Merry Christmas 2023--Family Update

Brown Family Update 2023

This has been a different kind of year for me. I just recently passed the first year of having no kids living in my home year round! I have continued as a nurse and CPR instructor for Cru. As part of that I work 2 days a week at a clinic for the uninsured. We have primary care, some limited specialties and a liver clinic that provides screening and treatment for those with Hepatitis C. It really feels like we are making a difference in the community.

Barrett and I took a trip to Vancouver with Cru, we all went to Charlottesville for Luke’s graduation ceremony, and I traveled to Maine with Catelin and my sister Mari.

Barrett also spent a week in Bogota to help the Jesus Film Project and has has worked on a wide variety of engagements for Cru. The “2-year” headquarters renovation is now into its 4th year! His daily routines include walking Brexit twice a day and riding his bike to the gym.

Catelin continues her work at Orlando Health supporting the Career and Talent Development teams. She traveled to California to see Cara and her nephews twice this year, and always looks forward to any time she can spend with her family. She enjoyed our trip to Maine, which has been 5 years in the making—it was exciting to finally make it there and enjoy some autumn colors in a small town by the ocean!

As I write this, the Johnsons have COVID for the first time! I think their biggest news is that Zeke started kindergarten this year and loves it. Zeke also played soccer for the first time. Titus is three and has taken swim lessons. He really seems happy too. Bowen is 2 and very busy. He loves his cars (they all do!). Cara is super busy with the boys. She has painted a lot in the house. She has made super fun rooms for the boys. Perry has traveled quite a bit to different conferences for his work at UCI in turbulent flow.

Aubrey started a new job last week. She began working for Orange County in compensation. She also has an Etsy shop! She traveled for work to Minnesota and to Connecticut, Michigan and California to visit friends and family.

Luke is living in Melbourne and just passed his first year anniversary working for an aerospace company. He continues to enjoy his two favorite hobbies of playing sports and gecng injured playing sports.

Macy is in her second year at the University of Florida. She is majoring in Criminology and Psychology and minoring in English. She volunteers as a tutor for kids with decreased literacy, and joined an adult co-ed softball team and is playing with some “old men.” Last summer she worked for Cru doing childcare. She really loves the kids. She also traveled to New York City and loved it!

This year has had its ups and downs like every year. It seems like we’re ending it preMy well, which is something I am very grateful for. We wish you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year. I hope you can find time to reflect on the difference Jesus’ birth has made in your life.

For all of us, 

A Special Request

At church in this month a praise song really spoke to me. It was a simple, clear message of God’s love for me. It was beautiful. When I got home and listened to different versions of the song, they were over-produced and had dramatic crescendos that clouded the simple message.

That simple faith in Jesus can
get clouded in our society by so many peripheral issues that hinder people’s ability to listen, hear and understand.

Our work at Cru is trying, often imperfectly, to
present the simple message of Jesus coming to create a bridge between God and man through his death, so that each person can accept that for him or herself. We believe many people respond when they can hear it through the all the noise.

That's why we do what we do.

You have followed us, prayed for us and partnered with us. Thank you. We thought you would want to know that our financial support has decreased over the last couple of years, and we want to ask if you will consider helping with a special gift this month.

We need to raise an additional $1,000 per month, or $12,000 annually to be able to stay engaged in the mission. Would you prayerfully consider a special gift this December to help? Or possibly consider helping with a monthly gift this next year?  Or if you are already giving, consider increasing your gift?

The easiest way to give is to visit give.cru.org/0374749 and indicate how you would like to help. You can also mail a check made to “Cru” to our home address at 4126 Stonewall Dr., Orlando, FL  32812.

We are grateful to you for your faithfulness to the Lord, and your friendship with us we serve with Cru. Whether you can help with this need now or not, we are grateful for how you have partnered with us. Thank you, and we hope you have a wonderful Christmas celebration. 

With love,

Thank you

We are so thankful for you. 

I shared with someone recently that Dayna and I have served with Cru for 37 years now, and all that time we have been able to serve because of faithful and generous supporters who provide all of the funds to pay for our salaries, insurance, and ministry expenses.  It really is incredible to us when we think about it.

It is an honor for us to have you believe in us, invest in us and trust us to follow the Lord and invest our work in helping introduce people Jesus.

Thank you.  We we remember you often.  God is blessing us through you.

Yesterday I met with the new AIA Team Leaders who are here in Orlando for 3 days of training.  I gave them a tour of our Cru headquarters, explaining that this is their headquarters, and that everyone here works to support their work on their campuses.  I also explained that this place is theirs to use.

I also met with Steve and Cecile Mohammed, who lead Cru’s seminary in Latin America, UNILID.edu.  The seminary’s official location is Lake Hart, and I helped them get set up here as they pursue accreditation.  As we toured and they learned that our headquarters is designed for them to use any room and any space, they were so grateful.  “We can’t tell you how much this blesses us.  This really is our campus.”

Every time we get to touch a part of Cru around the states or the world, I  think of our partners and how you are making an impact with us.

Last month Dayna was hanging out with Catelin and her sister in Maine, and Perry, our son in law, was in town to speak at the University of Florida.  So, I rode up with him to watch him speak on turbulence (of course I understood all of it), and we stopped by to visit Macy as her apartment.  We are glad Macy is close enough that we can drive up and are looking forward to her coming home next week for Thanksgiving.

We hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. While we will give God thanks for your friendship and partnership with us, we also want to express to you how grateful we are to you.

With love and thanks,  

Dayna, Catelin and Mari in Maine