Margie is a natural kindergarten teacher and loves working with children of this age. She also loves to travel to Hungary yearly, if possible, the the SHARE educational conference with our children. Margie is also from the Lafayette area in California where she grew up.
Both Margie and Keith have taught a number of years both in California as well as in the Anglo-American School of Sofia, Bulgaria.
MINISTRIESCurrently, we minister in the area of
Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. We attend and server at two churches in
Stara Zagora. This would be
Vuzrazhdane (Awakening) Church as well as the local Congregational Church of
Stara Zagoara.
Our primary area of
ministry is with Roma (Gypsy) people in the villages in the
Stara Zagora region. A few of the villages we minister at are
Pammukchii, a suburb of Nova
Zagora and a suburb of
Tulovo. There are other villages we work at which are not listed here.
We come alongside the pastors, and Christian
workers, in these villages to help them better minister to their flock. Our primary area of ministry in these various villages is to children and youth. We also minister to Roma families that have certain specific needs which are not met.
Next, Margie leads a women's group at
Vuzrazhdane Church in
Stara Zagora. She also ministers with Moms in Touch, Bulgaria. Then Margie also has a ministry, via
Vuzrazhdane Church, to mothers at the "birthing hospital"here in our city.
Margie also diligently
homeschools Marissa our 17 year old daughter.
Keith does additional ministry with a Men's Group at
Vuzrazhdane Church. He also preaches at both
Vuzrazhdane and t
he Congregational Church at various times when
invited to do so by the senior pastor of these two churches.
Through an organization called Macedonian Outreach, located in
Danville, CA, we sometimes provide food, clothing and educational sponsorship of poor Roma children in the
Stara Zagora region. At one village,
Yasterobovo, a combination church/school is being constructed to serve the people in this village.
Currently, there is a remedial school there which provides help for students enrolled in the public school in this area. Also, via Macedonian Outreach, medical care is provided to many of these churches on a needs basis.
As much as possible, through Macedonian Outreach, we help meet the spiritual, physical, emotional, family and educational needs of the children and families involved at
the village of
Yasterobovo.
We also have worked with various people from
Lifeway Ministries in the
Stara Zagora area. As well as sponsoring some of their seminars, we have sought to establish basic leadership for the CHE ministry in some villages. Currently, the most successful one established has been in the village of
Kalitinovo. Yet, we are waiting for the Lord to raise up leadership in the Roma community to be involved in this ministry prior to proceeding further.
Next, Keith and Margie work with both families and individuals whom fall into a crisis situation. We have, at times, had people living with us that have been involved in a family or financial crisis. We are also willing to help counsel and listen to people that simply need a listening ear for someone that cares for them.
Our family enjoys ministering to the poorest of the poor here in Bulgaria.
THE MAIN GOALOur goal is to come alongside the pastors and churches in this area to equip, encourage and exhort these people in ministry. Naturally, we do not expect to put ourselves at the center of these ministries. We simply want to be used by God to help others involved in ministry in Bulgaria.
After equipping one village church, we move on to another village or church to help those brothers and sisters in ministry.
We also have more specific goals for our various ministries which we will send you upon request.
SHORT TERM TEAMS
Frequently, during the summer months, we host a variety of short term missionary teams. Frankly, we love working with these teams and would encourage you to contact us if you are interested in possibly joining one of these teams.
Of course, we have a variety of ministries which you may wish to be involved with as a short term missionary. You could work with women's or men's ministries, do activities at local orphanages, work with children or youth of a church, hold a
VBS at a Roma village, or other activities such as believer aid. We like to think that the sky is the limit with short term teams.
Naturally, we have hosted several combinations of teams. Some of them have been college-high school age. Also some were senior age, some in their 30-40s, and we have even worked with a few non-Christian teams doing social action.
So, if you have a vision to minister as a short team team here in
Stara Zagora, please contact us. We would LOVE to host you!
OUR SPONSORING CHURCHES
The Brown family is commissioned and sent out by two different churches: Modesto Covenant Church of Modesto, CA and Good Shepherd Community Church of Tracy, CA. Modesto Covenant Church is affiliated with the Evangelical Covenant Church. Good Shepherd Community Church is affiliated with both the Evangelical Covenant Church as well as the Conservative Baptist Association of America.
We do have several other sponsoring churches as well as many individual and family prayer and financial partners who allow us to minister here in Bulgaria. We are so thankful for all of these partners as we simply could not serve Jesus Christ in Bulgaria without you!
THE BROWN FAMILYActually, we have two children. Marissa is our 17 year old daughter. She is active in
tennis and
enjoys playing
basketball in her spare time with friends during the spring and summer months. Marissa is
homeschooled by Margie and takes some courses online. Marissa has also played flute for a number of years and has been involved in many flute concerts, both in Sofia, as well as
Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. Currently, Marissa continues her flute lessons. She also loves spending time with her Bulgarian friends and especially her beloved cat,
Kamilia.
Josiah is our 12 year old son. Josiah loves school-in particular math. He currently is a 5
th grader at the Math School here in
Stara Zagora and participates in many special math
competitions on weekends. Josiah has won several certificates for his math competition. He also loves playing tennis,
camoflage clothes, the Oakland A's, war stories and movies. Another love of our son is reading Hardy Boys books and collecting key chains. He also delights in hanging out with his Bulgarian guy friends-especially Martin. Finally, Josiah loves to wrestle with his dad and inflict damage on him.
Margie is interested in
scrapbooking as a hobby and loves spending time (when she has it!) drinking tea and having a good conversation with her Bulgarian and US friends. She also loves contemporary Christian music as well as being with small children. Naturally, Margie is an accomplished cook and loves trying to cook up special recipes.
Keith is an Oakland A's fan. He also loves doing historical research online, reading, writes poetry and enjoys various movies. Additionally, Keith loves travelling-specifically to Germany, Turkey and Austria as well as within Bulgaria. He was once a runner and actually ran 7 marathons in California, but those days are over!
THE FUTUREHopefully, we will be able to work with some new Roma churches in the
Sliven area via Pastor
Stoyan and
Zhanna of the Congregational Church in
Sliven, Bulgaria. Please pray
that this is in the Lord's will for us and that this ministry can be established soon.
Again, our primary emphasis will be to equip, encourage and exhort the pastors and lay workers there as they work with children. Their success in better ministry will be our success.
CONTACT INFORMATIONPlease feel free to contact us via email at
KMBrown@mbox.contact.bg and
Akaglava@yahoo.com. Please use BOTH emails if you contact us to be sure that we receive your message. You may also contact us via snail mail at:
Keith and Margie Brown
POB # 65
Stara Zagora 6000 Bulgaria
