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BERTIE LEDGER-ADVANCE The fabric of Bertie County since 1832 MARCH 22,2017>l A5 Continued Denton met her future hus band. She humorously told a friend, “God is just going to have to drop him from the sky.” Denton’s boss at the college where she was working had a nephew he wanted her to meet. And the rest became history, as love stories go- “Into my life flew, lit erally, on a plane - a wonderful man - Buddy Denton,” she said. After a nine-month long-distance court ship, spanning 3,000 miles, they married in Washington and moved to the small community of Askewville. “This was before cell phones and email,” she said. Friday nights be came their phone “date nights,” long before SKYPE was on the tech nology radar. She and the Rev. R.O. “Buddy” Denton Jr., have been married for 36 years. “It has been a joy to walk and work with him, side-by- side,” she said. “I’m still in love, and still ‘in-like’.” The two have minis tered most of their mar ried life at Askewville Assembly of God, for a total of 32 years. The church has a member ship of around 225 pa rishioners. Denton’s ministry is comprised of music and lyrics as well as speaking and writing. “It is a privilege to have served in leader ship two different times here,” she said. “Buddy came first as princi pal (of the church’s school - Bethel Assem bly Christian Academy) and assistant pastor to his father, the Rev. R.O. Denton Sr., from 1980 until 1992. Then in 1997, Buddy was invited to be pastor. This June will mark 20 years.” Among her minis tries, Denton also has been a Sunday School teacher, a ladies Bible study teacher and (sea DEBQRAH GRIFFIN / Bertie Ledger-Advance Cheryl Denton has written many Christian songs during her ministry. sonal) choir director. “The people here are awesome,” she said. “We love worshiping and serving God to gether with them.” Denton wears mul tiple hats, sometimes quite literally, when one of her efforts is ministering through solo Biblical drama. She is an ordained minister with the As semblies of God and preaches occasionally at Askewville Assembly of God, as well as other churches upon invita tion. “I especially enjoy speaking to ladies’ groups and teaching Bi ble studies,” she said. She has performed drama around the state, as well as in Florida, Or egon, Texas, Washing ton and several coun tries overseas. “Sharing about God, His Word, and the hope he offers is one of my favorite things to do,” Denton said. Over the years, the Dentons have been involved with the church’s school. Beth el Assembly Christian Academy (BACA). “When the school be gan in 1980, Buddy was the first principal and I was the first Learn ing Center supervisor/ teacher,” she said. “As the school grew, my involvement dimin ished,” she said. “We are now blessed to have a full staff.” In the past, she has been the office secre tary, Chapel speaker and teacher of Bible studies, sign language and home economics. Distance was a shap ing factor in Denton’s life when she married and moved away 3,000 miles away from fam ily to Askewville, and it again became a factor when the Dentons left the United States to be come missionaries. In the fall of 1992, they left for Moscow, Russia and lived and ministered there for two years. He was a Children’s Ministry teacher in a Bible Col lege. One of the highlights for Denton, she said, was “being a part of the college and prepar ing students from all across the former So viet Union to become pastors.” V CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Cheryl Denton enjoys nninistering through solo Biblical drama. She also said hand ing out Bibles to those who never owned one before was especially moving. Bibles were so rare in Russia at the time, she heard that pages from the Bible were sometimes passed from home to home. “I remember one el derly lady clutching the Bible we had given her to her chest with tears streaming down her cheeks, looking toward heaven and thanking God,” she said. When they left Rus sia, the Dentons went to Lithuania for two years in a similar type of ministry. The Dentons’ three children were young during those four years overseas. Now grown, they have families of their own. Again, distance is a defining factor in Cheryl Denton’s life, as her children all live far away and she longs to be near them. Chelle is the elder and she is married to Jake. They have two boys, Asher, two years old, and Zac, two months old. Chelle and Jake are* missionaries in Lefler, Russia. Cheree is married to Bryan. The couple live in Mobile, Ala. Trey, her youngest, is a worship leader and is married to Kellyn. They have two year-old twins, Quaid and Lake- ly. They live in Johnson City, Tenn. “Loving God is tny number one priority. Next is my role as wife and mother. 1 adore my husband and I enjoy our journey of ministry and doing life together,” she said. “Raising our three children was the most fun job I’ve ever had. Now, that they are adults, I am blessed with their growing fam ilies,” she added. A composer arid writer, Denton and her husband have com posed over 70 Christian songs. Music has been a way for Denton to express the effect distances have had on her life. “Living away frorn family and missirig them, and looking for ward to when we will all be together forever, inspired the songs ‘No More Goodbyes’ and ‘Goodbye Will Not be Forever’,” she said. Distance. Sometimes a blessing, sometimes a curse; sometimes a help, sometimes a hin drance; but always a mystery, and always a constant in Cheryl Den ton’s life. Windsor to appoint Commis sioner Cathy Wilson to the post. Commissioner Lawrence Carter Jr. of fered a second, and the motion passed without objection. The mayor congratu lated Wilson on her election and wished her well. In addition, Hoggard said he felt it was im portant to go ahead and fill two of the important roles Brown had on the board. He appointed Over- ton to take over as Fire Commissioner, and he asked Carter to take the role as Police Com missioner. Commissioners asked what the mayor’s plan would be for divid ing roles once the new commissioner was ap pointed. “I think we’ll see what expertise the new com missioner brings, and decide from there,” he said. “The new person may bring a unique set of abilities, and we’ll want to make appoint ments accordingly.” The board also began holding conversations ^ J "»0lp r V ^ HOMETOWN & -iS • ^ "Ai > I j ¥ % ' A about the possibility of appointing someone to fill Brown’s seat on the board. Windsor Town Ad ministrator Allen Cas- telloe said the town’s ordinances say that an appointment should be done within a reason able time. He said that ordinance likely would preclude the board’s al lowing it to be filled by the next election in No vember. “I think you will need to appoint some one to stay within the guidelines set by the ordinances,” Castelloe said. Board members said they had received sug gestions for the post, but none were ready to move forward with the process. Mayor Hoggard sug gested board members be ready to at least discuss the post at the April meeting. He said the appointment could be made at that time if board members were ready, but he hoped they could at least be in a position to discuSs it. The board will meet on April 13. ^ FireXlept Pla^ Sale - Parade » V«Hjors « Prizes ■ Food ■ Music •^shirts & More
Bertie Ledger-Advance (Windsor, N.C.)
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