Back Row: Steve Long, Dr. Eddie Gibson (President), Bennie Noel, Richard Douglas
Front Row: Richard Williford, Bob Ledlow, Russel Patterson, Michael Anderson

President: Dr. Eddie Gibson

President

Dr. Gibson lives in his home town of Collins, MS. He has been married to his wonderful wife, Linda, for more than 35 years. They have two married sons, James and Michael. Dr. Gibson received his degree in Veterinary Medicine from Auburn University in 1977. He then returned to his home town and established Covington County Animal Hospital, a mixed animal solo practice. Dr. Gibson practiced for 25 ½ years, before selling his practice on December 31, 2002. Shortly after that Dr. Gibson began working for the United States Department of Agriculture in the Food Safety Inspection Service as a Public Health Veterinarian. 

Dr. Gibson’s involvement with the Honduras Baptist Dental Mission began in 1991. Over the years, Dr. Gibson has served in many capacities on teams and with Honduras Baptist Dental Mission, Inc. itself. In 1993, he acted as a liaison between HBDM, Inc. and the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board to help establish the partnership between the two organizations. He became a team captain and a member of the board of directors in 2000. Dr. Gibson was elected chairman of the board in 2003. 

As chairman of the board, it is Dr. Gibson’s desire is to see as many people as possible come to know the Lord as their Savior through the work of HBDM, Inc. To accomplish this, he would like to see more new teams on the field each year. He also hopes to see our dream of having a totally new mission compound, which has been designed and built with the needs of HBDM in mind, completed by the end of 2010.

 

Richard Douglas

Richard and his wife Betty live in Brookhaven, Mississippi and are members of the Fair River Baptist Church where Richard has served for many years as a deacon.  He has also served as church treasurer, adult men's and boy's Sunday School teacher and building committee chairman.

The Douglas's are the parents of 3 adult  daughters and 6 grandchildren.  He is a retired business owner of a readymix concrete business located in Brookhaven.  Richard has been served as a team member, team captain before being a member of the board of Directors.

He and Betty have served on short-term mission trips to Brazil, Ukraine, Honduras, and Indonesia.

 

Dr. Bob Holifield

Born and raised in Jones County, MS Attended Shady Grove (Jones County) Schools As a youth he was a member of 4H, FFA, and received the State Farmer Degree. Jones County Jr. College Columbia University (New York, NY) Served as a Pharmacist Mate in the US Coast Guard during WWII 1950 graduate of University of TN Dental School Practiced general dentistry in Laurel, MS for 53 years. Served as District III (MDA) Dental Society President Served 5 years on the MS State Board of Dental Examiners. Past president of the Laurel, MS Lions Club Missionary to Nicaragua, Honduras, and Alaska. Served a year in the Gambia, West Africa and supervised construction and operation of a dental clinic. Co-founder of Honduras Baptist Dental Mission, Inc.

 

Bob Ledlow

Dr. Bob Ledlow has served as the Associate Pastor of the Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Dothan, AL for the past 10 years.  He and his wife, Nan have 3 children, 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Bob is a graduate of Samford University, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and International Bible Institute & Seminary in Orlando, FL  where he earned his Doctorate of Ministry degree.

With over fifty years in the ministry, Dr. Bob has served in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Louisiana.

Steve Long

Steve and his wife Audrey reside in Gastonia, NC. They have 3 children and 6 grandchildren. Two of their children have served on mission teams to Honduras. Steve attended Gardner Webb College.

Steve retired in March of 2006 after 25 years as Regional Sales Manager for Alcoa Aluminum Wheel Products Division. Steve has served as a Deacon and Chairman of Deacons at First Baptist Church, Cramerton, NC. He has served on the finance committee, the Executive Missions Committee and the International Missions Committee at Parkwood Baptist Church, Gastonia, NC.

Steve has been involved with Honduras Baptist Dental Mission, Inc. since 1990. He has served as team member, team captain, advisory board member and since 2003 is serving on the Board of Directors for HBDM.

Steve is also involved with a partnership with the Chorti Indians of Honduras through Parkwood Baptist Church working directly with International Missionaries located in the Copan area of Honduras.

