VALDOSTA — Except for a midwife’s request to work on the “dead” baby, a child would never have breathed and grown up to preach the word of God for 44 years, including 15 years of missionary work in Peru.

Carlton Allen was born at home in Stockton on July 21, 1941, with the local midwife and Dr. George Folsom from Lakeland attending.

“I was not breathing and Dr. Folsom put me down on the bed and told my mom that he was sorry, but there was no life,” Carlton said.

“The midwife asked the doctor if she could work with me, and she took me out on the back porch and primed the pitcher pump and drew up water. She sat my bottom down in that water, and my mom said I screamed. God had other plans for my life.”

Indeed, after pastoring at Benevolence Baptist Church on Old Clyattville Road a little over a year, he would start a church of his own.

“The Lord used our family to then start Victory Baptist Church in our home on Madison Highway,” Carlton said.

“Our living room was quickly too small, and we rented a building next door to where the church is now.

God blessed and the Lord gave us six-and-a-half acres of land, and the new church building was soon completed.”

Carlton pastored Victory for nine years before going to Peru, where he spent 15 years doing mission work. Then he accepted the pastorate of Calvary Baptist Church in Lake Park, retiring Jan. 1, 2012, after 19 years there. Although he has retired from the pastorate, the 70-year-old minister of God continues filling in for pastors when needed.



THE BEGINNING

Carlton was the fifth of nine children born to the late Roy and Edith Allen.

“I know now that we were very poor folks, but I didn’t realize that as a child,” Carlton said. “We were very content and enjoyed each other. One thing I do remember is that when mother announced dinner was ready, you didn’t tarry or you would be left out.

“We lived in Stockton until my dad got a job with Lowndes County in 1955, and we moved to Valdosta. My mom worked at Levi’s until it closed, and my dad retired from the county. They lived in Valdosta from 1955 until the time of their death.”



SCHOOL DAYS

Carlton graduated from Lanier County High School in Lakeland in 1961.

“I moved back to Stockton in 1959 and lived with my grandmother (the late Hattie Mae Allen) so I could go to school in Lakeland. There was a motive behind this decision. A new family had moved to Stockton ... James and Ruth Conine, and they had a blonde daughter named Sandra. I figured out that if I could go to school with her, I might have a chance.”

And he did.

“Sandra and I were married on July 1, 1962, at Stockton Baptist Church. We will celebrate 50 wonderful years this July 1st.

“She has been my helpmeet ... she has taught, organized, been my secretary, as well as my best friend. Sandra has worked as hard as any woman I know and never had a job. She has played a crucial role in the ministry. I could not have done it without her. She has always been willing to follow me wherever God leads and sacrifice whatever is needed to do His work. We have truly served as a team.”

The couple has four children, one of whom has followed in his steps as a missionary:

“Our oldest son, Jed Allen, is married to the former Julie Barnes, and they live here in Valdosta. Jed is self-employed in the home-repair business. They have two kids, Colby and Casey.

“Jody Allen is married to the former Christie Roberson and lives here, also. He owns Shan’s Bait & Tackle and teaches Spanish at Lowndes High School. They have two sons, Zachary and Blake.

“Joan is married to Shannon Hampton from Trenton, Ga. Shannon is a minister, and they served as missionaries in Argentina and Dominican Republic. They are presently in Charlotte, N.C., doing mission work by starting churches for Hispanics who live in the United States. They also train missionaries from their churches to go back to their homeland and plant churches. They have two daughters, Ashlee and Kayla, who are both in college, and they are also the parents of our precious autistic grandson, Brett.

“Julie Allen Danko is married to Daniel Danko from New York state. Dan is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. They live in Ruckersville, Va., and have three kids, Mackenzie, Joshua and Ethan. Julie is also a Spanish teacher.”

Before God called Carlton into the ministry, he worked in the banking and loan business at Farmers and Merchants Bank in Lakeland, Commercial Credit Company and Motor Contract Company in Valdosta.

He was 26, married and had two small kids when he came to know the Lord.

