Merry Christmas 2017

Perry & Cara Johnson, Catelin, Luke, Dayna, Barrett
Macy, Brexit the dog, Aubrey


Merry Christmas from all of us Browns.  We rejoice with you in the birth of our Savior!

Here is a quick update on our family.

Macy is in 8^th grade, and celebrated her 14th birthday in Marseille this year when Catelin and Cara took her along for a 2-week trip to Europe. She wants to work in law enforcement and enjoys criminology. We’ve watched many crime documentaries this year in support of this goal.

Luke is finishing his first semester as a grad student in Materials Science at UVA, where he has struggled with the “cold.” Over Thanksgiving he visited his girlfriend of a year, Summer, in Ireland, where she was studying for the semester. He has contributed to conversations around crime from afar.

Aubrey in her new shades

Aubrey has no sympathy for Luke, as he refuses to dress  appropriately. She is currently balancing teaching two Music History classes, managing backstage for Bach Festival concerts, and working in Personnel Records at Cru, as well as maintaining healthy self-esteem due to constant comments about her relationship status. This is the only crime that has been committed against her this year.

Cara and Perry at Stanford

Cara and Perry Johnson are expecting a baby March 6! They moved to Sunnyvale, CA, and Perry is a post-doc fellow at Stanford. Cara works part time for the Baltimore Engineering firm EBA.  When Barrett visited recently, they toured Alcatraz, where they learned more about crime.

Summer and Catelin in windy France

Catelin graduated with her Masters in HR, and to celebrate, organized the trip to Paris, Marseille and Edinburgh. A highlight for her was seeing Château d’If, made famous by The Count of Monte Cristo. Our interest in crime—real or fictional—spans the centuries.

Beautiful Dayna in Colorado

Dayna has recovered well from her gall bladder surgery this summer (the amount of discomfort she was in was truly criminal), and is feeling better overall. She just put on a lovely baby shower for Cara and Perry and is looking forward to a long visit to help with the baby in March.

Barrett in front of a murder site

Barrett visited 3 murder sites in Los Angeles to please his crime obsessed children. They were thrilled to receive texts with his location at each site.  He did manage to “mostly” finish the kitchen remodel he began almost a year ago. (Just a little left, really.) 

Mom and Barrett a few years ago.

And we all mourn the loss of Mom/Grandma Sandy this spring.

God bless you as you celebrate His wonderful love!

And have a crime free year.

The Browns

Gratitude 2017

       Earlier this month, I spent a week at home with the flu.  It was one of the worst I’ve had.  And, by the way, men DO suffer more from sicknesses like the flu.  It’s science. 

After Dayna convinced me to go to the doctor after 2 days of misery (hers and mine), I got my drugs and began my 4 days of recovery.  For a lot of each day, I sat outside and through my fuzzy brain, I began to consider how nice it was to sit outside and do nothing.  I thought about the blessings we have in life.  I began to thank God for our situation in life.

I talked to my friend Steven at the end of that week and remarked how that time had allowed me to express my gratitude for my life.  Often I think about what we don’t have, or what I haven’t finished, or a problem we face.  As I considered how much we have been given, I began to thank God for his kindness toward us.

Gratitude

And feeling thankful or grateful is one thing, but it is so good to express that gratitude.  It allows us to acknowledge to God and others that we see the blessing, and how much it means to us.

I know this is Thanksgiving week, and we will hear a lot about giving thanks.  But we want you to know that we are grateful for you and all you do to bless our lives.  Thank you for investing in our lives and ministry.   Thank you for your example of faith.

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  Phil. 1:3-6

With much love and thanks,

Stopping by San Fran

       Earlier this month after four days in Dallas, and three days in Los Angeles,  I was able to add on a stop in San Francisco (for only $60) to visit Cara and Perry.

Cara and I were able to tour Alcatraz, see Pier 39, and walk around the Embarcadero.  After church, Perry, Cara and I walked around Stanford before heading to the airport.  It was a short trip, but it was great to see them both.

We are happy to share that Cara is pregnant with our first grandchild!  Their baby boy is due March 6!  We are all thrilled!  Dayna is already making plans for a trip to California in March!

Thank you...from GAIN.

My friend Al, who serves Cru as the President of the Global Aid Network, asked me if he could write a letter to you.  He is also a supported missionary and knows the importance of all you do to allow us to serve.  

October 1, 2017

I serve as the CEO and president of Global Aid Network® (GAiN®), the humanitarian arm of Cru®. The mission of GAiN is to take the love of Jesus Christ into the toughest places on earth by relieving suffering, restoring dignity, and revealing hope. We currently provide humanitarian resources and coaching in more than 30 countries.