Russel Patterson

Dr. Russell Patterson is no stranger to Honduras, the mission, or many of you. Russ has been involved in this mission ever since 1987, starting as each of us does, by serving as a regular team member. He became a team captain in 1988 when he and his wife, Elaine, brought the first North Carolina team to our mission. In 1992, Russell accepted God's call into full time missions and went to Honduras as a "Faith Missionary" to work alongside Earl Elkins, the Field Coordinator. Elaine joined him the following year bringing along their two high school age sons, John and Heath. They worked together with Earl until 1993 when Earl's failing health brought him home to the states. Russell took over as Field Coordinator for Honduras Baptist Dental Mission and worked in coordination with the Mississippi Brotherhood to put teams on the field all over Honduras. He remained in that position for five more years before returning to the states. He is now serving as Associate Pastor of Music and Family Ministries at East Baptist Church in Gastonia, NC, and Elaine is teaching art at Forestview High School also in Gastonia. John is living back in Charlotte, NC, and Heath is a civil engineer with D.O.T. in Jackson, MS. Heath recently went back to Honduras for his 10th year high school reunion and also assisted Russell with drainage and leveling work on the new mission compound in San Pedro Sula.

William Wells

William is a native of Laurel, Ms. a graduate of R. H. Watkins High School, Jones County Junior College and The University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy and has been practicing pharmacy in Laurel 42 years, currently the owner and manager of Wells Pharmacy.

He is a devoted family man, married to Irene Hogan Wells of the Matthews community in Jones Co. and they will celebrate their 42nd Anniversary in November 2007. They have 4 sons, William, Jr. a nursing student, Robert "Bobby", a RN, Nathan, school administrator, and Jonathan, pharmacist and now serving as Captain in the US Army Medical Corp, OIC Bryan Jones Medical Center Out patient pharmacy, Fort Polk, La. William and Irene are proud grandparents of soon to be 14 grandchildren.

William is a deacon First Baptist Church of Laurel, Ms. having served on the mission committee as well as numerous other positions in the church, including Chairman of the Deacon body. He proudly serves in Men’s Ministry, and enjoys cooking and serving at the prayer breakfasts. He is also a member of the Friday Morning men’s prayer group, and a member of the Laurel Gideon South Camp.

He has served the Honduras Baptist Dental Mission faithfully since 1975, having been a board member for many years. He has served as Chairman and treasurer of the board, and has made numerous trips to Honduras beginning in l975, having been a team captain many times over the years.

As a result of the Honduras mission, William founded the Good Shepherd Dental Medical Clinic of Laurel, a local Christian clinic providing free dental, medical, and pharmaceuticals to a multi county area.

Richard Williford

Richard Williford and his wife, Joan, reside in Chattanooga, TN. They are the proud parents of 2 grown children, both of whom have participated in missions to Honduras.

Richard graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy and is currently practicing retail pharmacy with CVS Pharmacy. He is a long time member of Red Bank Baptist Church where he serves on the mission’s committee.

Richard became involved with Honduras Baptist Dental Mission in 1990 when he participated in his first mission to Honduras. He has served as team member, team captain, advisory board member, and since 1999 has served on the board of directors for HBDM, Inc.

Richard also serves on the board of directors for Orphanage Emmanuel in Guaimaca, Honduras.

Bennie Noel

A native of Forrest, Mississippi, Bennie Noel lives in Laurel, Mississippi. He has been married to his wife Martha (McNeil) Noel for over 40 years. They have four children and eight grandchildren. Bennie is a graduate of East Central Community College and The University of Southern Mississippi. He has completed studies at Texas A&M and Mississipppi State University in resent years.

He has served as Deacon of First Baptist Church, Laurel for several years. He served as chairman of the Missions Committee, Assistant Superintendent of Sunday School, Sunday School Director and member of the Deacon Nominating Committee. His involvement in HBDM started in 2000 when he retired after 34 years in the U.S. Army Reserve. He has been a team member of First Baptist Laurel's team each year since 2000. Bennie has served as load master to get supplies loaded and shipped to Honduras, pharmacy tech, helped in the kitchen and took blood pressure readings.

Bennie is a yellow cap with Mississippi Baptist Disaster Relief. He spent 10 days on a mission trip to Thailand and worked to restore homes in Pearlington, Mississippi after Katrina.