BY BETH O’NEAL
TAKING HER faith TO THE STAGE
How precious to me to write about a
woman I call my dear friend – Celester
“Qumi” Bacon– a woman who speaks
life to me boldly and shines bright with
the love of Christ.
As a single mother with eleven
children, Alma Jean McClendon lived a
reality I can hardly process. As the story
goes, she lived it well, and that is where
Celester’s story begins.
Celester “Qumi” McClendon Bacon is the seventh of
eleven children. She now considers her childhood
a blessing, but that was not always the case. Living
in a single parent home where her mother Alma
worked multiple jobs, Celester states there were times
when she felt slighted and dreamed of having more
material possessions. She saw how others had new bikes
and new clothes. She admits that at times she even
resented being in such a big family. Looking back, though,
she now realizes that her mother gave her the best gift
possible, that of loving God and loving others. “Mama
taught us what good is it for a man to gain the whole world
and lose his soul,” said Celester. Her large family is now
one of Celester’s biggest blessings.
Celester recounts her mother always speaking the
truth in love. Ms. Alma wanted her children to know
the truth of who God really is. Not only was Ms. Alma
constantly ministering to her children but also to the
community. Remembering her mother, Celester explains,
“People, if they were hungry, she fed them. If they needed
clothes, she gave them clothes. If they needed a place to
stay, she provided shelter. She was a woman after God’s
own heart.” Ms. Alma did not do this out of a physical
abundance but a spiritual abundance.
Celester, now a grown woman with three grown
children – Dominique, Ryan and Amber and 10
Hometown Living At Its Best 107