“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.’” Isaiah 6:8 ESV
“What if we closed the company and moved to serve God?”
Matt posed that question to his wife Susan and at first she thought maybe he had gone crazy. He explained that he felt God calling him to full time Missionary service here in America with Fathers in the Field. “Pray about it. Also it will require that we move to a new state, maybe even across the country.” Now she knew he was crazy.
The story of Matt Brown’s calling starts more than a year ago when he and his family were introduced to Fathers in the Field when Flatirons Church in Lafayette Colorado announced they were doing the ministry. Hearing that this ministry paired Christian men with fatherless boys to be mentored through intentional commitment and outdoor activities Matt and his family all agreed that this ministry was perfect for him. So Matt attended the information meeting along with 500 other men.
The meeting explained the Mentor Father commitment and the tools provided by Fathers in the Field to help them effectively mentor a fatherless boy and help him heal from deep wounds of abandonment. This resonated with Matt who understood some of those wounds first hand. He was adopted as an infant and when he learned this at the age of ten, it caused him to feel worthless. He struggled with the idea that his biological parents didn’t see value in him or love him enough to keep him; he felt expendable. So hearing that fatherless boy’s feel expendable struck a chord in his heart, he knew their pain and loved that Fathers in the Field works to help heal these wounds.
Upon returning home Matt began to pray in earnest for God’s direction in his involvement in the ministry. “God put it on my heart that this ministry is where He wanted me and that He had great things planned for me.” The next day Matt applied to be a Mentor Father and the Church responded by asking him to be one of the lay leaders, a Church Champion, instead. He was honored that they saw him in this capacity and so he readily agreed, excited to see what God would do.
In December of 2016 Matt felt God calling him to a larger role with Fathers in the Field. Not knowing what this might be he began to talk with John Smithbaker the Founding Servant of the ministry and with Mike McNeil the Rocky Mountain Regional Missionary. “There is a huge need across the country for Regional Missionaries, but not here in Colorado. You’ll have to move.” This conversation has driven other men looking to help the ministry away, but it drove Matt to his knees. “In March of 2017 I prayed and asked God to lead me to the area he wanted me to serve. Then he used a family trip to Texas to show me the answer to my prayers.”
Matt’s family has lived in Colorado for five generations, but God had been slowly helping him fall in love with Texas for years. He shared this revelation with his family, knowing that he would need the buy-in of his wife and the two kids still living at home. They prayed through the decision until God laid it on all of their hearts to take the leap of faith.
Matt closed the paint company, began the support raising process and officially committed to moving to Texas to serve as the Texas and Oklahoma Regional Missionary with Fathers in the Field. August 1 found Matt and his family moving away from their roots to live in Texas. “It was a scary moment when I turned over this part of my life to God, but I know God is sending us. It could have been anywhere; I had to submit to His leading us where he wanted us to go. God had already given me a desire for the region in general and now a heart to help these pastors, men, boys, single moms. We are excited to see all God has in store for us.”
God’s Calling on your Life
“Listening to God and His calling on your life is so important. I can’t even imagine the experiences and growth God has planned for us here. Imagine missing that because it is too scary or messy to follow God’s calling! The blessings of being obedient to His calling on our lives is more than we can imagine. Are you willing to follow the Lord’s calling in your life? You never know where it will lead. Let alone who might be blessed along the way because you were faithful to His calling.”
Mission Homefront: We are now living on the mission’s field; we can no longer step over the broken lives of the fatherless in our own country and pretend they don’t exist. God has commanded us to care for the fatherless and the widow (Isaiah 1:17), let Him find us about His work when He returns!
The need for Regional Missionaries is great, is God calling you to join us?
There are so many ways to get involved and help heal the broken heart of a fatherless boy, contact us today.
