Testimony & Story of William E. “Gene” Manley
Son of Dewitt & Agnes Manley
Deacon Ordination Sept. 22, 2002
Mt. Airy Baptist Church Easley S.C.


I guess I’ll start, I’m from Greenville, SC -- I was born May 20, 1960. It was a good month and a good year. I was born at the old St. Francis Hospital in Greenville, which has been torn down. When I was 16 months old, my whole life changed because my mother (the mother who raised me) was getting her hair fixed one day when she overheard a conversation. A lady said, “I’m going to have to put him up for adoption. The only thing I know to do is to put him up for adoption. So maybe I’ll just take him to the Department of Welfare.?

Well, my mother overheard the conversation and she went over to the lady and said, “I’ll take him.” The lady said, “What do you mean?” She said, “I’ll take him.”

My mother had had two miscarriages, and couldn’t have children. And the lady said, “But you haven’t seen him.” And then she said, “It doesn’t matter…I’ll take him.”

Unconditional love, that’s what my testimony is about.

When I was two and a-half years old, my biological mother got pregnant again. When my sister was born (and she’s here tonight) my mom and dad were both in the waiting room, which was a little unusual. Mom said that all the men were looking at them kind of different because all their wives were back there having the babies. But there’s a special place in my heart for people who adopt children, a very special place.

Momma always told us when we were growing up, she said, “You’re very special, because you were chosen. Alot of people have kids and they’re stuck with them. But you were chosen.” And she said, “Don’t ever let anyone take that away from you.” And I haven’t. And the best thing they had ever done is that they were always honest and upfront with us and they taught us about love.

My mother was raised in an orphanage since she was a year old. When her brother was born, her mother (my grandmother) didn’t make it through the delivery. Mom was raised in an orphanage in Greenville, it was called the Burner Home and is associated with the Salvation Army. When I was six years old I joined the Salvation Army Boys Club. We played football, baseball, did game room tournaments and camping trips, we just had a good time.

There was a special person there, his name was Reverend Norman Euote. He was the executive director of the Boys Club, and pastored the church in Simpsonville. He would come and take Robin and me to church because my mom and dad weren’t in church. My mom and dad were good people, they knew the difference between right and wrong, but they just weren’t living for the Lord. Got put that special couple in our lives (Norman and his wife) and they would take us to Simpsonville where he pastored and he would preach. It was very special.

One time he took us to the Salvation Army Church, it’s on Poinsett Highway. It was an old church, a church when you go in there’s a band with horns and drums. It’s just a little bit different, but it made you feel comfortable. I was about 10 or 11 years old (it was probably around 1970-71) and when they had the Altar Call, I knelt down and asked Jesus to come into my heart and I asked Him to be my Lord and Savior. And at that point, right there, He sealed me with His hands and He made me His forever, for eternity. And the only thing I could offer Him was my sins. I didn’t have anything monetarily or anything that I could give Him, but I could give Him my sins. [Keith and I had gone out on a faith visit one night and he shared with me, “you know that’s all God ever wants.. All He wants is your sins.”]

Anyway, about that time (I was 11 years old and Robin was 9) my dad’s brother passed away and we were going to his funeral. We were in a funeral procession and were about 4th in line with the police escort and we got T-boned by drunk driver. Dad lived for about five years after that, and had about 13 major operations. He actually lost his leg from the accident and my mother’s head went thru the windshield of the car, it was real bad. But, back then (and it may be the same way today) when you can’t work you don’t get paid and there was a lot of red tape getting Social Security started, it took about six months before my dad got his first check. Agnes and DeWitt Manley are special folks. My mom worked two jobs and would leave us notes under our pillows for six months. That’s how we communicated with her. But the day the first check arrived for my dad and all the back time that they owed him, my mother went to the doctor and they put her in the hospital from exhaustion. She worked two full time jobs. But that’s just my mom. Because it’s easy to have a child, but it’s tougher to raise one, and that’s what they did they raised us …

We lost Dad in 1976, I was 16 and Robin was 14. I was holding his hand, we were at Memorial Hospital and he was in Intensive Care and he was holding and squeezing my hand with all he had and then he just released it, he just went away. It was real tough, it was tough on mom. Ten years later, in 1986, we lost mom to cancer. We lost her on November 13th, which turns out to be a very special date. We didn’t realize it at the time, but God knew. Two weeks after we lost my mom Robin got a call and the lady on the phone said your biological mother has passed away – two weeks – two weeks apart, at 51 years old. It was just tough…

In 1988 on April 7th I was working at Fluor Daniel and I heard someone laughing. I told the guy next to me that I didn’t recognize that laugh and he said well let’s get up and go see who it is. We walked over to the office and went in -- it was Lynn. She had on a blue sweater, white cropped pants and braces…and I fell apart like a $1 watch. I knew – I knew right then that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, I just had to convince her … but I knew ... Just like a lot of y’all.

We were married March 10, 1990. I told her, I said you can plan the whole wedding, but we’re going to get married at the same church where my mom and dad are buried. They were charter members of Edgewood Baptist Church Foxcroft just off Pelham Road. She said that would be fine; I just want to be as close to them as I can, and they were in my heart.

For eight months we planned the wedding -- and it took all of 20 minutes [be emphathetic]. After the wedding that night (I didn’t know it after the time) my bestman, Ray Simcox – he’s here tonight, came up to Lynn and gave her a gentle touch, and he told her, “You need to get him in church.” That’s all he said, he didn’t push it, just planted that gentle seed. That was in 1990.

