The Singletarys

It all started with a teenage boy surrendering to the call of God. He started his education in ministry at Wheaton College in Chicago, Illinois in 1975. He then continued at East Texas Baptist College in Marshall, TX and finished in 1981 with a Masters of Theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX. In 1976, he met his wife Terry Halford at college and they married in 1978. They have three children Andy, Laura and Jackie.

From 1983–95, while pastoring a new church for 12 years, our family sensed God’s call to the Karamojong of Uganda, then an unreached people group. We sold everything, packed up, left the USA, and followed Christ’s teaching in Matthew 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Once we arrived in Karamoja, we began to engage the mountain people of Mount Moroto who were a subtribe called the Tepez.

 We went under the leadership and commissioning of Lakeside Baptist Church, Africa Inland Mission, and later the IMB, and served there for about 10 years. 1996-2006. During that time, we learned several things:

1)      The Karamojong were among the poorest people in the world.

2)      They were semi-nomadic cattle herders with few farming skills.

3)      The area suffers from severe, recurring drought.

4)      They suffered under Idi Amin’s regime and later used the weapons they obtained for cattle raiding and survival.

5)      Few wanted to go because it was violent; we were ambushed twice while living there.

6)      They are among the world’s most illiterate populations, with poor schools affected by local corruption.

7)      They remain an oral society that passes information through stories.

8)      Resources are scarce because the work is difficult and the people are hard to reach spiritually and geographically.

 For years, they lived with little or no running water, electricity, communication, or medical care. They focused on learning their heart language, helping with drought feeding programs, and developing an oral Bible resource with key Old Testament, Gospel, and Pauline-based stories through the fictional character Lojoketau, created by Larry. They also taught these stories in their language, recorded them on cassette tapes, and organized village groups around hand-cranked cassette players, with one leader responsible for teaching salvation and Christian living. Along these lines, they hosted many short term mission groups and found their love for mission training and discipleship mentoring.

 In 2006, we returned home so our special needs children could transition into adulthood. We started a 501c3 non-profit organization to facilitate our calling. XTREME TEAMS INTERNATIONAL, INC. Over the past 20 years, we have continued sharpening our storytelling skills by training several large including Community Bible Church, Oakhills Church, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Castlehills FBC and other San Antonio churches to engage refugees, including Somali Bantu, Nepalese, Iranian, Afghan, Iraqi, and others. We led an Iranian house church for one year and discipled groups through Perspectives on the World Christian Movement and house church training.

While they were back in the US, the calling that God placed on their lives has never changed. Their children have grown up, married and have children. Larry and Terry entered the secular work force. Terry is now retired. Larry began working as a Special Education Teacher in the Northside ISD of San Antonio, TX and has now been there since 2016. During his summer breaks He has continued to train and facilitate mission trips around the world and has returned to Karamoja numerous times. Xtreme Teams International (XTI) has been sitting quietly in the wings waiting for God’s direction.

Then in 2024 they received a call……