My Mum, Dr. Beulah Herbert (née Beulah Kamalarani Baliah), was born into a family of five siblings. Her father was a lawyer (or judge?! I'm not sure!) and this meant that the family kept moving pretty often. Mum has been to several places in Tamil Nadu while growing up, and has skipped several school terms due to these location changes. How she knows all that she knows today, even with skipping a few school terms is a mystery to me. She attended college in MCC (Madras Christian College) and was working as a Physics lecturer in the Sara Tucker College, Palayamkottai (Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu). That's when God decided to act - BOOM! He called her to be a missionary - which gave the Friends Missionary Prayer Band (FMPB) their first lady missionary. She's been to forests, trekked through really rough terrain and lived with the barest of essentials in the most minamilist conditions. Following all that, she decided to pursue studies in theology and landed up in the Union Biblical Seminary (UBS) where Dad also pursued his degree in theology. That's where they met.
After marriage, Mum pursued her M. Th. (Masters in Theology) with the Gurukul Lutheran Theological College. When she completed, they offered her a lecturer post there. She took on the post as their ladies' hostel warden, which moved our family on-campus. She left for the UK in 1995 to pursue her Ph. D. in Theology. Since this was a part-time Ph. D., she was required to go to the UK only for some time every year. She got a scholarship which paid for all her flights and other needs. After completing her Ph. D., she has been teaching and lecturing in plenty of colleges in Tamil Nadu (and even one in Kerala!). She is currently the Principal at the Bethel Bible Institute in Danishpet, Salem District.
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