Program Mentors

Deaf Teen Connect Ministry Association

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Some of the Program Mentors available to DTC association members for advice and counsel

Rick McClain, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Deaf Online University

Rick McClain serves as the president of Deaf Teen Connect Ministry Association. Rick is a graduate of Gallaudet University, has a Master of Religious Education from Nazarene Theological Seminary, and the Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from Mid-America Nazarene University. Over a period of 23 years, he was a pastor in four different states: Missouri, North Carolina, Oregon, Kansas. Rick has three grandsons that he is truly excited about and proud of. He is also nearing graduation with his Doctorate of Ministry from Beeson Seminary at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.

Mark Seeger, Pastor of Jesus Lutheran Church of the Deaf in Austin, TX

Mark grew up in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. He first became involved in DeafWorld in 1973 when he took sign language classes at Concordia College in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has been married to Carol (who is deaf) for over 30 years; Carol is an ASL teacher at the University of Texas. Mark has worked or volunteered in Deaf churches in St. Paul (MN), Springfield (IL), Fort Wayne (IN), Memphis (TN), Rochester (NY), and is now pastor of the Jesus Lutheran Church of the Deaf in Austin, TX since 1991. Their church is directly across the street from TSD and God blesses their youth ministry with 150-200 Deaf students each school year.

Bruce Persons, Frederick Church of the Brethern Deaf Fellowship in Frederick, MD

A native of Maryland and a 2005 graduate of Maryland School for the Deaf (MSD), Bruce completed a Bachelors degree in Management with a finance concentration from Hood College in 2009. He calls Frederick Church of the Brethren his home since 2000 (located only two blocks from Hood College), and Bruce started a Deaf youth ministry (Deaf Fellowship Youth Ministry, or DFYouth Ministry) in 2006. Elsewhere, Bruce serves in a local DTQuest committee and is an Advisory Team member for the Deaf Teen Ministry Affinity Network for the National Network of Youth Ministries. Growing up playing baseball, Bruce volunteers as a coach for MSD’s high school baseball team, and his blood bleeds orange and black as a loyal fan of the Baltimore Orioles.

Jim and Dawn Smith, Maple Grove Deaf Church (Assembly of God) in Vancouver, WA

Jim and Dawn, moved to Washington State after graduating from the Rochester Institute of Technology and National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, NY. Together they have ministered to deaf men and women of all ages since 1985—in Everett, WA, and Bremerton, WA before settling at Maple Grove Church as pastor of the Deaf congregation. Jim serves as Coordinator of YFC Deaf Teen Quest (DTQ) in the Vancouver, WA area. With a team of leaders, they are dedicated to serving the deaf youth in the area, providing fun events as well as a chance to know Christ through our GROWgroup studies.

DeeAnn Harmon, Harvest Point Methodist Church in McDonough, GA

While growing up in North Carolina, DeeAnn, first became interested in the Deaf world through exposure to sign language in elementary school and a Deaf neighbor. DeeAnn is involved in Deaf ministry at home and around the world through Deaf Harvest International, Inc. Having been a teacher of the Deaf for over twenty years, she has worked with Deaf individuals in the community of all ages, and recently received NIC Master Certification as an interpreter. For the past ten years, DeeAnn has focused her local ministry primarily on Deaf teenagers. DeeAnn has been married to Al for 23 years, and is the mother of three daughters: Victoria (17), Caroline (15) and Alissa (4). She is an active member of Harvest Point Methodist Church in McDonough, Georgia which has had a growing Deaf teen ministry for the past five years.

Jeff Jackson, Laurelglen Bible Church in Bakersfield, CA

Jeff Jackson is pastor of the deaf church at Laurelglen Bible Church in Bakersfield, CA. Jeff also serves as a Chaplain for the deaf inmates at the State Prison in Corcoran, CA. He attended Central Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis, MO and later graduated from high school in Anderson, IN. Jeff graduated from California State University-Bakersfield in 1993. He taught in the public school system and served as a bi-vocational pastor before becoming a full-time pastor to the deaf at First Baptist Church in West Palm Beach, FL, where he was a pastor for seven years. Jeff returned to Bakersfield in 2004 to plant a new deaf church, Laurelglen Bible Deaf Church. Jeff has been involved in deaf ministries, overseas missions and international speaking engagements. He has ministered in Haiti several times. He has been married for 14 years to his lovely wife, Maura who is a native of the Dominican Republic. They have two children, Benito and Joshua.