“Refuge International is a better place because of people like Carroll Greenwaldt, Jillian Greifenkamp Renea Schott and many others who are selfless givers.”

Ginia Northcutt, Refuge International Executive Director

By Joycelyne Fadojutimi

Her name is Ginia, and she has been married to her beloved husband Gordon Northcutt, for three and half decades. They are immensely proud of their married two children – a daughter Conlan and son, LeGrand. Their two children are citizens of the Lobo nation graduating from Longview High School. Conlan and her husband Joshua have a one-year-old son, Peter. In addition, Legrand and his wife Lauren, have an 11-month-old daughter named Lily. A passion for helping others shines forth in their lives and actions.

After Ginia graduated from the University of Tennessee, and Gordon from Austin College, they bumped into each other while working at a Washington D.C. eatery called Julio’s of Capitol Hill. They fell madly and permanently in love. Gordon’s roots are in Longview, Texas where he was a lifelong member of the local First Baptist Church. Ginia, though, took a roundabout trek to East Texas. They collaborate beautifully to make Longview and beyond a better place. Ginia is the oldest of three children and got her start far from East Texas.

“I was born and raised in Memphis, where my mother’s family were farmers across the Mississippi River in Arkansas,” she says. “My father was from New Jersey, and I distinctly remember growing up in Memphis during the civil rights movement.”

Ginia’s family of origin made a great impact in her life. She has a younger sister and a brother. Her father saw the world from a different lens than many Southerners of that epoch. He taught his three children that all people should be treated not just with respect but with love. In addition, he was a precisionist with attention to detail. Hence, he expected Ginia and her siblings to do their absolute best, to be honest and not shy away from the consequences of their actions.

But wait, that is not all. There is more.

Her mother was a home engineer and avid volunteer who set another altruistic example for Ginia. Barely in her teens – ten years old to be exact, Ginia was marketing calendars to raise funds for a noble cause.

“I remember selling calendars at the local McDonald’s when I was ten years old to raise money for Les Passes Children’s Hospital in Memphis” she says. “Weekends were spent working in the yard or volunteering. It was a fun time.”

Ginia was not alone. Theirs was a community service family. They volunteered in church and other civic organizations. One can definitely see why it is safe to say that Ginia was born with magnanimity in her blood.

Although she has lived a rather itinerant life, she married into a family with roots stretching far back into Deep East Texas. Gordon’s great-grandfather W.G. Northcutt was one of Longview’s first settlers and brought his clan here in 1871. When she accompanied Gordon here, she fell in love with Longview that she sees as the perfect place to raise children and provide great opportunities. Her education set her up to fruitfully serve her adopted hometown and its people.

Ginia holds a bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where she also starred on the women’s rowing team, never losing a race. She then pulled down a mediation certification from Southern Methodist University before embarking down the straight and narrow path to success and selfless service.

She has worked as executive director of Refuge International since 2019, but earlier held down the positions of blood service representative for the American Red Cross, National Capitol Chapter, in Washington, D.C. before moving on to the post of assistant director for Donor Resources Development. She then moved on to the Children’s National Medical Center and carried out a Center For Disease Control-sponsored study to ascertain the extent of HIV contamination in blood supplies. After giving birth to daughter Conlan in D.C. they relocated to Waco so Gordon could earn his MBA from Baylor University.

Gordon took a job in Richmond, Virginia where Ginia was a home engineer and gave birth to son LeGrand. In 1998, the family settled in Longview, and Ginia worked as executive director of the Gregg County Historical Museum from 2002-2006. Following LeGrand’s graduation from high school Ginia filled the position of special events coordinator for the Buckner Foundation, serving until 2018. Apart from a few part-time, odd jobs she has spent her entire working career with non-profits.

“It was nothing I planned,” she says. “I love the heart of non-profit work because there is always a mission of service to others.”

Besides the Lord, Ginia’s biggest supporter in her endeavors is her beloved husband.

“Gordon has been my rock and loved me unconditionally. I am a better person because Gordon is in my life. He is the kindest and most generous person I know,” Ginia said. “He will do anything to help a friend and has supported me and my crazy ideas for a long time.”

Ginia currently serves as executive director of Refuge International, which concentrates its efforts on providing needed healthcare to people in Guatemala, most of whom have no other source of medical treatment and/or cannot afford it because of a public health system vastly different from the United States healthcare system.

For example, in Guatemala, families have to pay for their loved ones’ food while they are hospitalized, for supplies needed for surgery, bloodwork, MRIs, X-rays and other various testing. Besides being cripplingly expensive, this process is time-consuming, and once the supplies and testing are finally finished, doctors may decide the test results are too old, and the whole process must start over.

As a matter of fact, during Refuge International’s most recent visit to Guatemala, a “Mr. Topp” approached the team because he was in dire need of an ileostomy reversal. Four years earlier, he had checked into a hospital to have hernia surgery. Instead, the doctors inexplicably performed an ileostomy on him, forcing him to cover his ileostomy with a plastic bag held on by a strip of cloth. The hospital offered no explanation for this flagrant malpractice and took no responsibility for it. The ileostomy reversal operation the Refuge International surgeons performed on him was life-changing, and his delight was clear and intense.

