For this educator, author and artist, it wasn’t that she intended the path she took, but she wasn’t prepared to turn back once on it. For Sandi Baron, that has been a hallmark of her life. Sandi recently visited Taylor University to promote her memoir on racial inequality, “Bridging The Mississippi”.
Sandi and I met in Fort Wayne shortly after the love of her life, Denny, flatlined and was revived using emergency procedures. Sandi recalls her thoughts when she received the call that her husband was dying by saying, “I remember talking to God and sensing from the Lord that Denny’s work wasn’t done yet.”. That message from the Lord was clear on her recent visit to Taylor University. Sandi and Denny, now in their 55th year of marriage, toured the campus together. “At the beginning of marriage, we had to learn how to get over our selfishness and sacrifice together.” Sandi said.
Sandi’s book gives an account of her work in New Orleans as an educator. She went through the humbling process while teaching by experiencing how to love and learn from others who were different from her. Ron Korfmacher, director of Church Relations, took Sandi and Denny to meet with the Intercultural Leadership & Church Relations team. They attended chapel, toured the campus, and spent time in the Office of Intercultural Programs (OIP). Sandi doesn’t know a stranger, and it was powerful watching her meeting people and seeing how she quickly built relationships and loved everyone she met. Sandi is a willing resource to others through retelling her work as an educator in cross-cultural settings over five decades. If you’re interested in connecting with Sandi, please reach out to Elissa Bennett at elissa_bennett@taylor.edu.