Hugh's News & Commentary

The Hugh’s News Man of the Year for 2011

The year 2011 has been one of the best years in the electronic publishing ministry for Hugh’s News. It is “The electronic flagship of communications serving IPHC ministries and the body of Christ worldwide.”

From its humble beginning with only 13 subscribers in 1997, all active duty military chaplains, it is evident to all that God’s Hand is in this news reporting enterprise that now is reaching more than 5,000 readers around the world in more than 20 countries, and 22 time zones.

This year without exception, the CEO, Founder, Editor, and Publisher of Hugh’s News has once again selected The Hugh’s News Man of the Year for 2011.

It takes team work to gather the news, check it out for accuracy and obtain permission to publish it, edit and organize it in a format that is easy to read. God has given us friends who feed us the information, and who invest in this ministry by their prayers and financial contributions. What’s more, God has given us professional web and newsletter designers to produce a second to none format. To God be the glory, honor, and praise!

I, Hugh Morgan, would like to introduce you to the recipient of The 2011 Hugh’s News Man of the Year.

First of all, the person I’ve selected is an outstanding businessman and church leader. That is the first clue, the recipient is a He.

This year’s man of the year for Hugh’s News does not hail from Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Texas or California. In fact, he does not hail from the United States of America. That is the second clue.

He has a most noticeable accent (clue #3).

He came from South Africa and enrolled in the High School Academy at Holmes Bible College in Greenville, SC. It was a missionary by the name of George Fisher who had a great influence upon his life and recommended Holmes Bible College; and he wanted to be like him. Clue #4.

Although he never felt a call to preach, he did accept a call to ministry wherever that would lead him, and he pastored a church in Virginia while teaching school upon the request of the conference superintendent until he could get a pastor to take the church. He played the piano, led the singing, served as Sunday school superintendent, did the janitorial work and cut the lawn-- he did it all. He could only produce a 45-minute worship service even though he tried hard to make it last at least one hour. Clue #5.

Although he was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, he is not a black man. He could truly be called an African American since he was born in South Africa and can speak the language. Color of one’s skin has nothing to do with it. His father was a judge. His father and grandfather were members of Andrew Murray’s church that experienced a great revival due to the prayers of the laymen. Some 50 young men were called to the ministry during that extended revival.

He has been a resident of the United States since 1947. He became a United States Citizen in 1963.

Our man of the year graduated from Holmes Bible College in 1951, with a Bachelor of Sacred Literature degree. He went on to Lynchburg College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy of Religion and a minor in Sociology. In 1963, he earned a Master of Arts degree in Education and a minor in Psychology in 1963, from Longwood College. He went on to take nineteen graduate semester hours in Administration and Supervision at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Greensboro, NC, 1963-1965. In addition he has taken numerous workshops in professional areas, such as Resource Development, Fundraising, Proposal Development, Grants Management, and Administration.

Our Man of the Year has a teaching background that goes back to 1957. He taught in the public school system of Virginia, and later worked for Beaufort Community College. Early on in his career he spent 5 years with Encyclopedia Britannica as a writer, and was responsible for writing many successful grant proposal business plans that produced hundreds of thousands of dollars. That tells us that he is a highly intelligent man with a flair for disciplined and precise writing.

This remarkable man became a Lay Missionary and Supervisor of Mission Elementary Schools, South and Central Africa under the World Missions Board of the Pentecostal Holiness Church from 1951-1954.

He taught in the High School at Appomattox County, Virginia, from 1957-1959. He was principal of Pamplin Elementary School in Pamplin, Virginia, and Elliott Duncan Elementary School, Mayodan, NC (1959-1965), and a consultant to Encyclopedia Britannica Education Corporation, Film Division in Chicago, Illinois, from 1965-1970. While he and his wife lived in Mayodan, he was the Director of Christian Education at the Draper Pentecostal Holiness Church.