“By the end of the week he had our team wrapped around his finger with his smile and infectious joy,” says Ginia. “This is one example of many of how we affect people, and it is an honor to work for an organization that cares so deeply for others.”

She also knows exactly whom to credit for her status as a source of critical healing for so many.

“I have never climbed the ladder of corporate success,” she says. “I have always had a passion for helping others, and God has provided the opportunities.”

Ginia’s work is a complex calling that compels her to expect the unexpected. There is no such thing as a run-of-the-mill day as she and her team assimilate donations and see to various logistics while also making plans and arrangements for the treatment aspects of medical/missionary trips. Then, there is fund-raising, donor development and the overall business side of operating Refuge International. Making a positive difference in the lives of those she serves compels her to search out and cultivate selfless people with big and generous hearts who, like her, are dedicated to bettering the lives of those in need. She is the ultimate people person.

“I love working with people,” she says. “From our staff and volunteers in Longview and across the country to our staff and volunteers in Guatemala.”

She is clear on what it takes to follow her example as an unselfish, competent, compassionate and industrious agent of total assistance and healing. She recommends being adaptable, flexible and willing to work with others. Although there are always alternatives, they are not always obvious, but the ideas and opinions of others can present great opportunity, especially when co-workers are treated with consideration and respect.

“No one succeeds without other people walking alongside, behind and in front of them,” she says. “Be grateful and express your gratitude to others.”

Ginia is careful to give credit to a higher power and lives her life according to her understanding and acceptance that the Holy Spirit guides her steps, actions, decisions and the quality of her work.

“My faith touches all aspects of my life as I attempt to know God and make Him known, knowing that I do not do it perfectly,” she says.

“Gordon has been my rock and loved me unconditionally. I am a better person because Gordon is in my life. He is the kindest and most generous person I know. He will do anything to help a friend and has supported me and my crazy ideas for a long time.”

Ginia Northcutt, Refuge International Executive Director

With her workload, she needs the Lord’s guidance and direction. As a member of Longview EPC Church, she has served on Session, as a youth leader, Bible study leader, chair of the Facilities Assessment Team, and on the curriculum commission. From 2014 to 2023 she served on the Longview Independent School District‘s Board of Trustees, and currently serves on the board of the Longview Symphony, and is a sustaining member of the Junior League of Longview. She considers her many activities as a privilege rather than a chore.

Ginia’s work with Refuge International keeps her hopping as she partners with the medical community, universities and various non-medical individuals to recruit the volunteers that make their work in Guatemala possible. It is important to note, Refuge International is sustained by generous financial donations, medical supplies and various in-kind contributions and resources.

Of course, she realizes how crucial it is for her to be part of a smoothly operating team. Ginia works in efficient harmony with Refuge International Board President Carroll Greenwaldt, and with her sister volunteer and standout colleague Jillian Greifenkamp, who works tirelessly both on the mission trips and in the Longview warehouse as she also organizes the pharmacy. Ms. Greifenkamp also works closely with Renea Schott as she toils as Refuge’s inventory controller. Every person is vital to securing funding including their annual fund-raiser.

“Drawdown is our annual fundraiser, and this year we raised over $35,000,” Ginia says. “Taylor and Ben Wooley provided excellent music, and our silent auction and market had unique one-of-a-kind items from Guatemala, including coffee.”

According to Ginia, Drawdown is a reverse raffle in which the last person standing gets a cash prize. This year, it provided a means for supporters to donate a Starlink satellite system enabling them to have WIFI in Guatemala. Moreover, local sponsors contributed a critically needed EKG machine and paid for two anesthesia monitors.

Equally important, Refuge International supports a school, ambulance boat driver, and nurses to staff the clinic in Sarstun. Additionally, the local Sarstun committee and Refuge International cooperatively built a medical clinic so that locals there do not have to wait for Ginia and her team but can receive treatment year-round.

Refuge International’s work is vital. For this reason, Longview Regional Hospital eagerly supports Refuge and honored it as non-profit of the year.

Some other supporters include: LeTourneau University, the University of Texas at Tyler School of Nursing, and East Texas Baptist University. They have all recruited students to serve as volunteers on Refuge International mission trips.

In fact, every year, Dr. Jason Murray volunteers for these excursions to Guatemala and honors the top surgical resident from the University of Texas Medical School in Tyler by inviting him or her to come along. Additionally, under the supervision of Marietta Libengood and Ranjit Kodali, the Trinity School of Texas also recruits volunteers for Refuge International warehouse and fundraisers. And the benevolence goes on and on.

“Dr. Tiffany Egbe is a board member and program director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Christus Good Shepherd Medical Center,” says Ginia. “Each year she brings the residents to Refuge International warehouse to volunteer.”

Refuge International is even branching out. Its founder, Deb Bell, has created another non-profit service organization called Madres and Ninos (Mothers and Children), to educate Guatemala’s midwives, all in partnership with Refuge International.

“Without the generosity of our partners and volunteers, Refuge International would not be the organization it is today,” Ginia says. “It is an honor and a privilege to lead this compassionate organization.”