As told by Marty Hughes
Gene Hughes was saved as a young teen at Central Baptist Church in Center, Texas. He surrendered to preach and left for Baptist Bible College in the fall of 1955. Jackie Martin Hughes was saved during her senior year of high school after the first week of a month-long tent revival at Southland Baptist Church in Paducah, Kentucky, and went to BBC in 1956. They met and were married in August 1958, three months after Gene graduated. They stayed in Springfield and Jackie graduated in 1959. They took the pastorate of a small church in Nacogdoches, Texas, where their son, Marty, was born in November of that year. Hughes pastored there for three years. He then went to work for Leland Kennedy at Wick Road Baptist Church in Taylor, Michigan, as his youth director. In 1965, Gene became the pastor of Racine Baptist Temple in Racine, Wisconsin, (one of only five BBF works there at the time) and pastored in Racine for 11 years. During their time in Racine, their daughter, Michelle, was born. In 1974, Gene started Racine Baptist School, one of the first ACE schools in the state of Wisconsin, and two years later, Marty graduated from there at the age of 16. He was a student at BBC three months before his 17th birthday, earning him the nickname “Baby Huey.”
Besides being a pastor, Gene also served in a Christian school ministry at Twin Cities Baptist Church, Mishawaka, Indiana, and as associate pastor at Lakeland Street Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Texas. He served as the state chairman of the Kansas BBF for two terms and has been the national director from Kansas for the last ten years. Gene and Jackie will retire in a few weeks, after 51 years of faithful ministry, from Colonial Heights Baptist Church, Wichita, Kansas, where he has pastored for more than 20 years. They plan to move to Grove and become active in the ministry of Independent Baptist Church, where Marty pastors.
While at BBC, Marty met his wife, Shelley Slabaugh Hughes. She was a business major and worked in the BBFI Mission Office. They were married in 1982, two years after Marty’s graduation from BBC. They spent 10 years in youth ministry before taking a pastorate in Louisburg, Kansas, in 1988. After five years, God led them to Oklahoma where they have enjoyed fruitful ministries at First Bible Baptist Church of Oklahoma City and Independent Baptist Church in Grove. They also served four years on the staff of Kingspark Bible Baptist Church in Oklahoma City after merging First Bible Baptist into Kingspark.
Their two children, Chelsea and Bobby, have both attended BBC. Chelsea graduated in May of 2009 and the next day boarded a plane to spend six weeks in the Philippines and 10 weeks in China. She earned a business degree from BBC and a Culinary Arts degree from Platt College in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She was a three-time All-American basketball player at BBC, so she has put both her cooking skills and her basketball experience to good use on the mission field. She is still undecided as to what her future holds, but God has laid a burden on her heart for the people of China and she is excited to see what God has in store for her. Bobby, a junior at BBC, is majoring in business and also plays basketball for the Patriots. He has been involved in the Hughes’ ministry in Grove throughout his high school years and has been to the Philippines three times to minister with his dad and grandfather. He wants to be a doctor eventually but feels like he can get a solid foundation at BBC for whatever God has for him in the future.
Gene and Jackie’s daughter and son-in-law, Mike (class of ’89) and Michelle (class of ’88) Flippo, live in Fayetteville, Arkansas, along with their two daughters, Ryann (15) and Reagan (12). Michelle works for Tyson Foods and Mike is a professional photographer, whose pictures have appeared in the Tribune and in several BBC athletic department publications. They have been active in church ministry throughout their lives, both vocationally and as laymen. They served as youth pastors in Kansas, college directors in Texas, and led a young-married class in California. Ryann is in the band at Fayetteville High School and performs ballet. Reagan takes after her cousin Chelsea and hopes to one day be a Lady Patriot basketball player. She served as the water girl for the team in 2008-2009.
In three generations, eleven members of the Hughes family have attended BBC and are actively serving the Lord.