Betty Cutts, President, and Founder
Betty is a housewife and community volunteer with a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education. She has taught as a volunteer teacher in an English as a second language (ESL) program, and three summer English camps in China. She has also served as a volunteer court-appointed special advocate (CASA). Betty served as secretary for Morehead Sister Cities and spearheaded the Morehead exchanges with Morehead's Sister City - Yangshuo, Guangxi, China. She is a Rotarian and past President of the Morehead Rotary Club. She and her husband David, a retired physics teacher, have two sons, who are engineers with national companies, and four grandchildren. |
Eric Zhang, Vice President
Eric Zhang came to the US from the Yunnan Province of China in 1990 as a Chinese native speaker to assist the Chinese Language and Culture Program at Whitman College in Washington State. He then completed his Master's degree in Control Systems Engineering at West Virginia Institute of Technology. During his studies, he worked as an adjunct instructor for the Department of Mathematics. There he met his wife, Destiny, who was born in China but grew up in Chile. The couple has three children; Christina, Sophia, and Nathaniel. Professionally, Eric has worked as a control systems engineer and senior engineer. While living in Lexington, KY, he taught a Chinese Language and Culture Class to middle school students at Sayre School. |
Xiaomin Oney, Treasurer
Xiaomin Oney taught English for fourteen years at Guangxi Normal University before she became a visiting scholar at Morehead State University in 2010. She then pursued Master's degree of Higher and Adult Education at MSU. After that she taught Chinese at MSU for five years. She is the mother of Maiqi, now a University student in Boston. She is married to Phillip Oney, an American businessman. Xiaomin has been a board member of Blessing Hands since 2011. Her connections with family, friends and former students at Guangxi have opened many doors for Blessing Hands’ different projects. |
Kayla Mitchell, Secretary
Kayla joined our board in June 2020 as our board secretary. Kayla has a passion for international travel and the humanitarian field. She holds a B.A. in International Studies from Morehead State University. She has volunteered in numerous countries from teaching English as a second language to desert wildlife conservation. She is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) as well who served as an English Literacy Specialist in Uganda before being evacuated. Kayla has visited China with Blessing Hands in 2015 to witness the work that the organization accomplishes and fell in love with the culture and people. |
Jill Hill, Board Member
Jill Hill attended high school in Morehead, Kentucky, then graduated from Morehead State University with a degree in speech communications. She married Steve and moved to Texas where they began their family. After 15 years in Texas, the Hills then moved to Manila, the Philippines, where they helped Blessing Hands serve children there. Steve and Jill now reside in Morehead with their nine children. Jill has authored two books and currently teaches middle school students in history and English. |
Joshua Barker, Board Member
Joshua Barker has been involved in Christian service since 2012. He works as a plumber and has helped to build a church and orphanage in Hyderabad, India. He also worked to encourage local pastors there. After traveling to India by himself first, he took his wife, son, and a group of sponsors on the next trip. Presently he feels called to preach, and he and his wife Amanda are assistant pastors at Mt. Pisgah Christian Church. They are expecting twins in March of 2021. He says, “ I look forward to working with Blessing Hands in this new journey that God has placed us on.” The Barkers are from Morehead, KY. |
Tim Liao, Assistant Director in China
Tim Liao lives in Nanning city, Guangxi, China and is from the Zhuang minority. He was introduced to Blessing Hands by Betty's photos on WeChat, and his heart was deeply touched. Tim received his English Education degree in 2005 and his Medical degree in 2018. He taught English in school for 2 years, worked for International Health Resources NGO, led public health training, and counseled others in family education and spiritual health for his local church and community. He experiences great joy when using his talents for the good of others. Caring and helping people in need allowed him to find the meaning of practice in his faith and continues to inspire his faithfulness and commitment to God. |