Rich Brown told the Australian Missionary News IPTV anchorman, Mark Tronson, that he was born and raised in Ecuador and has ministered in both Peru and Ecuador. He said he believes he was 'called' to serve as a missionary.
He first decided to become a follower of Jesus Christ as a child, but it was as a teenager that he was mature enough to fully yield his life to Christ. At this stage, he was interested in mission service but was not sure whether it was really for him.
It came to a head when as a nineteen year old he was attending a Christian Missionary Alliance conference with 5,000 other delegates, when the President of the organisation called those who sought full time Christian service to the front after his sermon.
It was one of those surreal moments when he said in his heart, the place no one else sees, that should his favourite Gospel song be the final hymn he would move forward. But he knew this was cheating, as already he knew what was in the program.
However, there was more to the service. The President said that he was confident that there were still more people willing to commit to Christian service.
"There was a another final song, this time it was the hymn, 'All to Jesus, I surrender' and the Holy Spirit spoke into that most secret of all places in my heart," Rich Brown explained. "I went forward,"
Rich met his wife, Lisa, at mission high school and they started dating seriously when they were at college (university) together. Two of their children were born in the US and two in Ecuador.
As they have lived in various countries, their children have been educated in Public, Catholic and Protestant Christian Schools; and they have had private tuition to bring them up to speed from Spanish back to English. They now attend an international school run by the Christian Missionary Alliance in Ecuador.
The Browns' ministry in Ecuador falls into many different areas. There is the Christian outreach which includes Discipleship training of those in Ecuador who have become followers of Jesus Christ, there is Christian training of locals who seek Christian leadership, and there is an extensive Compassion ministry.
Within the Compassion ministry, they undertake schooling for the children whose parents live and work in the rubbish tips; they run an Orphanage; they manage a Teen Pregnancy House (Ecuador has the highest teen pregnancy in South America) and they have initiated a program to train young women released from prison in order that they might find work.
Rich says there are 300 million young people in South America to reach for the Gospel. Rich and Lisa Brown's ministry is titled, Incalink and the web site is www.incalink.net
As to the future of world mission Rich Brown is very confident. He refers to it as Incarnational Mission, where the missioner enters the life of the culture and language of those he is ministering to. He learns to understand their original religions and takes on employment. In these ways, he becomes a bridge-builder for Christian evangelism through the lifestyle and witness, as a follower of Christ.
Rich Brown calls this Incarnational Mission, a 'New Wave', which he sees is a way engaging in mission that is sweeping the world in this 21st century; and will surely help pave the way even in the 22nd Century.
His interview can be viewed on the Australian Missionary News IPTV at tv.bushorchestra.com/Mission/videopages/rich_brown.html and www.safeworlds.net