Hometown girl Gibbs uses musical gifts to share faith

Everything medically possible had been done, and the outlook was bleak. It seemed Donald Gibbs' wife and baby had no chance.

A miracle would pull them through.

In 1954, Donald Gibbs' job at Western Electric took him to Miami, far from his home near Grovetown.

His wife, Betty, was seven months pregnant when a kidney infection sent her into premature labor. She gave birth to Terri, a tiny girl weighing only 2 pounds and 11 ounces, on a hot and humid June day in a Miami hospital. The baby was placed into an incubator.

Betty recovered and was discharged, but Terri stayed many weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit until she reached 5 pounds.

Still, something was wrong. Terri's parents would wave their hands in front of her eyes and get no response. They took her to the doctor. The diagnosis was retrolental fibroplasia, abnormal blood vessel development that is common in preemies and can cause blindness.

Stunned, Terri's parents wept, wondering what kind of life their baby would have.

They raised her to be independent. She learned to read Braille before she started school. She rode a tricycle around the carport and learned to ride a bicycle. She made A's and B's in school and graduated from Butler High School. Most of all, she learned to sing and play the piano, beginning at age 3.

Terri was gifted with perfect pitch and could play back practically anything she heard. As a teen, she went to concerts at Bell Auditorium, listening to great country artists like Bill Anderson. She dreamed of being on stage, singing and playing.

Her dreams came true.

She became an overnight star with her mega-hit, Somebody's Knockin' in 1981, and won the 1981 Academy of Country Music's Best New Female Vocalist, beating out Reba McEntire.

In November 1986, Terri had a life-changing experience with Christ at a small prayer meeting with several musicians in the Koinonia book and record store in Nashville, Tenn. Terri decided to leave the country music industry and sing for Christ. Since then, she has sung and testified in churches and concerts concerning what the Lord has done and is doing in her life.

Terri may be blind, but she clearly sees the light of Christ, who shines through her incredible talents and giftedness for song, enabling the spiritually blind to see the love, grace, salvation and mercy of the Lord.

The Rev. Dan White is the pastor of North Columbia Church in Appling and is writing a book with Mrs. Gibbs.