Speaker

autobiography of kathleen curto

I was born in San Francisco, California, on June 23, 1952, and was the second of eight children. My father was a student in dental school, and my mother stayed home to take care of the family. I lived in San Francisco for three years, and then my family moved to Pennsylvania for my father’s post-graduate training in oral surgery. After completing his training, we moved back to Los Angeles and eventually settled in Oceanside, California, where my father set up his oral surgery practice in 1959.

I was raised in a very devout Catholic home. My parents were actively involved in the parish church, and I attended Catholic school through my sophomore year in high school. At that time I transferred to the public high school and graduated in 1970 from Oceanside High School. I had an older brother, two younger brothers, and four younger sisters. Because of the large family in which I was raised, I learned to be responsible at a very young age. We had a very happy family life; and as a young girl growing up, I had many opportunities afforded to me. My parents, however, were very strict and had very high expectations for all of their children. As I began high school, I started to rebel against what I considered to be a very strict upbringing and I began to sneak around behind my parents’ backs. I grew more and more rebellious throughout my teen years and was caught up in the “counter-culture” of the late 1960s. It was during my senior year of high school that I met Tony Curto and we started dating very seriously. He was a year younger than I was, but, though my parents had plans for me to graduate and go away to college, Tony and I decided we did not want to be separated. In October 1970 we married, much to the dismay of our parents.

In February of 1971, we had our first child, Matthew. Four weeks after Matthew was born, it was determined that he had been born with cataracts and was legally blind. This was a turning point in our lives, because now we were a young married couple with a handicapped infant and suddenly faced with a great deal of responsibility. We did not handle the pressure of these responsibilities very well and by the fall after Matthew was born, we were doing some real questioning as to what all of these events meant for us. 

At the same time, the “Jesus Movement” had become very widespread in Southern California. We had many friends who had become Christians and were constantly coming to us and sharing the gospel with us. As Tony began listening to them and reading the Bible, I realized over a period of time that he was changing. I knew that I had to get right with God, but because Roman Catholicism was the only religion I knew, I returned to the Catholic church. I had not attended church since I had moved out of my house to marry Tony. It did not take long for me to realize that Catholicism had no answers for me. During this period of time, Tony was under a great deal of conviction. He began to understand his sinful state and to call upon Christ for forgiveness. I fought against what was happening to him because I was so confused by my own upbringing and the true gospel. Tony made a profession of faith on December 31, 1971, at a huge Jesus rally in Pasadena, California. During the following two to three weeks, he spent his waking hours explaining the gospel to me. By the third week, I had begun to understand my sinful state and need of a Savior; and because of the work of God’s Spirit, I called upon Christ as my Savior.

From the very beginning of our Christian walk, Tony felt called to the gospel ministry. He attended a small Arminian Bible seminary in Fresno, California for two years. When he graduated, we went to New York City with another family to start a street ministry. During this period of time, we began attending a small congregational church on Long Island whose pastor was reformed. It was through his influence and teaching that we became reformed. Tony felt that it was important that he attend seminary and wanted to go to Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. We returned to California so that he could attend Southern California College to first complete his undergraduate work. After two years at Westminster, Philadelphia, we returned to California because Tony had received a call to a congregational church in Newport Beach, where he had served as an associate pastor during his college years. After eight years of serving this church (during which time he completed his third year at Westminster West), we joined the OPC and merged with Covenant Community Church where Tony co-pastored with Greg Bahnsen for three years. He then continued as the sole pastor until February of 1994 when he became the regional home missionary for the Presbytery of Southern California.

During all those years of Tony’s schooling, I remained home with our children. The Lord blessed us with two more children, Toby and Christy. As our children grew old enough to attend school, I worked part-time as a dental assistant and at my children’s school as a P.E. teacher. In 1982 I began my own pursuit of a degree in elementary education.  I graduated in 1990 from California State University at Long Beach and upon graduating began teaching. For four years I served Grand Avenue Christian School, an evangelical Methodist elementary school, as its principal. All three of our children were then in college, and we were then given the opportunity to serve the OPC as foreign missionaries to Uganda, East Africa.

Our life in Uganda a wonderful experience—living in East Africa, serving as missionaries among the Ugandan people.  I especially appreciated learning a whole new culture, and it was a real joy to work with the brothers and sisters in the Presbyterian Church in Uganda. I had the privilege of supporting Tony in his church-planting work, teaching Sunday school, and putting together a basic Sunday school curriculum. I also taught womens’ studies in the village churches, and helped to start Covenant Primary School.

The greatest blessing of our first four years was the opportunity to adopt the Were children: Douglas, Isaac, and Ivan, three little sons of a dear pastor and friend, Moses Were. Upon our return to Uganda after a furlough, we moved to Karamoja, a new tribal group among whom Tony continued his church-planting work. I worked with the women of Karmoja, but concentrated my efforts towards being a full-time mom.  Over the first four years in Mbale, and our year of furlough, our three adult children were married, and we were blessed with our first grandchild.  Praise God for His faithfulness!

Since 2004 we have lived in Greenville, South Carolina.  Our three adopted sons are now 21, 23, and 25.  Douglas has graduated from the University of South Carolina (Upstate) this past December with a degree in Business Administration.  Isaac is in his third year at the United States Military Academy.  Ivan is attending Coker College in South Carolina studying Kinesiology, with the hope of becoming a Physical Therapist. 

I continue to serve as Director of Student Services at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Semianry, where I have worked since 2004.  I am active in our local OPC, Covenant Community OPC in Taylors, SC. 

Matthew (our oldest son) and Kelly live in Greenville; Toby (our second son) and Rachel live in Wahiawa HI with our five grandchildren. Our daughter, Christy, lives in Costa Mesa, CA.  

No comments:

Post a Comment