Judy Brown- Southern Region

When I was a child, I heard an elderly lady tell stories about being born in Africa to Missionary parents in the early 1900’s and the incredible protection from Angels that preserved them while they were there.  From that day on, I dreamed of being a Missionary!  At that time my dad had owned his own business, a sheet metal shop in Odessa, Texas.  In 1959, there was a steel strike and he was forced to sell out and we left Odessa.  We then moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1961, the middle of my junior year in high school in another state!  After graduation, I enrolled in the local Community College and worked full time also.  Then one night I met a charismatic young sailor. We had a whirlwind relationship and were married after three months, on May 9, 1965.

           After giving birth to two daughters and being married about six years, I decided to separate from him.   After a time, he asked me to try again.  I said—ok, but only if we leave Phoenix!  I had never accepted the relocation from Texas!  So we did!  We went to Michigan, where his dad and his family and his mother and her husband were.  We remarried on the anniversary of our first wedding, had our third daughter, and moved several times.  The last move placed us within walking distance of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, Holt, Michigan.

A neighbor invited my children to VBS.  I was quite impressed with the people I met there and the loving way they treated my children and was invited to attend a service—then an Adult Instruction class.  For the first time, at age 30, I understood the Gospel and knew that God actually loved me!  I also one day remembered the dream I had of being a Missionary. Oh no, I thought, I have really blown it!

In 1979, my husband Keith was baptized on Palm Sunday at age 35.  He had come to faith as a result of a 3½ year series of visits by Evangelism teams from St. Matthew!  At the time of his conversion, he stated: “I suppose this means I have to go to Africa and become a missionary!”  Four years later he actually asked to go to Africa on a six week Evangelistic mission!  As a result of that experience, he realized that God’s plan WAS for HIM to become a full time missionary!  He had been rescued and he was called to be a rescuer!  His dream was to return to Africa.

Instead, we went to British Columbia for a year and then arrived in the Republic of the Philippines on New Year’s Eve, 1984. God had taken that dream of that little girl and made it come true!!!  He loves to fulfill the dreams of our hearts!  He then prepared a series of chutes that ultimately led to those days as Missionaries.  In 1989, after five years in the mission field, Keith felt called to go back to school and get the theological education he felt he lacked to be truly effective.  We returned to the U. S. and lived in Milwaukee for two years as he obtained his first degree—as a Certified Lay Minister.  After serving in Lyons, Texas, in 1995, we transferred to St. Louis and the Seminary.  Keith graduated and was ordained at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in 2000.   We moved to Rock Hill, SC in 2004 and started a mission church—Emmanuel Lutheran.  On September 8, 2013, we are celebrating Five Years in our new building!  Come help us celebrate!


Judy can be contacted at judy1333@aol.com. Judy and her husband, Keith, continue to support the ministry at Emmanuel, Rock, Hill, SC.