Mary's House A New Home for Stateside Missionaries

STORY BY TERI USSERY

Mary Hill Davis was a woman who served WMU in Texas a century ago. Her legacy, a heart for missions and for discipling the next generation for Kingdom work, lives on in the homes bearing her name.

Many of you have followed the fouryear process of completing Mary’s House on the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS). January 2023 marked the dedication of the homes and celebrated the move-in day for two stateside missionary families.

David and Karla served in pastoral ministry in Texas from 1984 until 2002 and cross-cultural ministry overseas since 2002. Currently, they reside in Europe and focus on displaced Persian peoples worldwide. David also works in formal, informal, and oral theological education, church planting and integration, leading teams in the United States and Canada, South America, Europe, Central Asia, and East Asia. David and Karla are both graduates of Hardin-Simmons University, have been married since 1986 and have four children and three grandchildren. Karla shares, “We are discovering Mary’s House to be a welcoming and perfectly convenient space to live while serving as Missionary in Residence (MIR) for SWBTS this year. Adjusting to a new place of service, even for a brief time, can be challenging. This home greatly reduces that stress with numerous comforts and access to all we need to find success in our ministries both on and off campus."

"We are grateful to God for the provision of Mary’s House and thank WMU of Texas for the foresight and wisdom in providing a beautiful home for missionaries, so in need of a safe and inviting residence during their stay at SWBTS.”

Holley Sieberhagen lives and works alongside her husband, Thomas, and their two children in Belgium as church planters among the French speaking Belgians with the International Mission Board (IMB). They met at North Greenville University in South Carolina, married, then attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Two years later they attended language learning school in Paris, then moved to Namur, Belgium where they planted a church. They also helped start an art center where the church now meets. The center is used to reach not-yet-believers in their city. They host open mic nights, artist soirées, English clubs, and other events for the community. The Sieberhagen’s plan to return to Belgium in June.

Holley says, “Mary’s house has already been such a great place of rest and ministry. In the past three weeks that we’ve lived here we’ve already hosted seminary students and church members to hang out and talk about missions. It’s so nice to have a beautiful and relaxing space to rest from our cross-cultural work overseas and be able to encourage the next generation of missionaries.”