Mrs. Evelyn Robinson Everett of Macon was a widow who for over 35 years taught sixth-grade school children in Macon and Irwinton. She believed in education.

And because she believes in education, and is grateful for her own, she also believes in the Georgia Baptist Foundation.

For Evelyn Everett, belief in any subject is not enough. Belief must be fleshed out by action supporting that belief. That is her theology in her church - First Baptist in Macon - and that is her rationale for endowing three major causes through Georgia Baptist Foundation.

Now living in a Methodist retirement home in Macon, Evelyn Everett has lived a full and exciting life. Let her tell part of her own pilgrimage:

"My daddy was a furniture dealer in Macon before the Great Depression. My mother was a devoted homemaker, like most
women were in those days. She had several miscarriages and I was the only baby who survived. We were an extremely close family.

"Daddy believed in paying his bills, but during the Great Depression, many of his customers could not pay theirs. So he lost his furniture business. He and mother moved to Irwinton; he had always wanted to live in a small town.

"By the time they moved to Irwinton, I had gone through Mercer University- with some summer classes at Auburn University - and was teaching school in Macon.

"I will never forget how thrilled I was when I arrived at Mercer, for two major reasons: they called me 'Miss Robinson,' like I was a special person, and they led me to believe [they believed] I could think for myself. I could think for myself; still can! But in those days, 65 years ago, women were not allowed
to think for themselves very often.

"I especially remember Dr. Josiah Crudup, who taught physics. He made the sciences come alive for me and many others. He made physics so interesting, some boys in his classes called his teaching fairy tales. I loved his teaching so much, I majored in physics and psychology. Mercer did so much for me!

"During my years as a school teacher in Macon, I taught Sunday School classes at Tattnall Square Baptist Church for over 20 years. I loved sixth-graders; taught them in school and Sunday School. And I let them know, boys and girls alike, that I believed they ,ould think for themselves, too. It was a supreme blessing of my life to teach them.

As long as I live, income from the trust comes to me. But when I am gone, it will endow Mercer, the Children's Home and the Cooperative Program. Malcolm was a Methodist, but he believed like a Baptist. I think he would be proud of what I have done through the Foundation.

"After several years as an unmarried school teacher, I met Malcolm Everett of Irwinton on my visits to my parents' home. He was an automobile dealer, a member of Irwinton Methodist Church and one of the most compassionate and sensible people I had ever met.

"After an extended courtship, Malcolm and I married in 1956 and I moved to Irwinton. Malcolm taught me so much about human nature, about gentle kindness, about respect for other people, about investing your life in things which matter.

"Malcolm and I were not blessed with children of our own. We often talked about what we would do with our little earthly possessions after we were gone. On several occasions, Malcolm said he wanted whatever we would leave to do the most good for the most peo­ple; that was his approach to life.

"Malcolm developed cancer and died in 1972. I lived on in Irwinton for several more years, but Macon was still home. So I returned to Macon and joined First Baptist Church. I love my pastor, Chuck Poole; he is a thinker and he is a doer. He's my kind of preacher!

"As I began to grow older, I thought about the many conversations Malcolm and I had shared about preserving our beliefs after we were gone. I contacted one of my favorite cousins, the late Dr. Gus Verdery, the long-time director of chaplaincy services at Georgia Baptist Medical Center. Gus told me about ministries of Georgia Baptist Foundation.

"I had read about the Foundation for years in The Christian Index, but didn't know how it worked. I contacted Charles Duncan, then he and Donald Folsom and Ken Dobbs came to see me and explained it all. It made sense to me. I thought it would have pleased Malcolm, too.

"So I set up a trust fund with the Foundation, to endow Mercer University, Georgia Baptist Children's Home and Family Ministries and the Cooperative Program. To create this endowment, I specified that a 235-acre tract of land Malcolm had left to me be set aside for the Foundation. That land (between Irwinton and Jeffersonville) is full of timber; every time we have timber cut, proceeds go directly to the Georgia Baptist Foundation to be added to the trust I have established.

"As long as I live, income from the trust comes to me. But when I am gone, it will endow Mercer, the Children's Home and the Cooperative Program. Malcolm was a Methodist, but he believed like a Baptist. I think he would be proud of what I have done through the Foundation.

"Malcolm and I had other assets and these will be appropriately directed to my cousins, nieces and nephews. But profits from that timber tract will keep on going to the Foundation, long after I am gone. It just makes sense.

"I believe the three causes I have endowed support my basic philosophy for living. They minister to minds, to hearts, to children, to families, to old people, to other races, to the poor, to the needy and to the lonely. I think that's a Christ-like thing to do. It's com­passionate and it's sensible."