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 Angie Horn
Minister of Youth and Children
First Baptist Church
My name is Angie Horn. I have served as Minister of Youth and Children at First Baptist Church since Thanksgiving 1998. I am the middle child of Mary and Joseph Tate, born in October 1972 in Asmera, Ethiopia. My father was serving in the United States Army and this was one of many assignments in many parts of the world that my family was priveleged to be stationed at. I have an older sister, Tammy, who is serving as the Camp Mundo Vista Program Director for the WMU of the Baptist Convention of North Carolina. I also have a younger brother, J.C., who lives in Elgin, S.C., near my parents, with his wife, Brandi, and their two children Abigail and Hunter.
After many years of traveling with the military, my parents settled in Elgin, S.C., in 1985. We began attending church at Blaney Baptist Church the Sunday after we moved to Elgin. I was baptized in February, 1986; however, I had not accepted the Lord as my savior until the following summer. I had reached a point in my life when I felt that I was unlovable, I had a loving family and many friends, but my esteem was so low that I could not feel the love. I had a friend tell me that I needed to trust in my salvation, but I did not have salvation to depend on. In July 1986, our summer youth intern took the time to sit on the back steps of our church and explain to me that Jesus loved me, died on the cross for me, and had great plans for my life. That night, in my bed, I asked Jesus to come into my heart, and for the first time I knew what it truly meant to be loved.
My home church opened many doors of service to me as a teenager. I played hand bells, sang in the choir, led a puppet and clowning ministry, worked in the church daycare, taught VBS and so much  more. I soaked up every opportunity to grow in the Lord. In 1991 I graduated from Lugoff-Elgin High School and went to Winthrop University, in Rock Hill, S.C. At Winthrop I began to really see the Lord work to give me a direction in my life. I was very active in the BSU and had so many doors of service opened through this ministry. I also worked each summer though the South Carolina Baptist Convention on their Summersalt Staff. I learned how to share my faith and I developed a passion for youth ministry. It was while I was on staff that I surrendered to full time Christian Service in July 1994. I returned to school that fall, not knowing where the Lord would lead me, but ready to follow him. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education in May 1995 and I began serving as a US-2 Missionary with the Home Mission Board (now North American Mission Board) as the BSU director of the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
While in Hawaii I had an opportunity to work with some of the most loving congregations and the best college students in the world. I developed a passion for other cultures and was privileged to go on Mission to China for three summers. I learned to trust the Lord as my friend, and He became my best friend and my true love. Away from my family and friends I learned what it was to be lonely and I learned what it was to have God as my comforter, my shelter and my sustainer. When I left Hawaii in October 1998, I left as a very different person, much more sure of who God is and wanting Him to be in complete control.
The following month I moved to Whitesburg and the Lord has blessed me so much through the family here at First Baptist. The Lord has given Letcher County some of the best children and teens in the world. I have been privileged to pray for them and over them. I have seen so many come to know the Lord as their Savior and then to grow and get to know Him as their friend. The Lord has allowed me to work with the Bible Club at the high school throughout my tenure here, and it is a ministry unlike any other in our country. We have had mission opportunities that have taken us to Vermont, Alabama, New Orleans, Boston, Michigan and here in our own county. My desire is to see these kids grow up to be committed followers, responsible church members and service minded individuals. I want them to have a passion for their relationship with the Lord and to be living the life that He created them to live.
In February 2003 I met Jeremy Horn. I have been privileged to see him accept the Lord as His Savior and to see him follow through in baptism. As he grew in the Lord the Lord also began to mesh our lives together. We were married April 17, 2004. Jeremy has since surrendered to full time Christian service and is finishing up his Bachelors degree in Psychology at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. I am so grateful for my husband. I have no doubt that our marriage is in the middle of the Lord’s will. Jeremy holds me accountable in my relationship with the Lord and treats me like a daughter of the King. We truly serve as a team in the ministry here at the church and I look so forward to the places that the Lord will lead us together.
My life has not been without struggles and disappointments. I have dealt with my share of family illnesses, misunderstandings and loneliness. I have struggled with the issue of being satisfied with where the Lord has placed me and the things that I have, or have not been given. When I take the time to see the blessings that are around me I realize that the Lord is so good. He is my God and I am happy with wherever and whatever He chooses for my Life. I identify most with Habakkuk and the following verses: “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of the deer, he enables me to go on the heights.” (Habakkuk 3:17-19) The Lord is all I need, Praise be to His name!
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