Summer Connection 2020

ALUMNOTES
1997
Mike Southwell ’97 attended Taylor
University (IN) after graduating from
Wheaton Academy. After many
years in public education, Mike
and his wife Fawn have now been
serving as missionaries in Hungary
since 2018 with ABWE (Association
of Baptists for World Evangelism).
Mike is the high school principal at
the International Christian School of
Budapest while Fawn is serving in
a Hungarian women’s ministry and
supporting a local MOPS (Mothers
of Preschoolers) group. Budapest,
the capital of Hungary, is a hub for
many missionary organizations
that reach people with the gospel
all over central and eastern Europe.
ICSB was started in 1994 to support
an influx of Christian missionaries
who had moved to the region
after the fall of communism. Today
ICSB provides a Christ-centered
education to missionary kids as
well as international students with
a strong focus on evangelism and
discipleship. Mike looks back on his
time at Wheaton Academy with fond
memories, as he too was discipled
and grew in his faith. If you would like
to learn more about the Southwells’
ministry, visit servebudapest.org.
2005
Megan (Taylor ’05) DeBarr and husband
Derek welcomed Isaac James on
December 1, 2019. The DeBarrs live
in Springfield, IL, where they both
teach in the same district. Megan is
a reading specialist for kindergarten
through second-grade students and
coaches high school girls soccer.
Derek teaches junior/senior history
and coaches high school track
and cross country. The couple met
during college while working as
counselors at a summer camp. They
lost contact for about eight years
and reconnected through Facebook
and discovered they shared many
similar passions: their faith, traveling,
adventure, and teaching. They
recognize the Lord’s intricate plan in
bringing their lives together.
in memoriam
1953
Betty Lou (Pierson ’53) Teasdale
went home to be with the Lord
on Thursday, March 5, 2020,
after battling pancreatic cancer.
She was born in the Congo
to missionary parents, Floyd
and Amy Pierson. The family
furloughed in Illinois and became
friends with the Hockmans.
Betty Lou and Ruthie (Hockman
’53) Bell attended Wheaton
Academy together. When the
Piersons needed to return to
the Congo for another term,
Betty Lou stayed with a dear
aunt at first but then lived with
Ruthie’s family for more than a
year. Following graduation from
Moody Bible Institute, Betty
Lou served for many years as
a missionary in Africa with her
husband Paul. They moved to
the Snowbird Community of
Robbinsville, North Carolina, in
1979 to establish The Masters
Mission, a ministry committed
to training, sending out,
and supporting long-term
missionaries. She is survived by
Paul, her loving husband of 62
years; her three children and
spouses; eight grandchildren
and spouses; and four greatgrandchildren.
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