Collection 316 Oral History Interview with Deborah J. Seymour

Collection

Identifier: CN 316

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Oral history interviews with Deborah J. Seymour in which she describes her childhood as a child of missionaries in Papua New Guinea and working as an English teacher in Honduras with World Gospel Mission and Churches of Christ in Christian Union from 1983 to 1985. Topics discussed include her parents' missionary work; her childhood as a missionary kid; New Guinea tribal culture; conversion to Christianity and spiritual life; call to the mission field; observations about Honduras, particularly her work among high school girls; male and female roles in Honduras; the role of the supernatural in New Guinea and Honduras. The time period covered by the interviews is 1960 to 1986.

Deborah J. Seymour was interviewed by Robert Shuster on October 4, 1985, and August 4, 1986 at the Billy Graham Center Archives at Wheaton College.

Dates

Created: 1985-1986

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.

Biographical Information

Deborah J. Seymour was born in Cambridge, OH, in 1960. Seymour's parents, Donald and Betty Seymour, left an Ohio pastorate in 1964 to work as missionaries in Papua New Guinea among the Kar and Utipia tribes. Seymour returned to the U.S. in 1973 and enrolled in a Christian boarding school for her high school education. Completing high school in 1977, she enrolled in Circleville Bible College, from which she received her BA degree in 1981. Following a quarter-year of deputation in late-1982, she went to Honduras in 1983 with World Gospel Mission and Churches of Christ in Christian Union. While in Honduras, she worked as an English teacher in a private Christian high school. Her contributions while in Honduras also included counseling and participating in a church planting project. Seymour returned to the U.S. in late 1984 and entered the Educational Ministries department at Wheaton College's Graduate School in 1985. She graduated from the MA program in 1986 and intended to return to Honduras in early 1987.

Extent

3.00 Audio Tapes

199 Minutes

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Accruals and Additions

The materials in this collection were given to the Billy Graham Center Archives by Deborah Seymour in October 1985 and August 1986.

Accession 85-132, 86-90

November 18, 1986

Paul A. Ericksen

J. Nasgowitz

J. Watson