Cancer Update

I am a blessed man! I am currently in the middle of my seventh cycle of chemotherapy. I am dealing with some side effects, but none that are too difficult. The Lord has really blessed me in this regard. In fact, in a few hours I will board a Delta airliner and fly to start a 15 day trip that will take me to Saint Petersburg, Kiev, Warsaw, Sofia, and Paris. God has been so very good to me as I've endured these many rounds of chemotherapy. My next major milestone is on September 11 and September 15. On the September 11 I will have my next CT scan. On the September 15 I'll visit with my Oncologist. Your prayers for a good report and confirmation that the situation I experienced in the Spring has truly been a miracle healing from the Lord will be much appreciated as will prayers for safe travel and effective ministry in Europe. And finally, please keep Tammy and Rebecca in your prayers as they stay behind for Rebecca to start a new year of school and for Tammy to catch up on some work at Book of Hope.

Summer 2008 Newsletter

Our Summer 2008 newsletter is now available online. Click here to go immediately to this newsletter. This month’s newsletter focuses on Rebecca’s summer, our new Speed the Light vehicle, and a special wedding announcement.

Thank You Speed the Light

Rebecca is showing off her new Speed the Light van. She and her parents extend a very big thank you to the youth of the Pen-FL district of the Assemblies of God and to Speed the Light.

She enjoys getting into the van through the rear. No more driving around and around the mall parking lot looking for a special wheelchair accessible parking place.

The ramp folds down out of the rear of the van at a very easy angle to roll into place within the van.

Once in place, Rebecca sits comfortably between the two modified second row bucket seats in the middle of the van.

Social Networks - Are You Connected to Us

Collectively, social networks are among the fastest growing categories of Internet websites. Within the USA, MySpace is the biggest social network and facebook is growing rapidly to catch it. These social networks have become great ways for friends to stay in touch, especially when there are miles or even oceans and continents separating them.

Over the past several months, I have been investigating social networks for Book of Hope. They are very popular among youth around the world and we are looking for ways to connect with them for the purpose of evangelizing and promoting discipleship activities on the web. As my investigation progressed, an amazing thing happened, my friend network started to grow. Friends from school, friends from church, friends from our district churches whom we met on our last itineration, even fellow missionary friends from around the world. Tammy and I both are now using facebook as a significant means of keeping in touch with our friends, without regard to what country we are in on any given day. Even Rebecca is getting into the social network arena with her own page.

Another means of staying in touch on social networks is through applications. Facebook have an application called Causes. People can join Causes even if they are not your direct friends. And friends can recruit people to join a cause, helping the cause's network to grow even larger. We have created a cause called The Brown Family - Your World Missionaries. We use this clause to communicate ministry updates as well as special prayer requests. If you are on facebook. please click here to go directly to the cause. Once there, to join our cause, click on the Join link under our picture on the right side of the page.

You’re Never Too Young Or Too Old

Recently I (Tammy) went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic with Lakeland Florida's Victory Church. There were a total of seventy-seven people on this trip, twenty of them on my evangelism team. The youngest on the evangelism team was a nine-year-old named Kayla. The oldest was Fred, a man in his seventies. Both of them were among the first to volunteer to be in the dramas and to share how Christ had impacted their life. They knew that God could use them and that God did not care that they were so young or too old.

Our nine-year-old Kayla was a young missionary of amazing strength. Among all our team members, she was to fist to volunteer to give her testimony at the schools. In spite of her very young age, she showed great strength, even when many of those older than here were too shy step forward. Kayla knew that she had something to share with the children in the Dominican Republic. Her testimony told how she grew up with a mother who did not take care of her, who failed to provide food and shelter, who caused her to suffer through a lack of attention. But a few years ago Kayla's story changed and her testimony was birthed. Kayla came to Victory Church where she met a family who would become her new parents. Kayla told the children that if they felt alone, sad, or unloved, that there are people out there in the world who love them and that she loved them too, but most importantly, that God loves them.

Being the first to give a testimony was not easy for Kayla. In fact, this was the first time she had ever given her testimony. However, after sharing one time with the children of the Dominican Republic, she had such boldness and such confidence that she wanted to do her testimony at every school we visited. Throughout that week, many children were touched by Kayla’s testimony and by the dramas that the team performed. Kayla knew that she was not just tagging along with her new family on this mission trip. She realized that she too was sent by God to do His work. For this week, she saw herself as a young missionary. Please join us in prayer for Kayla. Pray that this spirit of ministry that God has birthed in her spirit in the Dominican Republic will continue to grow. Pray that Kayla will continue to seek Him and grow in His Word.

Learning to Lead in Kenya

I (Wayne) went to Kenya in June to attend an eastern Africa regional leadership meeting. This meeting provided an opportunity for leaders from our Book of Hope ministries and key partners from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda to come together for training and fellowship.

Leadership training takes on many flavors. There is the aways exciting classroom lecture, where a topic expert gets up and tells everyone what they know about a particular subject. We had our share of lectures on topics related to leadership, partnership, collaboration, and even one from me on new techniques for using The GodMan.

Another flavor of leadership training involves team building exercises. Each afternoon, our team members would leave the comforts of our meeting room and venture into the cold misty outdoors environment. Out on an open grassy field, we participated in several different games designed to help us get to know each other as well as how to depend on one another. The photo above is an example. All the team members gathered in as near perfect a circle as a group of people can construct. Facing the center, they slowly stepped in together, drawing ever closer while maintaining the near perfect circle. When they had stepped in to the point that they were all overlapping their shoulders, each person turned to their left. They then placed their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them and again stepped in so the circle drew even closer. When each participant was only inches apart, they began to bend their knees and started the process of sitting on the knees of the person behind them. At this point they were all instructed to let go of the person in front of them. When they did, the entire group dropped onto the lap of the person behind them, but no-one fell and no-one felt the full weight of the person sitting on their lap. In fact, most people said if felt like a small book was placed on their lap. The purpose of this exercise was to physically demonstrate that when we all work together, we can accomplish a difficult (read that as heavy) task while individually only carrying a small part of the total load.

But my favorite flavor is the flavor brought by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Each day of the leadership conference started and ended with a time of worship, Word, and prayer. In the evenings, we would proceed the time of devotions with a report from one of our represented countries. Then, with the scope of ministry and associated needs of the country fully understood by all, we would gather around these leaders of the reporting nation, lay hands on them, and pray for the ministry. Our repeated prayer for every country was for the anointing of the Holy Spirit and protection of our laborers. Each team is trusting the Lord to provide for their needs and to protect them from attacks of the enemy. I encourage you to join us in praying for our leaders from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Pray for wisdom as they plan new ways to reach children and youth with the gospel. Pray for protection as they travel throughout their country and minister in situations that are frequently punctuated by violence. And pray for anointing, that the power of the Holy Spirit will always be with them and that all those they minister to will be receptive to receiving the good news.