A Night of Firsts

It is Superbowl Sunday and Tammy, Rebecca, and Wayne are experiencing a wonderful first in their lives. It is the night of their first itineration service as newly appointed missionaries with the Assemblies of God. Although Wayne will not be leaving Publix for several more weeks, he was able to schedule two services prior to officially starting itineration. Branchborough Assembly of God is the very first for the Brown family.

Branchborough Assembly of God is not a large church and it is not located in a large town...however, the folks at this church have a large heart for missions and for missionaries. We were blessed to have this church at the start of our schedule. Although attendance was light, the blessings flowed in terms of worship, and love, and finances. Any way you slice it, we were blessed to be here.

Another first was that Wayne was preaching his first full service. Rather than a missions update, the Lord directed Wayne to preach a Word message. This was confirmed by the direction Wayne received from Pastor Burnard. His message was titled "Don't Get Stuck in the FUD." FUD is Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. Wayne used the account of Peter walking on the water as found in Matthew 14:22-33 to set the stage for this story. He then explained how being overcome by fear can result in grave consequences, but by overcoming fear and following the Lord's direction, one can expect to see great things happen.

As part of his message, Wayne was able to share how God brought Rebecca into our family. He used the struggles her mother had in bringing her into this world to develop the story of overcoming FUD. Then he explained how because of her courage, Rebecca has been able to bless many in this world and has even been a help in leading lost family members to the Lord.

It was a moving first service, especially for our family. The folks a Branchborough may soon forget who the Browns are, but we will never forget Branchborough and the blessings we received from our first itineration church.