East Tenn. pastor returns to Africa to strengthen growing churches
MORRISTOWN — Doug Brown stood on the slopes of Mount Kenya in the cold rain, praying for the 50 students he had traveled 8,000 miles to teach.
The 66-year-old pastor of Witt Baptist Church had hiked the mountain — once considered sacred by local tribes — to better understand the challenges his students face as they minister in a rapidly changing Africa.
“Nairobi is very cosmopolitan today,” Brown said. “They have Western influence, but they also have traditional tribal worship. It’s very much like ancient Corinth.”
Doug Brown in November with some of his students at the Kenya Baptist Theological College.
Brown returned to Kenya Baptist Theological College in November for his third teaching trip, instructing pastors, church planters, and ministry leaders from Congo, Sudan, and Kenya. The month-long visit reflects a commitment Brown has maintained throughout his 45 years of ministry.
Seeds planted decades ago
Brown’s connection to Africa began at a quarterly men’s meeting when a missionary pilot from the continent spoke to his church. The message planted a seed that grew stronger when his mother became an International Mission Board missionary after his father died.
“One of the Zimbabweans came back to help us,” Brown said. “That never left my heart.”
He and his wife signed up with the IMB in 1986 and served in eastern and southern Africa for 11 years, living in Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania. Work permit troubles and civil unrest forced them to move between countries, but they stayed until Brown’s mother became ill. They returned to the states for 16 years.
After his mother died, Brown hoped to return to Kenya Baptist Theological College as an IMB missionary. When that plan fell through, he found another way.
“I really came to the place where I loved teaching,” Brown said. “I really feel that God called us to that, and the call never left my heart.”
The discipleship crisis
The school has grown each year. In November, Brown taught two classes totaling 50 students — most of them pastors, pastor’s wives, church planters and convention leaders who spoke English, Swahili, and their own tribal languages.
Brown jokes his Southern accent makes speaking Swahili challenging, but his 11 years living in Africa taught him the culture. He found his students friendly and committed to bettering their education.
“They don’t have the resources we have in the States,” Brown said. “I feel like I’m meeting a need and my ministry is multiplied.”
The need goes beyond basic education. Christianity is exploding across Africa, but false teaching has spread alongside it, according to Brown.
“Christianity has become very shallow,” Brown said. “They’re great at planting churches. They don’t need help with that. Discipleship is the next step.”
Brown taught two classes, one on 1 Corinthians and another on the Letters of Paul, which resonated with his students’ current struggles.
“We talked about how Paul planted churches and followed up with discipleship and correcting problems,” Brown said. “That’s what they’re going through now.”
The parallels between first-century Corinth and modern Nairobi struck Brown. Both cities blended cosmopolitan Western influence with traditional religious practices, and both needed Christians grounded in sound doctrine.
Following Paul’s example
The Southern Baptist Convention established a presence in Africa in the 1960s. The seeds missionaries planted then have grown into a harvest Brown now helps tend.
“They’ve come to the place where they’re almost self-sustaining,” Brown said. “My contribution is to help these men and women be firm in their beliefs and doctrine and be encouraged in their walk.”
Brown sees himself following the apostle Paul’s model by not just planting churches but strengthening them through discipleship and sound teaching. He travels to Kenya to equip leaders who will multiply his ministry across the continent.
“I realized I can’t fix everything,” Brown said. “But I can be a Paul to the Timothys and help them carry on and be strong in the Lord.”
The work requires sacrifice, such as time away from his congregation in Morristown and navigating the language barriers and cultural differences.
But for Brown, the calling remains clear: The harvest is plentiful, and he hopes to keep returning to help gather it. B&R — Note: Brown also serves as a minister at the Morgan County Correctional Facility. An upcoming edition of the B&R will feature that ministry.
