Though some ministry moments never seem to come to fruition – at least to human eyes – others come full circle, bringing satisfaction and encouragement.
WALKER – Though some
ministry moments never seem to come to fruition – at least to human
eyes – others come full circle, bringing satisfaction and encouragement.
At least that was the case
with David Brown, director of missions for the Eastern Louisiana
Baptist Association. Early on in his ministry he counseled a young
woman named Judy; then she seemed to disappear.
“When she left she said,
‘I know what I need to do,’” Brown said. “She never explained. I never
got follow-up information, so I couldn’t contact her to see how she was
doing.” Judy remained a mystery.
Brown, in his first
pastorate when he met Judy, was involved with Evangelism Explosion
training and was trying to implement that into the life of his church.
Some months after
counseling Judy, Brown counseled a couple getting married. Though he
encouraged them to get involved with church, as with Judy, nothing
seemed to happen. Then, a few months later, the second woman showed up
in church, the DOM said.
That Sunday afternoon, Brown and his minister of music visited the second woman in her home.
“Lo and behold, [Judy] was there … with her husband,” Brown said. “Little did I know that [the two women] even knew each other.”
“The lady we went to see was taking a nap, so she wasn’t in the room,” he continued. “I don’t think she ever came out.”
When Brown and Judy’s
husband, Milton, who had been attending a Mormon church, began to talk
about reading the Bible and the Lord, one of the children got up and
turned the television off, the DOM said.
“I got to share the gospel
with … Milton,” Brown said. “He got up, walked over to me, we knelt
down and prayed to receive Christ as his Savior, and he and [Judy]
began attending church.” The couple never missed a Sunday after that,
unless they were out of town.
About five months later,
when a search committee attended the church in anticipation of calling
Brown as pastor, Judy and Milton tried to explain Brown’s leaving to
their young son, who was upset over the prospect.
“Why don’t they find their own preacher and leave ours alone?” the boy said. “He’s the only preacher I ever had.”
Born August 23, 1945, Brown is married to Kathryn Jenelle Humbles from Pineville. They have two daughters.
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