Lives of Faith and Service

AU Alumni Fulfill “Lives of Faith and Service” Around the World

The Briscoe and the Kurrle Families

Twila (Tucker) Briscoe BA ’67 and Tabita (Meier) Kurrle BA ’66 were two different people who were destined to meet at Anderson University (then Anderson College) in 1962. Twila was from West Virginia and a coal miner’s daughter, while Tabita came from a missionary family from Brazil. Both young women were drawn to attend AU because of their deep backgrounds in the Church of God.

“I was a mountain girl and so when I heard my roommate was from Brazil, I thought that was amazing,” says Twila. “When we first met, we looked at each other and immediately embraced. There have been few moments in my life that were electric, but this one, at this moment, we knew.” Rooming together in Morrison Hall room 100 would create a longstanding purpose of faith, relationship, and service to others.

Upon graduating from AU, Twila married her husband Charlie Briscoe ’65 and moved from place to place as Church of God pastors and worship directors, while Tabita and her husband Martin Kurrle moved to South America where they served as missionaries.

While pursuing mission work, Tabita and Martin wanted to build a Christian school for Paraguayan children and plant Church of God churches as well. Twila and Charlie knew that their friends lacked funding, so in 1978, Twila and Charlie decided to organize a fundraising softball tournament in Johnson City, Tenn., through their church, Tacoma Church of God.

The tournament quickly became known as the “Interstate Softball Tournament” because there were multiple players and teams from out of state. The tournament grew and it eventually followed the Briscoes to Roanoke, Va. in 1981. “We realized that the tournament was God-ordained and we had to keep doing the tournament,” says Twila.

Twila and Charlie dreamed of opening a Christian daycare center and Tabita coincidentally built a Christian school at the same time. In a letter addressed to Twila, Tabita told her friend that they chose the name “Alpha and Omega School.” Twila was astounded to learn that they had chosen the same name. “It truly was so touching when I found out,” says Twila. “And we never discussed the names of the schools beforehand.”

Almost 57 years later, the Briscoe and Kurrle families are as close as ever. Throughout this time, Twila and Tabita’s two oldest children, Chad Briscoe BA ’96 and Norberto Kurrle BA ’97 MA ’02, attended AU and became lifelong friends as well.

“Another electric moment I had in my life was when our sons graduated from AU together,” says Twila. “Chad and Norberto decided to walk across the stage together, and I thought, ‘Oh, God how could life be so precious?’”

Chad took over the Interstate Softball Tournament when his father Charlie retired in 2002. Chad is also the director of athletics for Grace College and Norberto moved to Paraguay to be a missionary like his parents and other siblings. “My parents were just so passionate about raising money for the country of Paraguay because they saw that there was a need,” says Chad.

Upon reaching the fortieth anniversary of the church softball tournament, a book called Where the Colors Blend by Stephen Copeland was published to celebrate. Copeland was chosen to share the story due to his deep friendship with Chad Briscoe.

These alumni have touched the lives of Paraguayans by raising over a quarter of a million dollars. Overall, the tournament funds have helped plant a total of six churches, a school, a Bible college, and a Christian Paraguayan radio station. Through it all, Twila and Tabita have stayed close through handwriting regular letters to one another from Roanoke to Paraguay.

Claire Brown

A biblical studies major with a minor in Christian ministries, Claire Brown BA ’13 found herself drawn to AU’s campus ministries, choosing to be a member of the leadership team for three years. She led a prayer ministry, the Neighbors campus ministry, and worked with the Christian Center; all to create ways for students to encounter the Lord, but also to help students meet and serve the community surrounding AU.

“One year, the theme on campus was ‘Beyond Me’,” Brown remembers. “I think that set the stage for my life. It’s easy to do just the fun things, but it’s not my life to live. It’s God’s.”

So beyond herself she went, serving for a year in Ethiopia before moving to eManzana, South Africa, where she would start the organization Lydia’s Mission, whose goal is to “provide jobs for women, then work on their hearts.” This is because Brown knows that she has to meet their physical needs before they’re ready to talk about the

spiritual ones. Her first contact with the women who would become the basis of Lydia’s Mission happened after she caught monkeys scattering the trash outside of her house. Her landlord was supposed to send someone to collect it, but after cleaning up after the monkeys more than once, she decided to find the trash dump on her own.

Women began to swarm her car, fighting over the trash bags she was there to throw away. “Are they fighting for their next meal?” Brown asked herself.

As she pulled away, she felt the Lord calling her back. She would return with a translator to hear about the women’s lives and needs, then asked if they would let her come meet with them once a week. Eventually, she even baptized many of the women at the very same dump, a choice meant to symbolize good coming from what they described as “such a place of shame.” “I don’t think God calls the qualified. I think he equips the called.”

Jean Manners

Jean Manners BA ’16 is currently earning a masters in social work, specializing in mental health, at the Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health and Tata Institute of Social Science in Thiruvidandai, India and hopes to complete her degree this year. After completing her bachelor’s degree in social work at Anderson University, Manners decided to further her education in India because that’s where she wanted to serve.

“Change almost never starts from the outside. It is always an internal, growing flame, so if I was going to be a part of that change, I had to be a part of the internal community.” Manners hopes to build creative and sustainable business plans to provide jobs for people from marginalized communities in Shillong, India. Manners saw a population that is trying to grow and solve its own problems, but that also struggled with “unemployment, prejudice, and skills that don’t fit the status quo of a secure job.” She believes that what people need most is the opportunity.

Her learning takes place in a Clustered Group Home, where more than 50 women also receive care for severe mental illnesses and are given the opportunity to sit in on classes with the students. “This doesn’t give much room for stigma around mental illness to exist in our little community because the only way we can move on from our biases is by building relationships with each other.” Since June, she’s been working as an intern at the Emergency Care and Recovery Center site of The Banyan, doing case management and running group therapies, among other things. Through all of it, she feels she’s learned the most about the complexity of the population in India and how to develop a large professional network to begin work in Shillong.

“India is a very unique country with very diverse, pressing issues that need to be addressed,” Manners says. It is also, though, “a country of resilient and creative people that have preserved their culture since ancient times.”