Ouachita Stories

For over 20 years, Barbara Schleiff has been a part of Ouachita Baptist University’s Tiger Serve Day. 

Schleiff served as a missionary overseas with her husband for almost 35 years. She grew up in Monette, Arkansas, and met her husband as a student at Ouachita. After getting married in 1959, Barbara and her husband, Jerry, lived in Arkansas for a few years before moving to Africa. They served as missionaries in Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe) from 1967-1995 and, from 1995-1999, they traveled throughout Central and South Asia. Finally, they retired to Arkadelphia in December 1999, in part to support college students who grew up overseas.

Today, Schleiff is affectionately known as “Aunt Barbara” by many in the Ouachita community. Tiger Serve Day teams — specifically the school’s Campus Ministries team — have served her for more than two decades. This year, the CM team helped Schleiff with yard work and cleaning while listening to her stories and wisdom. 

“I appreciate the consistency and the blessing it’s been to have young people who come and work so hard,” said Schleiff. “It’s a special day, and I think it’s such a wonderful thing for the community.” 

Mark Kennedy, a sophomore secondary math education major from Roland, Arkansas, served Schleiff during the spring Tiger Serve Day and decided to come back this fall.

“While the cookies and lunch she provided were a bonus, the real reward was the pleasure of being in the presence of someone much wiser than myself,” Kennedy said.

Aunt Barbara loves welcoming students for Tiger Serve Day, but she also invites them into her home every Thursday night to fellowship and pray for their friends and family. She mentors several young women and has a storage shed that multiple missionary kids and international students store their possessions in.

“I love doing what I do,” said Schleiff. “I think it helps me mentally and physically to have students over a lot and be able to visit with people.” 

This year’s Tiger Serve Day theme was Overflow, taken from 1 John 4:19. “The love that is extended to our community on Tiger Serve Day is an overflow of the love we have received from God,” said Judy Duvall, director of Ouachita’s Elrod Center for Family & Community, which organizes the day each semester.

Saturday, Sept. 27 marked the 57th Tiger Serve Day. The 704 participating volunteers, which included students, faculty and staff, served 84 projects throughout the Arkadelphia community. Volunteers worked on tasks ranging from yard work to cleaning toys at the Percy and Donna Malone Child Safety Center. Since Tiger Serve Day’s creation in 1997, teams have not only engaged in projects, but they have also created lasting friendships. 

“You would be hard pressed to find another university that has a serve day on this scale, where this many students serve alongside professors and staff to bring support to others,” said Duvall. “I am so proud to be a part of a university that wholeheartedly supports this kind of effort.”

Although Schleiff was the one being served Saturday, she also exemplifies the day’s theme of Overflow in the way she gives back to the students who visit her throughout the years.  

For more information about Tiger Serve Day and the Elrod Center, please visit obu.edu/elrod or contact Judy Duvall at duvallj@obu.edu 870-245-5320. 

Lead photo by Joshua Rhine

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