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

Itineration Prayer Requests

Dear Prayer Team,
We are now nearly 10 weeks away from starting our next itineration cycle. Please join with us in prayer for this upcoming itineration. We have a few specific prayer requests:

1. Pray for opportunities to be extended to us to visit churches in May on the 10th (AM & PM), the 13th, the 17th (PM), the 26th (PM), the 27th, and the 31st (AM & PM).
2. Pray for a full schedule of church visits in June. We currently do not have any services scheduled in that month.
3. Pray for the six Assistant Presbyters who are helping us with scheduling for the months of July through December. Pray that they will be effective in filling every service opportunity during those months.
4. Pray for our current monthly supporters, that God would continue to bless them financially so that they can continue to bless us every month and may even be able to increase their monthly support commitment.
5. Pray for those churches that we visit during this itineration. Pray that the Lord will bless them so that they can then be a blessing to us.
6. Pray that we always maintain a heart of gratitude toward those who schedule us for visits, toward those who support us with one-time offerings, and toward those who commit to supporting us monthly. Pray that we never forget the sacrifices that the members of these churches must make in order to help us to go to the field God has called us to.

In Christ,
Wayne
http://YourWorldMissionaries.org
---------------------------------
Pastors Wayne & Tammy Brown and Rebecca
Assemblies of God Missionaries to Thailand
PO Box 770274
Coral Springs, FL 33077-0274

Financial Support: https://secure1.ag.org/contributions/detail.cfm?LedgerID=D228E68B-633B-45AC-8D69-12C1E4146351

Our Budget for Thailand

We received word last week that our tentative budget for Thailand has been set. The budget breaks down as follows:

1. The monthly budget: $8,560
2. The cash budget: $22,550
3. The project budget: $35,000

The Monthly Budget

Our monthly budget provides the funds we need to meet the month to month expenses associated with our ongoing ministry work. These expenses include housing, food, basic living, transportation, office, communications, security, health care, and AGWM administration. In the case f our Thailand budget, it also includes some expenses for field ministries.
Before we will be authorized to move to Thailand, we are required to have enough signed monthly commitment forms to cover this monthly budget. The typical missionary will invest twelve months in itineration activities between terms. We are attempting to raise our budget for Thailand in under eight months. At the current time, we need to raise over $4,600 in new monthly support in order to meet our monthly budget goal.

The Cash Budget

The cash budget covers our expenses for getting to the field, moving expenses and household setup, language study, and any other initial costs related to settling into our assignment. During our short itineration period, we must raise a $22,550 cash reserve, while covering our itineration expenses, before we can leave for the field.

The Project Budget

We have one project for our next assignment for which we are currently raising funds. That project is a construction project to build the living accommodations for our family and for the university students who will be serving with us in Bangkok. The budget for that project is $35,000. Like the Cash Budget, our Project Budget is generally raised through one-time donations and offerings, and must be raised before we can leave for the field. Since this money is going to pay or construction that directly impacts our living accommodations, it is actually important that we raise this budget early in our itineration cycle.

How Can you Give to The Brown Family?

You can help us with one or more of the above mentioned budget needs by giving an offering now and committing to support us on a regular basis. For more details on how to give to our ministry in Thailand, CLICK HERE to visit our How to Give page.

January 2009 Newsletter from The Brown Family

Our January 2009 newsletter is now available online. Click here to go immediately to this newsletter. This month’s newsletter focuses on our family, with an update on Wayne’s health and a look back at Christmas with family and friends.

Finishing Strong - URGENT: Your Help Needed

Although the end of our current term of ministry is coming quickly, our finances for this term seem to have reached a premature end. Based on our current account balance with the Assemblies of God, and accounting for the basic ministry and living expenses we have each month, we could run out of funds in January 2009. While the Assemblies of God will underwrite some of our expenses, we will see a significant reduction in our monthly allowance and restrictions on our available work funds if our account balance falls below zero. We will also have the burden of eliminating any outstanding deficit from our current term of ministry before we can start raising money toward our new assignment in Thailand. It appears now that we will fall short by about $7,000 before we start itineration in May. We are urgently in need of your help to prevent this shortfall. Please prayerfully consider making a special donation to help us cover this shortage so that as we complete our first term, we will be finishing strong. You can donate online with your credit card by visiting our website at http://yourworldmissionaries.org/ and clicking on the DONATE NOW link. You can also mail a donation to

Wayne Brown
PO Box 770274
Coral Springs, FL 33077-0274

Checks should be made payable to Wayne Brown. We will issue you a receipt as soon as we receive your check. If you wish to send a check directly to Assemblies of God World Missions, you can sent it to

Assemblies of God World Missions
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, MO 65802-1894

These checks should be made payable to Assemblies of God World Missions. It is very important that you put our name account number in the memo section of the check. That account number is 293917. Assemblies of God World Missions will issue a receipt for checks they receive directly and for all online donations.

Thank you for partnering with us and helping to address this urgent need. Together, we will finish strong in this first term of our ministry and be prepared to start our second chapter of our work from a position of strength.

