A Year End Gift

Warm Christmas greetings to you!

                  In February, we will celebrate 30 years on staff with Cru. It has been a privilege to serve in many aspects of the ministry, from reaching high school and college students to helping staff join and be equipped for ministry, to helping keep them safe in an increasingly dangerous world.

                  Today, there are staff and students impacting people with the gospel through their careers, churches, and on staff with Cru all over the world. Over the years with Cru, we’ve had the privilege of serving and resourcing thousands of our staff.

                  Thank you for your faithful partnership with us.  It’s because of your giving and many others that we’ve been able to serve in this ministry. Thank you for wanting to make a difference in people’s lives with the good news of Christ. We couldn’t have an impact on our Cru staff, who touch people’s lives around the world, without you doing what you do.

                  Looking into the future, we believe we will still make a great impact for God’s kingdom as we trust him. This fall I’ve been coaching an Area Crisis Manager dealing with legitimate threats from Isis on both national and international churches in his city.  One year ago he walked through a crisis where a father and two children were killed by extremists.  It is a great honor to work with men and women like him who care deeply for staff and help them take wise risks so that everyone can hear.

                  As we look at the past year, we recognize the Lord has been faithful to meet our practical needs, and like you, we continue to trust Him for the future. However, as some of our financial partners age and need to cut back, we are trusting God to replace a shortfall of $12,000 annually. To meet this gap, would you prayerfully consider giving a special year-end gift toward reaching this goal?

                  We do understand if this is not possible for you right now, but if you can help us reach this goal, you can give online, by phone, or by mail (make a check out to Cru).  All the information for the ways to give are under the "How to Give" tab.  A quick link to the online giving page is: give.cru.org.  

                   We can’t thank you enough for your commitment to us personally throughout the years and for your partnership in this mission to get the gospel out to the ends of the earth!                                                                                                                                                                 

                   Warmly in Christ,

Our 2015 Christmas Update

We sent out a paper version of this update, but here I can add pictures and say a bit more about everyone.


Macy (12) is in 6th grade, and was able to participate in a one- month Cru program in Fort Collins during our time there this summer. She went rafting, horseback riding, and hiking, among other adventures.  She has ridden the train to school a few times and she and I have enjoyed our new kayaks this year.

Luke (20) Luke spent the summer in New York with an Athletes in Action Baseball Team, the Rochester Ridgemen. He’s been working on a chemistry research project with a professor for over 2 years and they hope to publish their results soon.

Aubrey (23) graduated with a masters in Musicology from Brandeis University in May. She had to say goodbye to her unique landlady Phyllis.  Aubrey's stories of Phyllis entertained us all year.   She was able to return to England and attend the wedding of one of her friends in August.  

Cara and Perry Johnson (26) took a western vacation through several states and ended visiting us in Fort Collins in July. They moved into the top floor of an updated row house in Baltimore that they are enjoying.

Catelin (28) transferred to a new department at Rollins College and began classes for a masters in Human Resources. She also spent a week with us in Colorado.

Dayna took a Bible study methods class in Colorado. She went to Savannah with Macy and the Girl Scouts and enjoyed a short trip several of us took to DC and Baltimore in November.

Barrett’s mom is entering the later stages of Alzheimer’s and he has taken several shorter trips to Ohio to spend time with her. (Please pray for her.) He’s also worked on several house projects, including painting the house and redoing a bathroom!

God bless you as you celebrate God’s wonderful love!  See below for more of our favorite pics of the year.

The Browns 

Dayna's sister and brother in law help us with a great family photo.

Ready for the National Championship Game!

Fellow Buckeye fan Randy and Barrett celebrate by decorating the office.

Macy, Dayna and Barrett visit Grandma Sandy for her birthday in January

Erin SanGregory with SIL joins us for a cold baseball game.

Paul Cheesmen, our fellow staff friend from England joined me for a sunrise kayak trip.

Easter 2015

Aubrey received her Master's degree from Brandeis University...

...and had to say goodbye to her landlady Phyllis, to the disappointment of her Facebook friends.

We took in our first Red Sox game after graduation.

Barrett's been up to visit his mom 4 times this year.

Cheyenne, Wyoming has a building named after Barrett

Macy celebrated a long climb up Horsetooth in Fort Collins, CO.

Macy met Buzz the horse, who we have known for 15+ years.

We had a great Groupon carriage ride in Fort Collins.

Awesome ride at the Cru fair...even with my friend Paul's photobomb.

Perry and Cara joined us at the end of our Cru staff conference.

My Dad (left) and his 3 remaining siblings of 11 at the Huntingdon, TN reunion in July.

My aunt Carol Ann brought me peanut butter balls, my favorite!

We visited Cara and Perry after a conference in DC.

Four of our five girls in Baltimore.

Luke and Macy with Barrett's mom in December.

Our kids surprised us with a 30th anniversary trip to San Diego in December!

Our attempt at reenactment.

A tribute to a friend's faith

Roommates Donna, Cindy, Diana, and Dayna

     We took at sad trip to St. Louis this month. One of our best friends from college, Cindy Knodel Wilson, died of metastatic breast cancer. She first had cancer at 31 and about 6 years ago was having back pain and found the cancer had spread.

     Cindy had six children. The youngest was eight years old at the time of her second diagnosis—a beautiful boy with Downs Syndrome and autism. From the time of her diagnosis she began her battle to be there for those kids as long as possible.