“In the fall of 1967 during a revival meeting at Stockton Baptist Church, the Lord dealt with me about my lost condition, and I was gloriously saved ... Immediately I had a hunger for the Word of God. I didn’t own a Bible, but my mother-in-law loaned me one, and I spent many hours reading and studying the Word of God. The Lord dealt with my heart about the great need for people to know the Truth. I began teaching a Sunday School class, visiting in the community, singing in the choir and anything else they would let me do. There was still a tug on my heart to do more. I finally realized it was God calling me into the ministry.”



A HEART FOR MISSIONS

It was a trip to the Holy Land that his church, Victory Baptist, sent him on that awakened his heart to international missions.

“I had never been to another country and seen the multitudes of people with no hope,” Carlton said. “God began to deal with my heart about being a missionary and going somewhere else where people had never heard the Gospel. After much prayer and fasting, I announced the call to missions and resigned as pastor of Victory Baptist Church, a church God had used us to start in our home and I had pastored for nine years.

“We were seeking God’s will but still did not have clear direction as to where we were to go. I woke up one morning about 3 o’clock and sat straight up in bed and said ‘Peru.’ I knew nothing about Peru and had never met a missionary from there.”

The next morning, he and Sandra went to the library and read everything they could find about Peru.

“As soon as all the preparations could be made, we loaded our old Pontiac station wagon with our four kids and everything we could put in it, on top of it and behind it and headed to Mexico to learn the Spanish language in preparation to go to Peru,” Carlton said. “We must have looked like the ‘Beverly Hillbillies.’”

After a year of language school in Queretaro, Mexico, they left for Peru. The family lived in Lima, but worked in the outskirts of the capital city, mostly in Tupacamaru de Villa.

“Our first three years in Peru, we worked with other missionaries trying to learn more about the culture and get more fluent in the language. After that, we were in church planting ministry.

“We saw much poverty in Peru, but the greatest need we saw was the spiritual poverty. We realized very soon that it is impossible to tell them that Jesus loves them without loving them first and ministering to their needs.”

Carlton discovered five little children who were not allowed to go to school because they did not have the uniforms required, and their parents could not afford to buy them.

“Sandra and I took them to the nicest part of Lima and, of course, bought the uniforms they needed and then took them to the shoe store and bought new school shoes.”

Carlton also came into contact with a little mountain couple who had made their way to the city ... “precious people but very poor.”

“Sandra and I visited them almost every week and always had rice, sugar, coffee, oil, etc., for them. Some of the sweetest and most grateful people we have ever had the privilege of meeting.

“If we could sum up ... our time spent in Peru doing mission work, it would be rewarding and refreshing.”

As the 70-year-old looks back over his four-decade-plus career of winning people to the Lord Jesus Christ, Allen said the highlights of his ministry were being privileged to start churches both in the U.S. and Peru, and being able “to see God save many precious souls.”

“Another highlight was that of learning what faith is all about without having to read someone’s book on faith. We had to depend on God for our every need.

“One of the most precious highlights of my ministry was that my mother was the first person I ever baptized,” he added.

The night the Allens left Peru to come back home to the U.S., a large group of believers came to the airport to say good-bye.

“Each one came by and hugged our necks and said their farewells. As one little boy about 7 or 8 years old came by, he looked up at me and said, ‘Preacher, are you coming back?’ I told him yes that I would be back someday, and he said, ‘Here is something to help you get back.’ He handed me two small bills. The Peruvian money had devaluated so much until those two bills were only worth a few cents. I still have them in my Bible, and no amount of money can buy them.”

Carlton is not only concerned about the people in Peru, but also others around the world who haven’t asked Jesus into their hearts.

“Half the world population is still waiting for the Gospel. ‘The fields are white unto harvest, and the laborers are few’ is still in the Book and is still true. Even though I have retired from pastoring, I still have a desire to preach and to serve and help others. If a church is without a pastor, I would be thrilled to fill in and help until they call a pastor. I love missions and would be thrilled for the opportunity to teach churches about missions and mission work.”

Those interested may contact Carlton Allen at his son’s business where he helps out, 259-0880, or at his home at 559-1978.