December 2008 Newsletter from The Brown Family - Assemblies of God Missionaries

Happy New Year!

Our December 2008 newsletter is now available online. Click here to go immediately to this newsletter. This month’s newsletter includes a special announcement about a change in assignment that is coming in 2009 as well as our itineration announcement. I hope that we will see you during our 2009 itineration cycle.

Cancer Update - The End of Chemo

This cancer update is one that is very much a pleasure to report. I (Wayne) completed my chemotherapy on December 8. This is the same chemo that I started on November 14, 2007. For over a year I have had a twice-daily routine of taking drugs that are designed to destroy any remaining cancer cells in my body. For a man who has never really been sick in his life, this year of chemo was a major physical challenge. I had pain everywhere, but especially in my hands and feet. And then there were the digestive problems. I'll spare you the details, other than to say that I lost nearly 60 pounds during those many months of chemo. It is very easy to loose weight when everything you eat leaves you at the most unexpected times and in the most undesirable ways.

Yes, it was a very difficult year. However, I did not walk through this challenging year alone. The Lord walked with me through the challenges that each dose of chemo brought to my body. With the exception of the times every six weeks when I was scheduled for a visit to the cancer center, I was able to travel all over the world while taking my chemo with me. You see, this chemo was not the traditional IV in the arm or chest kind of chemo. I was on two drugs that came in pill form. I took one drug every morning and every evening for the entire six-week cycle. The other drug was only taken in the morning and only for the first four weeks of the cycle. There were nine cycles in all. Because the chemo was in pill form, I could take it with me anywhere I traveled. And the Lord enabled lots of travel during this year of treatment. I've taken chemo in the cold of Siberia in central Russia, and in the warm summer sunshine of Saint Petersburg Russia. I've carried my chemo with me to Brazil and Haiti, to Kenya and eastern Europe, to Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands. Me and my chemo have been on nearly ever continent on the face of the earth this past year. It wasn't always easy, but the Lord was always there with me to see me through any challenges.

Oh, but now it is all over. Within a few days of completing the chemo, I was no longer getting sick. I could eat a meal and not worry about how much time I had before I would be sick. Within a week I had put back on 10 pounds of the weight that I lost. I'm taking up running and bicycling to try to stop that trend.

It has now been nearly three weeks since the end of chemo. I'm feeling great! No more pain in my feet, no more pain in my hands, no more sickness. I feel stronger than ever and I'm planning to tackle some tasks that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. Lord willing, I will run in a 15k race in Jacksonville in March with Amanda and some of her friends. Lord willing, I will travel to Haiti to hike a mountain with a very dear missionary friend. Lord willing, I will take a week or two before itineration starts and hike a section of the Appalachian Trail. And Lord willing, I will go back to riding my bicycle between 50 and 100 miles each week.

The Lord has given me a new opportunity at good health so that I can continue being effective in my ministry. I plan to do all I can to remain healthy and effective for Him. My final chemo-related visit to the cancer center is on January 12. There is one last CT scan and one last heart scan (called a MUGA) and one last check-up and last set of lab work that I have to complete for this final visit. Then, when the all-clear is given, I will simply need to come back for a CT scan and physical once each year for about 10 years. My doctor tells me that if I make it past the two-year point (coming up in August 2009), it is highly unusual of my type of cancer to ever return. Please join with us in prayer for a great report from the cancer center on January 12. And thank you for all your prayers that have seen me to this point.

Merry Christmas - Pray for Thailand

In a few hours, the people of Thailand will awaken to Christmas Eve. As in most of Asia, the dawning of Christmas Eve for over 60 million Thais will mark the beginning of two days of very secular celebration. They will celebrate Santa Claus, they will celebrate Mickey Mouse and all his Disney friends (that's another story), and they will celebrate with gifts and Christmas trees. However, for all but about 0.7% of the population (yes, less than one percent of the total Thai population), there will be no real meaning to all the celebrating. Although Thailand is one of the most accessible areas in all of Asia, it is also one of the most unreached. While the secular traditions of Christian culture have penetrated Thai culture, the true reason for the season is still lost among most of the Thai people.

It is said in Thailand that to be Thai is to be Buddhist. It is against this backdrop that believers across this beautiful country, both Thais and missionaries from other lands, must work to share the good news. It is our prayer that all believers in Thailand will use the secular celebrations over the next two days as an open door to explain the true meaning of Christmas. We are asking everyone in our international prayer network to join with us in prayer for the people of Thailand. Pray that believers throughout Thailand will recognize this special opportunity to share the good news. Pray that they will have the courage to share with everyone they encounter over the next two days. Pray for protection from attacks from the enemy as they share about Jesus. Pray that the Holy Spirit will prepare the hearts of everyone they encounter to hear the good news. Pray that the message of who Jesus is will break through the cultural and spiritual strongholds that prevent the Thai people from knowing the truth about Christmas. Pray that those who hear the truth about Christmas will be receptive to the good news that is being shared with them. Pray that all who hear the good news will be open to an invitation to become a Christ follower. Pray for Thailand and for her people during this very special time of year.