Michael DeBorja's Memories of Clint:
Named in July 2006, Clint was the third Assistant General Secretary of the Mission Volunteers Program Area in the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) of The United Methodist Church. I worked under Clint providing volunteer insurance, website, financial, and information services.
Clint's background in the Board was Mission Initiatives. He did a lot of work and traveling to Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, Russia and Laos, in particular. In the past couple of years, he went several times to Latin America, and had a drinking-water project in Colombia, where he was able to get his brother, Robert, to help. He was particularly interested in getting Mission Volunteers and Mission Initiatives to work together.
I left GBGM at the end of 2009 in the wake of the restructuring. Clint and his wife, Suzanne, wrote me beautiful farewell notes. In our last conversation a couple of days before the new year, we talked about a book he was reading about the American revolution, George Washington's leadership, and Benedict Arnold. I will always have fond memories of him and his Texas drawl.
Thoughts by Jane Dunn:
Shortly after Clint came to Mission Volunteers, he phoned me and invited me to consider starting a blog that focused on the interests and needs of mission volunteers working on health related projects. My blog consultant role began on January 1, 2008. I was a novice at blog management but Clint always expressed support and positive feedback regarding my efforts. He included me in an October, 2008 conference in Stamford, Ct. and a conference in Texas. He also made it possible for me to work with Individual Volunteer training.
My last conversation with Clint was when he returned a phone call to me on my cell while I was shopping in Home Depot I never suspected it would be our last conversation. Go with God, Clint. You will be missed here. My thoughts and prayers are with your family.
Thoughts from Nancy Eubanks:
Clint and I were together in Poland the days immediately following the events of September 11, 2001 in this country. On that Friday night we were visiting in the home of the pastor and his family in Katowice -having dinner in their 5th story apartment dining room. As darkness fell we were immediately aware of lights - hundreds and hundreds of lights blinking in windows and visible all above and below our window
-the special tribute of these people for the hurting people of the United States. Rev. Andrzej Malicki came with their light - a simple candle - and asked Clint if he would like to place it in "our" window. Clint did this and then knelt there - his head bowed and tears falling onto the window sill as we all remembered that tragedy. Somehow I can imagine that Clint is once again lighting a special
candle - kneeling in prayer and with tears of love and compassion for
the hurting people all over the world.