In 1991 we met a fellow named Leon Sellers over in the Sunchase Community and showed him some house plans and asked if he’d build us a house, he said he would. And for the next seven months we basically dealt with Leon on a daily basis. We built in Powdersville, but lived in Simpsonville. And over that seven-month period I saw something in Leon that I wanted. Leon was walking with Christ. I had Christ in my heart, but I wasn’t living for the Lord. I believe with all my heart that God put Leon and in my life and I thank him for coming.

We poured our footers April 4th and we moved in November 11th. Leon said it would take seven months, and it did. We moved in November 11th.

We were pregnant the whole time we were under construction with the house. We moved in, and the next morning when I got up to go to work Lynn said, “I’m in labor!” That was November 12th. We went to the hospital (it was one of those deals where they send you back home and you don’t want to go home you just want to have the baby). We had Amber November 13th, five years to the day that we lost mom. We didn’t realize it at the time when she was born, but I told Lynn, “November 13th, there’s something about that date. I don’t know if it’s a birthday or whatever.” We took the kids out to the cemetery where my parents were buried and looked on the tombstone and it said November 13th.

In April 1993 Lynn and I decided that we were going to get back in church. I hadn’t shadowed a church door in 17 years, since I lost my dad. I didn’t cry from 1976 to 1986, when I lost my parents. I never shed a tear, my heart got hard. I didn’t understand why my dad had to go.

When we started to church Amber was 18 months old. It was May 18, 1993 and around 7:30 in the evening Lynn and I knelt in our living room floor on the carpet and rededicated our lives to Jesus Christ. We never looked back, we’ve enjoyed every minute of it – it’s been a special time. It’s a time that I will never forget.

But my testimony is about unconditional love. What I want to explain to you is not the norm. You have to get out of your comfort zone, take the walls and lay them horizontal. Because, in 1997 I received a phone call from a Tanya Lester Davis. She asked me, “Is your biological mother Peggy Gowan?” I said yes she was. And she said, “Well, she’s mine.” I said, “You sound like you have an accent.” She said, “No, I was born and raised in Florence, SC.” You see, she was bi-racial. She was sold at birth in 1958 to a minister and his wife in Florence SC and they raised her. Raised her in a Christian home, and they adopted a boy, too; a very similar story.

I had a little trouble dealing with it and I called a friend of mine, Brian Hester who’s the associate pastor at the Powdersville Church, and explained the situation. He said, Well, Gene, there’s a verse in the Bible that may help you, it goes, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosever calls upon My name shall be saved” “Whosoever”. We can take that one word and get comfort out of it. It’s not just for us, or for the people overseas, it’s for whosoever.

And with that I found comfort. My sister, Tanya, has been a blessing to me, she lives in Marietta, GA. She was going to be here tonight but driving up and going back with the little ones is tough, but I know her prayers are with me. She’s really been a blessing to me. I wish my mom and dad could have met her, but they didn’t know about her. They say there’s always one smart one in the family – she’s the one. She’s in the medical field, got a full scholarship, and graduated from the University of SC, lives in Marietta, and has a beautiful daughter named Ashley.

Three highlights since I’ve been here at Mt. Airy Baptist Church, The first was when my sister visited on high attendance Sunday. She brought a friend with her (Anna Henderson) and Anna and I walked down with her and Keith led her down over here and my sister accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior. It was very special. I told her we’d never be separated except for a very short time here on earth we’d always be together.

Amber accepted Christ April 9th 2001, right before the evening service, Lynn came up to me and said Amber had something to tell me…it was about 5:30, church was at 6:00. She said she wanted to ask Jesus to come into her heart. Since we started back to church in 1993, I knew exactly what I was going to do when this took place. I was going get on the phone and call my pastor and tell him he needed to come over and lead my daughter to Christ, but thru the faith ministry here I was able to do that myself with God’s help…he allowed me to do that. Also, my son on June 17, 2000, Kyle accepted Christ,.

I just never thought that God could use me that way. I never thought someone would take the time to equip me for this service. I have a lot of friends that want me to go out on visitations but they don’t know what to do. Give them cards, the heart’s in it but just not equipped.

I’m thankful we have a church that goes beyond the walls, and I wear my T-shirt …and I wear it proudly. Thankful for her pastor and her staff and the church.

I asked my sister in Georgia how she found us. She said a minister and his wife in Greenville. You see, my biological mother was a harlot, but she lived next door to a church. The church did not shun her away, they loved her unconditionally.

So she gave me the man’s name, and I called him. And I talked to him and he said, “I never met your sister but I take her on face-value, I’ve talked to her.” Then he said, “I don’t really know your background but what I’m about to tell you may not mean a whole lot to you. My wife and I, before your biological mother passed away at 51, we led her to Christ.” Unconditional love.

Tanya has taught me unconditional love and Ashley and John. It’s really what it’s all about, Luke Chapter 7 talks about the harlot and the Pharisees. And how Jesus, she’s with Jesus.

Just want to thank you again and I look forward to serving here at Mt. Airy for the next three years as one of your Deacons. I’m very thankful for Keith & his family, for Ken & his family, for Jonathan and his family, and for Dave & his family. I love them. And I thought about it yesterday and today, what would our staff and our pastor and their wives had done in that case. I think they would have done the same thing. I think they would have tried to help her.

Thank you.

Music – Alabaster Box
Pastor’s Keith Shorter’s message
Closing Prayer by Glenn Hlolliday