Dean Brown's Follow-up Report to the District Board

"To the rest of the country, New England has always stood in much the same relation as England has to America -- that of spiritual homeland and mother country." (B.A. Botkin, author of A Treasury of New England Folklore)

On Monday morning, March 8, 2010, I watched the sun pull itself up over the sleepy mountains as I journeyed to one of Albany, New York’s Consumer Mecca’s - The Crossgates Mall. I wondered about and prayed for the trip that some 40 Wesleyan pastors, denominational executives and parachurch leaders would embark upon that day. The many details had been cared for, the sleepless nights would now slip into distant memory, and God the Holy Spirit would soon begin His faithful work of calling and engaging a new missional force to invade New England with the gospel of Jesus Christ. I could hardly wait!

After a stop at Starbuck’s on the New York State Thruway, our Brown Bus chugged toward the southeastern counties of New York to verify that the hand of God had indeed been at work gathering hundreds of thousands of people in geographical hubs like Poughkeepsie and White Plains/Yonkers. What we became convinced of early on in our excursion was that there is yet a great work to be done in the populous regions of New York for the cause of Jesus Christ.

We then traversed the miles from The Empire State into Connecticut. This lovely and people-rich state yielded much fruit as we perused strategic centers where men and mission, work and women could meet if only we could get there to till the soil and plant the precious seed. A highlight of the Connecticut connection was our visit to Yale University. This seemingly ancient monolith of educational influence instructed us that where once the Word of God was shared, now the skeptic’s diatribe intoned a death knell, embalming the fertile minds of our nation’s youth with secular humanism and anti-God rhetoric. The quiet hallways and pristine walkways bespoke the spiritual barrenness that was evidenced by all.

After an enjoyable dinner in a quaint seacoast village in Mystic, CT and an overnighter in Providence, RI, the eager prayer scouts visited Brown University for intercession and reflection.

I visited with the young Curate of the local Episcopal Parish and heard him describe the rather mundane ministry that was his to endure. I longed to hold the keys to that church in my hands, located as it was in the heart of the university, so that I would fling open the cloudy windows and cast aside the heavy wooden closures to let in the brilliance of the Son of God who gave His life so that those students could hear and truly live!

Minutes and miles later, the skyline of historic Boston, MA came into view - a magnificent site! We emptied the bus out onto the Boston Commons, assigning each participant the task of praying down Godly renewal upon this spiritually open space. Four of us dropped by the historic Park Street Church and heard of packed services and 400+ youth meeting attendances. The doors are open in eastern Massachusetts for those who will turn the handle and enter the region for Christ.

Harvard University, with its mass of students and cultural varieties, stood up to our gaze and challenged us to let nothing deter the engaging of our brightest minds in the ongoing debate for the souls of the persons He died to redeem. We also visited the Prudential Center Skywalk and observed just how huge our vision and determination must be if we’re to reach this city before Jesus returns to reclaim His own.

After a stop in Harford, CT and a drive-through of Spiringfield, MA, we drove back into Albany, the capital city of New York State. It somehow looked more needy than the rest, maybe because our driver took us past some of the most dangerous and spiritually empty neighborhoods of the district. I was afraid, not for my life, but that somehow we might forsake this metropolitan area that has successfully defeated our best efforts in days past. We arrived at our destination as changed people: humbled by the magnitude of the task but quietly determined to become a part of the solution for meeting the spiritual needs of our region.

Today a fiery globe rose over populous New York and bustling New England. Millions of men and women chased millions of sleepy boys and girls from their warm beds to face a new day. Most of these people will confront this day without a personal knowledge that God loves them and that He holds in His nail-scarred hands the key to their eternal destiny.

Members of the District Board of Administration, I hear an old cry arising from the new people who live in the homes, hamlets and towering high rises of our district territories. Subconsciously they mimic the calls of the people of Macedonia some two thousand years ago, who wailed, “Come over…and help us” (Acts 16: 9).