     There are so many things I could write about Cindy. I think they are all summed up by describing her as a person of audacious faith. I remember her somewhat shyly telling me she was praying she wouldn’t have to wear glasses anymore. I had never thought to pray something like that. In 1982 that seemed kind of crazy, but years later she had Lasik surgery and didn’t have to wear glasses. Cindy always knew God could do anything He chose to do.

     I think because of that faith she saw God do miracles. In many ways Cindy had a lot of hard things in her life, but there was a sense of triumph that surrounded her. She saw God transform her family of origin. It is a beautiful story. She ran a youth drama ministry and was active in adult drama. She had wonderful kids. The list could go on and on.

     Days before Cindy died a group gathered to pray for her total healing. That is so Cindy, a somewhat audacious faith. God didn’t choose to heal Cindy, but she knows He could have. There is so much beauty in her faith. It wasn’t a naive faith. God told Cindy “no” many times. But it was a faith based on knowing God.

With much love, 

My Sweet Mom

     For the last year, my (Barrett’s) mom, Sandra Brown, has been living in a memory unit of a nursing home in Cincinnati. Recently she had a decline in her health and moved to the skilled nursing area.

    We have made several short trips to be with her over the last few months.   Last week I spent 3 days with her helping my siblings figure out what she needs and how to make her most comfortable. Recently her frustration has led her to act a bit contrary to her caregivers, but she is improving.  As we move around the home, she is always looking to greet people and be kind.

     My sister just texted us that she has had a good day, doing well with her physical therapy, including walking.  We all are glad for every good day!

     I enjoyed that she used my name twice while I was with her.  That's something I had not heard in a while. She will say it on her own, but if you ask her directly, she can't say it.  Please pray for her comfort and for wisdom as we care for her. 

She wears my Ohio State hat better than I do.

The Gospel and a Luopad

This summer in Colorado, I got to work with  my friend Al Goff, who is the President of Global Aid Network, which is Cru’s humanitarian arm.  Al and I worked together for years when he was the crisis manager for the Middle East and Central Asia area.  We worked through some very difficult situations together.

This summer we planned and organized the four days that Al had with his staff in Colorado.  We arranged time for them to focus on team building, their values, and creating a culture of growth for their team.  

I was touched by a story I heard when someone from Central Asia shared about the impact of something as simple as women’s hygiene supplies…sanitary napkins!  These reusable napkins are called Luopads.  You can read all about them HERE.

We were asked not to share the location, but the pads have been distributed to a women’s prison by our ministry in Central Asia.  It has helped restore dignity to these women, who are so grateful for the provision.  In a largely muslim country, the majority of women in this prison have come to faith in Christ!

When our staff visited this prison, the women were in tears expressing gratitude for the love they had experienced through those that provided the sanitary pads.  Providing for simple physical needs can open doors for people to receive the love of Christ.

These pads are made by volunteers in the U.S. and are delivered all over the world by our ministry partners.  If you are good at sewing, you might like to help provide them as well.  You can watch the video below to learn more about how these were used in Zimbabwe.

We were honored to serve the GAiN staff this summer.  They do some supremely difficult work and put love in action all around the world.  Thank you for partnering with us and being a part of what they and all of Cru are doing.

With love and thanks,

Animal Farm?

Rocky Raccoon going for a car ride

Dayna and I were walking down our street and watched the raccoon climb into the attic.  We think raccoons are cute, but don’t want to share a house with them!

Our attic is vented by small oval holes in the eaves, and these are covered by plastic vents.  These vents are easily pulled down by the raccoons and they like the attics to stay out of the rain.  My next house project is installing some metal screwed in vents.

After our exterminator lent us two animal cages, and I baited them with marshmallows.  We proceeded to catch not only  the raccoon, but also two possums!  This weekend I disposed of a little mouse that was living on our back porch.

Possum Number 1

Possum Number 2

Macy joined me as we drove 10 miles away to release these animals to a new life, away from our house!   I think I was as nervous trying to let these guys out of the cage as they were being in the cage!  Raccoons are not as fearful as possums!

Being gone for 2 months this summer may have something to do with these creatures, but we hope we can have sole occupancy for a while!

Colorado Summer

Our time in Colorado this summer was a great blessing.  Dayna and I spent the first four weeks taking Bible classes  Happily, I finished our Institute of Biblical studies requirements, and while I’m glad to be finished, God really ministered to me through one class.

My assignment was to study, interpret, and prepare a talk on 2 Samuel 9, where David finds Mephibosheth in order to show him kindness and fulfill his covenant to his friend Jonathan.

As someone who struggles with feeling inadequate, I was encouraged to realize that David’s kindness was a picture of the kindness God shows toward me.  I identify with the shame Mephibosheth felt, but David placed him in a position of honor.  God looks past my inadequacies and shows me kindness.

If you want, I can deliver a stunning 20 minute talk on this passage!

During our staff conference, we heard from Christian leaders in the area of diversity and privilege, and explore how Cru’s impact is limited by how we make it hard for minorities to join with us.

Dayna and I were impacted with the idea of how much we’ve been boosted in life because of our families and culture in a way that some people never experience.  Paul said, “in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Phil. 2:3-4)

Thank you for partnering with us to allow us to study His word.  We are grateful for serving with you.