A native of Mississippi, he spent his childhood in Alabama and North Carolina. He is a graduate of the University of Mississippi where he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity. He received his Ph.D in History and International Studies in 1994 from the University of Denver, and he holds a Certificate of Ministry from Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University, and he is pursuing a second doctorate in ministry with a concerntation in pastoral care from Houston Graduate School of Theology. His early research interests focused on the displacement of peoples as a result of military conflict and their subsequent emigration to other countries