Timeless February/March 2021 | Page 18

American Heart Month . Huggins was asked to share his heart-ful story .
Born in Detroit , Huggins lived in Indiana as a child and earned his bachelor ’ s degree in business administration from Ball State University in 1972 . Eventually , he ended up in California where the Lord led him to First Apostolic Church of Inglewood . There , he met a young youth minister , Pearl Rice , a former flight attendant from Meridian who also worked as a nanny in addition to her church duties . The two hit it off . Huggins was saved in late 1979 and began training under the church ’ s bishop . Six months later , he and Pearl were married . In 1984 , he felt called to start a church in her native Meridian .
So , the couple packed up their belongings and headed South with three young children , Dennis III , Julia and JaWanda , in tow . The family continued to grow with the births of JaFinis , Daniel and Judah .
Together , the couple founded First Apostolic Church and watched it grow .
In early 2002 , Huggins received his master ’ s degree in counseling from Mississippi State University-Meridian campus and worked briefly for Weems Mental Health Center before joining the staff of Management & Training Corporation , which oversees the East Mississippi Correctional Facility at Lost Gap . He served as a therapist , psychologist and then as Director of Mental Health of the prison , before retiring in 2017 .
In 2005 , the family suffered a tragedy when their oldest son , Dennis , died from carbon monoxide poisoning in a house fire .
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