He was Vice President for Institutional Development at Beaufort County Community College, Washington, NC, 1970-1979.  After spending a year in Raleigh as the Director of Planning for the State Board of Education, Department of Community Colleges of North Carolina, he then served as the Executive Director, Mid-East Commission, Washington, NC from 1979-1982

In 1982, he became the president of East Carolina Vocational Company in Pitt County, North Carolina. After a year his title changed to CEO. As a gifted leader in business management he introduced an entrepreneurial philosophy to ECVC, a non-profit organization, that revolutionized the company. Up until that point this company had struggled to survive on grants. Today that organization is able to focus on a strong commitment to the quality of life for its employees, 92% who are disabled. And although it might be non-profit, it now operates as a business with an entrepreneur at its helm.

A person’s vocation is not often the primary reason for awarding the Hugh’s News Man of the Year. But in this case, our recipient’s vocation has made him much more than a CEO, much more than a boss, but rather a significant community leader with a business that ministers to its people in unmatched ways.

East Carolina Vocational Company has over 235 employees and while we might think about that as economic development in general, the truth is that getting to work at ECVC is “a life-altering experience,” for its disabled workforce.

Our man of the year has created an industry with federal contracts and recycling and quality of life opportunities for the disabled employees. In addition to the disabled people who work at the center, at least another 100 disabled people are trained on the job and placed in community employment each year.

Under the extraordinary leadership of our man of the year, he saw to it that all full-time disabled employees receive paid health, dental, and life insurance and have the equivalent of eight percent of their annual base wages contributed to their retirement accounts. All full-time employees receive sick leave, holidays, and vacation benefits. For these disabled employees it was the first time that they had received company benefits of any kind.

The quality of growth that ECVC has experienced is a tribute to our man of the year’s leadership and his staff who remained loyal and committed through the difficult times. In 1997, a newly constructed ADVP building was completed and dedicated in his name (despite his protests) to recognize his accomplishments at ECVC.

He was elected the prestigious honor of Governor for Rotary District 7720. In August 2009, he was awarded a Paul Harris Fellow from Greenville, NC, Morning Rotary in honor of the National founder.

In 2009, he was awarded the Milton Cohen Leadership Award from the National Council of Work Center (NCWC), one of the highest awards he could ever receive. In that same year, he was awarded the Rotary International Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service. In 2011, he was recognized by the Greenville Pitt County Chamber of Commerce as the Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year.

Our man of the year has announced his retirement from Eastern Carolina Vocational Center, Inc. effective December 31, 2011.

At the very heart and soul of our man of the year is his personal commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Church. It can be said of him that he is a churchman, and a senior church statesman. He is a member of the Pentecostal Holiness Church. He has taught Sunday school, served on the deacon board, Sunday school superintendent, and delegate to conferences and conventions including General Conferences and Sunday School Conventions.

From 1997 to 2009, he served as the Chairman, Holmes Bible College Board of Trustees. He invested not only his time, and many hours of work, but gave significantly and even sacrificially to help this oldest Pentecostal Bible college in the world weather the storm of tough economic times for the college. In spite of adverse circumstances, he remained loyal and committed to his Alma Mater, and promoted the college wherever he was. He was a strong advocate for the Board of Trustees to extend an invitation to Bishop James D. Leggett to come to Holmes Bible College as the president. That one decision is the crowning achievement for his administration as chairman of the Board of Trustees.

From 2004 to 2005, he was the building chairman of the First Pentecostal Holiness Church in Greenville, NC, when they completed a new sanctuary. It is one of the finest facilities in the IPHC.

He is married to the former Miss Betty Von Moore of Eden, NC, who is a retired public school teacher. She is one of the finest church pianists and organists in the Pentecostal Holiness Church.

They have a daughter, Anna Elizabeth, who plays the French horn and is an environmental chemist, and laboratory supervisor for County of Brunswick, NC, Public Utilities.

He has been a friend of mine since I was a student at Holmes Bible College in the fall of 1957, he invited our quartet to preach a weekend revival at his church in Appomattox, VA. He invited the young lady whom he would marry and her parents, as well as her next door neighbor to the Friday night service. That beautiful young lady would become my bride, and our man of the year was the Best Man in our wedding in 1960.

It gives me a great deal of honor and pleasure to introduce you to the 2011 Hugh’s News Man of the Year:

Mr. Daneel L. le Roux of Greenville, North Carolina.

 
Daneel L. leRoux