truE 20/20 ViSion

My good friend, Barbara, was born blind with nystagmus and retinal degeneration. She spent the first years of her life in an orphanage then to foster care at age three. When Barbara was six, a social worker took her to The School for The Blind in Raleigh, North Carolina, and at age 12 dedicated Christians adopted her. At age 13, her mother led her to the Lord.

After graduation from high school, she became the first blind student to attend Mount Olive College in North Carolina. Later, she transferred to East Carolina University, majoring in social work. Upon graduation, she faced the challenge of finding employment. After a very discouraging year and a half, Barbara was hired as a social worker for the blind in New Bern, North Carolina. She rented an apartment and hired dependable people for drivers. In God’s providence, one driver was a Free Will Baptist lady. Barbara ended up marrying her son, Jerry.

It is impressive to see all that Barbara can do. She is a highly intelligent and musically talented woman with an amazing Christian testimony. For her church Barbara plays the piano, the organ, and often, the violin. She has perfect pitch and sings alto in the choir and ensembles, which means spending hours transferring words and notes to Braille. For years Barbara served on the board of directors and later became board chairman and director of the Radio Reading Service of Eastern North Carolina. Always active in WAC, she served as program director in her local church and district coordinator. Barbara's blindness has not hindered her from being at woman with true 20/20 spiritual vision!

About the Writer: Glenda Fulcher, former missionary to Panama and Uruguay.