Faces
Traveling with God
A
sk McFred Brown about his path to Christianity and he will tell you that the “grace of God” touched him when he was 11 years old and living in his homeland of Liberia— thanks to a woman he didn’t know.
The woman, who was well-
respected in the community, called him to her porch and, seemingly out of the blue, asked Brown if he could sing. She told him he would be join- ing a church choir, and she followed up with a visit to his home to make sure it happened. Brown wasn’t happy—at first. But he had no idea then that this
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McFred Brown’s path to ministry started in Liberia and moved to the U.S., where he attends the Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg (Pa.).
single conversation would take him to congregations throughout Africa and to the U.S., where he would wind up as a student at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (Pa.).
Brown was honored in October with an ELCA Fund for Leaders scholar- ship that provides him full tuition for the 2011-12 school year (www.elca. org/fundforleaders).
His first semester in seminary has been challenging, but he is enjoying the chance to further his studies. “What is difficult is that there is a lot more reading here,” Brown said. “In Africa it is more hands-on, with more practi- cal experience.” From his early years in the choir, Brown continued growing in the Chris-
tian church. He was active in his youth group and learned about pastoral duties.
Then the Liberian civil war erupted, causing Brown to flee the country. He was also separated from his family and fiancee.
He wound up in Guinea, then the Ivory Coast, where he worked with dif-
ferent congregations. “Then I was in Ghana, and that is where I started doing full-time ministry,” Brown said. Brown was granted political asylum and made his way to America, unaware that it was a Lutheran organization that helped make it happen. He was reunited with loved ones and found a spiritual home with Joy of the Gospel Ministry, an outreach to African immigrants and people of Afri- can heritage that became housed by St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Wood- bridge, Va. A leader in this ministry, Brown said he didn’t hesitate when the idea to attend seminary arose. “I don’t know where I will end up, but I will go wherever God takes me,” Brown said. “I am happy to be here. It is by the grace of God.”
Jeff Favre Favre is a contributing editor of The Lutheran.
December 2011 43
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