When I assumed leadership of GAiN in 2014, I found the ministry had difficulty in growing and in turnover of staff members. So, I asked Barrett to access our ministry and provide coaching for our leadership team. I am so happy I did.

I got to know Barrett in his role as the Global Crisis Manager when I was an overseas missionary. I saw his gifting and strengths. 

When I was looking for someone I could count on for honest feedback, a person who could be trusted and who walked with the Lord, I called on Barrett. He has come alongside our leadership team to facilitate a process of team-building to gain trust, to deal with conflict, and to know each other well. As a result, our effectiveness has increased. Then Barrett guided us through a process of strategic planning that focused our mission—this has improved our effectiveness, raised morale, and increased our capacity to help refugees and the "least of these" around the world.

So, I wanted to thank you, their partners, for your prayers and financial support for Barrett and Dayna that enables them to accomplish the mission God has set before them. I value and appreciate your role in this mission. Please keep him in your prayers as we are about to have a two-day leadership team meeting that will continue the process God has us doing through Barrett’s guidance.

Pray also for GAiN to meet the needs of hurting and hopeless people around the world. Our website, www.gainusa.org, has additional specific prayer requests. Pray God will use our ministry to provide help and hope to these people.

Again, thank you for your support and prayers for Dayna and Barrett. We really love them. 

Peace, al 

We really appreciate Al's kind words.  I want you to know that the GAIN team has worked very hard to clarify their mission, communicate their plan to their team and their partners.  Over the last year they have seen a 30% growth in the amount of humanitarian assistance they have been able to provide to assist Cru ministries around the world.  They have done the hard work to move toward organizational health.

And when I think about the many financial partners who support GAIN and their staff, it is satisfying that the team is becoming more effective and focused.  The aid they provide to great need is also resulting in credibility and access to our ministries in these locations.  Churches are being planted and ministries strengthened because of their work.

Thank you for allowing us to serve them and others.  We are so grateful for your generous partnership with us.

Post Hurricane Irma update

It has been a little over a week since Hurricane Irma moved through Florida, and I'm sorry it has taken us so long to say, "We are OK!"

We got up with the sunrise that Monday morning with the wind still blowing and found our house was sound, but our yard was filled with limbs.  Our oak tree in the front lost three large limbs, two of which were blocking our front door.

I started clearing the debris that morning, and worked all day Monday and Tuesday hauling branches, cutting logs, etc. from our yard and our neighbors yards.  It was exhausting.  The most wonderful part of those two days was when Jim Austin, a man I didn't know, saw me sawing branches with a hand saw and pulled over with his chainsaw and said, "I couldn't let you try to cut those like that!"  He cut ALL of my big branches and what I thought was going to take all day took 30 minutes!

Schools and colleges closed for the week, and our offices did not reopen until Wednesday.  One nice benefit is that the Governor suspended all tolls (and they are still suspended) so we can move around a bit easier.  There are many work trucks from around the country here to help get power back to everyone.

We never lost power, but random houses around us were without power for up to 8 days.  The stores reopened when they got power back, but a lot of their dairy and meat shelves are bare.

Thank you for praying for us.  Almost everyone here is saying, "I'm grateful, it could have been much worse."  God graciously spared us more destruction, and we continue to pray for those who lost much more because of Irma and Harvey.

"...of course we have a hurricane coming."

Last week I said, "Boy, this summer has been wild.  Of course we have a hurricane coming...it only makes sense!"

We are doing fine as we wait, and we do appreciate your prayers that God would spare life and direct the storm.  Please pray for all who are impacted...restored power quickly, minimal damage, and safety.  Think of the millions who are traveling now as well, having evacauted.

But I do want to take the time to update you on how we are doing.  Let's start where we are today and go back in time.  I'm typing this as we wait for Irma to come for a visit.

Today

I took this as the "before" picture in case we have any damage to our house.   Isn't it a beautiful day?   Preparing for a hurricane is kind of tiring.  Cleaning up the yard, looking for batteries, shopping for water, watching the news, etc.  At this point, we are only waiting to see how bad it will be. We should start feeling the effects Sunday evening.   It feels bad to be happy that it is tracking further west now, because it means others will experience the full brunt of the winds...something we don't wish on anyone!

5 Days Ago

Aubrey, who has been living with us for the last 2 years since she finished her Masters Degree in Musicology, moved out to live with some friends in a nearby apartment.  We are happy for her but will miss her living with us.  Her room sure is empty.  She's working at Cru in Personnel Records, teaching a music class at Rollins College, and will be the backstage manager at Bach Festival Society concerts beginning later this fall.

