April 2009 Newsletter

Our April 2009 newsletter has been posted to our website.  This month's newsletter celebrates the conclusion of our work at OneHope and over 20 million children and youth who have received a presentation of the gospel through the movie The GodMan.  You can find that newsletter at http://hqmail.agmd.org/~wayne.brown/TheBrownFamilyChroniclesv5n2.pdf.

What An Excellent Idea

On the evening of February 15, 2009, we were sitting in the lobby of the Best Western just off of I-95 and Jacaranda Blvd in Venice, FL.  We had been asked to wait there with two other families who were in town for a missions banquet at Venice Assembly of God.  The other families were our good friends, the Wades -- Missionaries to Israel; and the Michaels -- Missionaries with Chi Alpha at the University of Florida.  What a surprise when 6:30 roiled around and a limo pulled up in front of the hotel.  Pastor Gill came in and told us that we will be riding to the church in style and that we would be the honored guests for that night's events.

This was Rebecca's first ever ride in a limo.  Just look at how excited she is.  She cheered all the way from the hotel to the church.

It was a very special night, with each of the three families given a time of honor, presented with gifts, and given a special award that Tammy is holding in this picture.

We could never express fully enough how appreciative we are to the folks at Venice Assembly of God for the outpouring of love that gave us on this special night.  Thank you to everyone at Venice Assembly who worked so hard to make this possible.  We truly love you and know that we are loved by you.

Returning to Haiti

What a joy it was to be able to return to Haiti in April.  For about 18 months I had the pleasure of filling the temporary role of Regional Director for Haiti and the other island countries of the Caribbean.  During that time I developed a strong friendship with Dan, Liz, and Joey Carl, missionaries from Nebraska who have been serving in Haiti for many years.  The Carls are the national directors for OneHope and have overseen the distribution of millions of books.  They launched the OneHope movie ministry in Haiti with the French dub of The GodMan and have provided valuable input for creation of a Creole dub of the movie.  Dan was instrumental in developing a five year plan for reaching every child and youth in this country.

The purpose of this trip was not for ministry or for program development.  It was to fulfill a promise I made to Dan when I was stricken with cancer in 2007.  That promise wast to come back to Haiti once I was well and to hike to the top of one of the mountains near the Carl's home.

Wayne and Dan beside Dan's house.  The mountain ridge in the background is the range that we will be hiking in a few minutes.

Looking down on the city of Port-au-Prince and surrounding neighborhoods from the top of the mountain we climbed.

I cannot begin to express thanks enough to Dan and Liz and their son Joey for the love they have shown me over the past few years.  They are more than ministry partners with OneHope.  They are true and beloved friends and I will truly miss working with them.

Amazing Ministry in Colombia

I was blessed to be able to travel to Colombia in February and to visit with some amazing ministry leaders.  Colombia has always been a difficult place to do ministry.  Between the fighting factions and the hostile enviornment, it can be very hard to get to those who need to know Jesus, much less engage in effective ministry.  However, even with those challenges, there are Colombians who are raising up to the challenge.

In my time in the Villavicencio area, I met the directors of several ministries, including one who is training up Colombian missionaries who are reaching out into the most difficult areas of the country.  These brave men and women are going into territory where guns and bombs are the order of the day.  They are taking the Book of Hope and The GodMan into these very difficult areas and bringing the Good News to children and youth all across the country.  They have truly embraced the OneHope mission of providing God's Word to every child everywhere.

After my visits with ministry leaders in Villavicencio, I was then blessed to be able to spend a few days in Bogota.  The purpose of our visit in this city was to meet with ministry leaders from across the country as they develop strategy for reaching the entire population with the gospel.  The Book of Hope and The GodMan will be an important part of that nationwide reach.  We are expecting millions of Colombians to be reached with the gospel in 2009 as a result of these meetings.

New Mailing Address

As we start our transition toward Thailand, we have opened a new PO Box.  We have family and friends who will monitor this address for us during our itineration travels and while we are out of the country serving in Thailand.  Our new mailing address is:

The Brown Family

PO Box 92714

Lakeland, FL 33804-2714