Briens were appointed as missionaries to Indonesia in 1962 where they served for two terms in the field of music and the arts, as well as teaching in the Baptist seminary and directing radio-television work for Indonesian Baptists. In 1976 Bill joined the administrative staff of the Foreign Mission Board. His work there spanned almost fifteen years, including nine years as Executive Vice President. In 1991 O'Brien became the founding director of The Global Center at Samford University and missions professor in Beeson Divinity School . Bill served for six years on the board of directors of The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and also served as a Senior Associate of the Evangelical Fellowship of Missions Agencies located in Atlanta . He was president of the American Society of Missiology for the 2003-2004 term. He is currently on the Board of Regents of Bakke Graduate University in Seattle , Washington . O'Brien retired in June of 2000. His wife, Dellanna O'Brien, was Executive Director of Woman's Missionary Union, SBC from 1989-1999. Since retiring O'Brien teaches each fall at the John Leland Theological Center in Washington , D.C. , and has taught a DMin course at Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University . O'Brien co-authored Choosing A Future for U.S. Missions , published by MARC in 1998, and wrote Challenges Confronting Baptist Missions in 2003 for The Baptist History and Heritage Society. In retirement the O'Briens live in Frisco , Texas . Bill serves as the Program Director of Compassion Frisco, a humanitarian organization Bill helped create to work among the tsunami survivors in Aceh , Indonesia. The O'Briens have three children and six grandchildren.
BIOGRAPHICAL VITAE – DELLANNA P. O'BRIEN Dellanna O'Brien was born in Wichita Falls, Texas . She is a graduate of Odessa High School . She graduated from Hardin-Simmons University in three years with a BS in education, and from Texas Christian University with an MA in education. She earned a doctor's degree (EdD) in Educational Leadership from Virginia Polytechnical and State University . She received honorary doctorates from Hardin-Simmons University , Judson College , and the University of Richmond . Dellanna and her husband, Bill, were appointed as missionaries to Indonesia in 1962, and served there for two terms. After their return to the United States , she served as an educational diagnostician in public schools until their move to Richmond , Virginia where her husband assumed a position at the Foreign Mission Board, SBC. Dellanna worked for Collegiate Schools of Richmond in the Lower School division: one year as a first grade teacher, two years as a reading consultant, three years as the assistant head, and five years as the Headmaster of the Lower School . She also served a six-year term as a member of the State of Virginia's Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission. She resigned from Collegiate Schools to found her own not-for profit organization, International Family and Children's Educational Services (Interfaces). Through this avenue Dellanna focused on missionary kids with learning problems and consulted with parents, both in the States and abroad, on the most effective ways to deal with these challenges. Interfaces worked with Evangelical, Conciliar and Roman Catholic groups. Concurrent with her business, she served as an elected member of the Henrico ISD school board in Richmond . In 1989 the Board of Trustees of Woman's Missionary Union elected Dellanna as Executive Director-Treasurer of the national organization based in Birmingham , Alabama . For the next ten years she worked as a change-agent in WMU which had celebrated its Centennial the year before she was elected. Dellanna led the staff to revamp programs and age-level magazines; introduced Christian Women's Job Corps with a trained mentor for each woman, Bible study and individualized job preparation; introduced a new initiative called WorldCrafts which helped meet economic and spiritual needs of women in poverty across the world; ventured in providing missionaries with water filters through Pure Water-Pure Love; formed the WMU Foundation to ensure the financial future of WMU; broadened the channels for women and children to fill places of volunteer missionary service. Dellanna has served on the boards of Hardin-Simmons University , the Baptist Seminary in Richmond , Evangelical Fellowship of Missions Agencies, and the WMU Foundation. She is currently a North American Vice President of the Baptist World Alliance. In retirement, Dellanna serves as Co-Director of BellMitra Associates. BellMitra functions as a catalyst, equipping leaders for transformative action and netweaving communities of shared vision. As directors of a new organization, Compassion Frisco, she and Bill worked from 2005 to the present among survivors of the tsunami in Banda Aceh , Indonesia . Dellanna and her husband have three children and six grandchildren. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
