During the 1960s, she attempted to become a Christian missionary in Africa, but was rejected for having had a divorce. Over the next few years, she worked for various Christian organizations before settling in Nashville in 1963, and re-enrolled at Peabody College to pursue a master's degree in education, but eventually dropped out. She worked full-time for Rev. Billy Graham. She and first husband Billy Neal remarried very briefly in late 1963 or in 1964, but that marriage was soon annulled.