Born in the backwoods hills of North Georgia, Mike is the
second of four boys. A strong work ethic was instilled into the family from both
parents. Papu, Mike’s gradfather, was a naturalized American from Greece. With
his own savings he paid for his brother’s passage to America
and together they worked 12 hours days. To help his younger brother get an education,
Papu agreed to work his entire shift and half of his brother’s, a total of 18 hours a day, six days a week.
Sunday’s were always spent in church. No matter how small the town, Mary Ann and the boys found a church. As a teenager, Mike was very involved in youth groups, both his own and as a visitor with friends. One of those visits was to a youth event at a local Baptist church. There Mike confessed Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Mike continued
to grow in his faith, but very slowly. He continued to be caught up in the ways
of the world, despite being in church almost every Sunday.
Desiring to see more of America, Mike accepted a position with Texas Instruments in Dallas,
Texas after graduating from the University
of Georgia. His plan was
to work for 2 years and then return to college full time to earn his MBA, but marriage to his college sweetheart, Susie, delayed
the plan for a year. After graduation, Mike and Susie moved to Atlanta
with their recently arrived daughter, Alex. A son, Daniel, was born two years
later as the family moved to Columbia, Maryland.
By the age of 35, he had achieved almost
all of his career objectives. Continuing to grow in his faith since high school,
Mike decided to put God first in his life, not his career. Having worked with
youth groups in Dallas, Atlanta, Columbia
and Columbus, Mike had grown spiritually for many years. Yet, he, like so many others had not fully abandoned himself to God.
The decision led the family to Hazlehurst, Georgia.
Several years passed. A second daughter, Grace was born. Trusting God was now
a way of life, not merely words spoken in good times. Mike started a media company
and received copyright permission for the New American Standard Bible. He produced
The Disciples’ Bible and began marketing. Sales were slow and sporadic. He had used all the equity from the sale of their house in Columbus. With savings almost depleted, Mike
connected with an executive temporary service and received an assignment in Augusta,
Georgia. He relocated
his family to Augusta where a second son, Samuel was born
a year later.
In the spring of 1999, Mike joined in
the development of the PRECEDENT™ Golf Car for Club Car. Based on his development
activities, Mike has three patents pending. During the last year on the project, several team members began meeting at Hardees
in Evans on Tuesday mornings before work for Bible study. One of the engineers
was upset by the ACLU’s attempt to wipe God from all public discourse. Wondering
about ways to remind Americans about our Judeo-Christian foundations led to the Ten Commandments. Could we get the Ten back into the public? Mike approached
a Christian artist to develop a Ten Commandments logo to underpin a business designed to put the Ten back in the public square. Ten For US is the result of that effort.
