Faith Brown
In 1967 my wife Carol and I joined David Wilkerson’s ministry in New York City to work with David in his burgeoning crusade ministry. A year later, two of Carol’s sisters moved to New York to be part of a new ministry called CURE Corps that David was setting up under the Teen Challenge ministry. Christian college students and recent graduates were being challenged to give a year of their life to minister in some of the worst sections of New York City. Carol’s sister Shari fulfilled her one year in CURE Corps, met her future husband, and continued on with her life. The second sister, Faith, came for the year—and ended up staying in New York for twenty years! When CURE Corps closed down after a few years, Faith and several others began their own ministry to inner-city families and high-school and college students in New York.
In 2000 in a book entitled An Uncommon Faith, my wife wrote about Faith’s early life and some of her challenges and adventures in developing the ministry in New York. Faith is a modern-day example of how God can use a young college graduate from Colorado to touch hundreds of lives caught in the trap of sin (drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, gang members) with the power of the Gospel. Her life is a tremendous example for us all; if God can use Faith Brown in such a powerful way, He can use you, too!
The ministry Faith helped establish continues to flourish to this day, an enduring testimony of her life and witness nearly twenty years after her death from cancer. This ministry is active on nearly forty high-school and college campuses and in many other areas of ministry in the “Big Apple.” On a regular basis we are going to feature some of Faith’s writings on this blog. For information on how to purchase a copy of An Uncommon Faith, send an e-mail to dpmn1999@aol.com and request information on the book. You can also request information on the New York ministry that Faith began and we will send that as well.
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"Sometimes I lift a lonely, neglected child onto my lap and pray to God that Jesus comes before I have to look into another set of such sad eyes. Sometimes I look at my own life with all its selfishness and indifference toward the things of God and I weep. But then I look to Jesus, my Solid Rock, my Friend who is closer than a mother, who also weeps with me, but now—now He is giving me a reassuring smile. My life is secure in His Hands. He is leading and guiding me. No one but the Lord can really share this burden. After all, He gave it to me, so it should just fit my spiritual shoulders—perfectly. If it’s too big, then I’m just not sharing it with Him like I should.
"Sometimes this coat of concern for the poor and despised gets heavy. I feel conspicuous, always wearing it and always defending them before the self-satisfied status quo. I want to take the coat off sometimes and exist in a secure, pleasant world. But Jesus reminds me that He put this coat on me and I must wear it until He removes it. And if it’s getting heavy, it’s probably because I’m carrying pride and self-pity in the pockets.
"I think Jesus wants to fashion a coat of concern for every Christian. All the coats won’t be alike but they will fit perfectly because they will be tailor-made. Only when you wear a coat can you appreciate the warmth and responsibility of someone else’s coat."
Written by
In 1967 my wife Carol and I joined David Wilkerson’s ministry in New York City to work with David in his burgeoning crusade ministry. A year later, two of Carol’s sisters moved to New York to be part of a new ministry called CURE Corps that David was setting up under the Teen Challenge ministry. Christian college students and recent graduates were being challenged to give a year of their life to minister in some of the worst sections of New York City. Carol’s sister Shari fulfilled her one year in CURE Corps, met her future husband, and continued on with her life. The second sister, Faith, came for the year—and ended up staying in New York for twenty years! When CURE Corps closed down after a few years, Faith and several others began their own ministry to inner-city families and high-school and college students in New York.
In 2000 in a book entitled An Uncommon Faith, my wife wrote about Faith’s early life and some of her challenges and adventures in developing the ministry in New York. Faith is a modern-day example of how God can use a young college graduate from Colorado to touch hundreds of lives caught in the trap of sin (drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, gang members) with the power of the Gospel. Her life is a tremendous example for us all; if God can use Faith Brown in such a powerful way, He can use you, too!
The ministry Faith helped establish continues to flourish to this day, an enduring testimony of her life and witness nearly twenty years after her death from cancer. This ministry is active on nearly forty high-school and college campuses and in many other areas of ministry in the “Big Apple.” On a regular basis we are going to feature some of Faith’s writings on this blog. For information on how to purchase a copy of An Uncommon Faith, send an e-mail to dpmn1999@aol.com and request information on the book. You can also request information on the New York ministry that Faith began and we will send that as well.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
"Sometimes I lift a lonely, neglected child onto my lap and pray to God that Jesus comes before I have to look into another set of such sad eyes. Sometimes I look at my own life with all its selfishness and indifference toward the things of God and I weep. But then I look to Jesus, my Solid Rock, my Friend who is closer than a mother, who also weeps with me, but now—now He is giving me a reassuring smile. My life is secure in His Hands. He is leading and guiding me. No one but the Lord can really share this burden. After all, He gave it to me, so it should just fit my spiritual shoulders—perfectly. If it’s too big, then I’m just not sharing it with Him like I should.
"Sometimes this coat of concern for the poor and despised gets heavy. I feel conspicuous, always wearing it and always defending them before the self-satisfied status quo. I want to take the coat off sometimes and exist in a secure, pleasant world. But Jesus reminds me that He put this coat on me and I must wear it until He removes it. And if it’s getting heavy, it’s probably because I’m carrying pride and self-pity in the pockets.
"I think Jesus wants to fashion a coat of concern for every Christian. All the coats won’t be alike but they will fit perfectly because they will be tailor-made. Only when you wear a coat can you appreciate the warmth and responsibility of someone else’s coat."
Written by
Faith Brown 1972
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