Marlin and Shirley were both raised on farms in rural Nebraska. They attended their senior prom together and then he went to the University of Nebraska and entered a pre-med program of study while she went to work for BD making test tubes. A year later they married in Arcadia, moved back to college in Lincoln. It was there that God began to move in his heart, away from the medical field and into something else. Four years later they went to Texas Baptist College and 3 years later he graduated and moved to Weirton in 1985. Marlin came here with the intent of being here for just a few years but has become known as Brother Hawley and Pastor Hawley for 30 plus years. His first love is watching people come to Christ and being saved and then watching those people grow as Christians. His greatest strength is his amazing wife Shirley. His second strength is his ability to get things done. Both are gifts from God. They have 4 married children and 12 grandchildren.