8 Days Ago

Dayna and I were glad to be leaving the hospital after she had her gall bladder removed.  Our hospital experience involved a 10 hour wait until we were moved to a hospital room, and later, a 6.5 hour weight in pre-op!  But, overall, we are happy we got a good surgeon and the surgery seemed to go perfectly.  A week out from surgery, she is feels much better.  She's about halfway through a typical two week recovery.

13 Days Ago

After eating out for lunch, Dayna was convinced that she had food poisoning.  Her stomach hurt tremendously, and while she felt nauseous, she could not throw up.  The severe pain lasted two hours, but she remained nauseous and could not eat anything but a popsicle.  Finally, after 3 days of this, she visited her doctor, who sent her to the emergency room.  Barrett was able to meet her there right after he got off the plane from San Francisco.

14 Days Ago

Barrett and Aubrey flew to California to help Cara and Perry move into their new apartment.  Perry will be a post-doctorate fellow at Stanford University.  Cara will continue to work for her engineering firm from a distance.  They have rented a very small one bedroom apartment a short train ride from Stanford.  We unloaded and moved in their furniture and boxes on August 29, and flew home the next day.While we were there, we visited the Big Basin state part to see huge redwood trees.  

18 Days Ago

Barrett interviewed the three internal candidates being considered to be the next President of Arrowhead Conferences and Events. a Cru subsidiary that serves Cru and other Christian organizations and denominations to contract with hotels.  We interviewed these three over 3 days and will present to the Chairman of the Board the summaries and recommendations, so that he can make a decision.

19 Days Ago

Barrett traveled with his friend Matt to Anderson, SC to watch the total eclipse of the sun.  It was really worth the trip and a beautiful sight.  This is the experience sped up.

24 Days Ago

Barrett undergoes a routine medical procedure that everyone over 50 has to undergo.  For more information, view this video by comedian Louis Black.

32 Days Ago

Dayna spent two days on jury duty where she and her fellow jurists found the defendant guilty of dealing drugs.  She had to keep silent about the case until it was over.

38 Days Ago

Barrett, Dayna and Macy flew up to Baltimore to see Cara and Perry before driving down to Charlottesville to help Luke set up his apartment.  Luke is a a graduate student at UVA studying Materials Science.

We visited Monticello while we were there.  The next weekend the protests in Charlottesville resulted in injuries and a death.  It was very upsetting to Luke...not a great way to start this next phase of life!  He has been adjusting well now and is well into his fall semester classes and lab work.

46 Days Ago

Barrett, Dayna, and Macy flew home from Colorado after our 8 Day U.S. Staff Conference.  With Cru's mission to reach every person, we continue to look at what it takes to help Cru be the kind of place where every ethnic group would feel like Cru is their ministry.  This trip was a mixture of hard and fun, but we are glad we were able to be at the conference and be in Colorado.

If you fly into Denver, visit the Rocky Mountain Arsenal
Wildlife Refuge very close to the airport.

I think that about wraps up our last 6 weeks.  It has been filled with a lot of excitement, emotion, and encouragement as well.  Thank you for your friendship and support.

Summer Transitions

We had a double graduation weekend in May!  Catelin graduated on Saturday with her Masters in Human Resources, and Luke graduated on Sunday with his undergraduate degree in Chemistry, both from Rollins College.  It was a fun weekend with everyone home.

Catelin's second Rollins graduation.

Luke's first Rollins graduation

     A couple of weeks later Luke and Barrett went up to Charlottesville, VA to find Luke an apartment.  In July he begins a graduate program in Materials Science at the University of Virginia.

     The summer moves continue in August when Cara and Perry move from Baltimore to northern California where Perry begins his post-doctorate studies.  

Macy, Aubrey, Barrett and Dayna head to Colorado for our U.S. Staff Conference in July, but this time Aubrey is there working for Cru on the Staff Services team. She arrives before us and then afterwards heads to North Carolina to lead a student study group from Rollins College on Moravian music.  Then sometime we’ll squeeze in Luke’s move up to Virginia! 

Thanks for partnering with us as we serve with Cru.  We are honored to serve with you.

A Hodgepodge with Impact

        One thing about our time with Cru is that we have gotten to do a lot of different kinds of things.

Right now I’m engaged with multiple projects…coaching the GAIN leadership team, reorganizing Arrowhead Conferences & Events, producing finance training (I was an English major), and facilitating a cyber incident response team for potential cyber attack of Cru (did I mention I was an English major?)

We joined Cru to help people to experience Jesus the way we have been blessed.  All of these different projects are helping that to happen, and that is why they are motivating to be a part of.  Thanks for making that possible!

        Here's an infographic of the kind of impact that a week long packing event at the Gain Logistics Center in Pennsylvania will have in the next year.