Virginia Baptists' on-site liaison with Indian Baptists is a recent graduate of the College of William and Mary with an impressive Virginia Baptist heritage.
Robert Brown graduated last May from the Williamsburg school with a degree in economics and, after a five-month tenure in India, plans to begin studies at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond this fall.
He is considering pursuing a mission-related ministry-an interest sparked in part while growing up at First Baptist Church in Gretna, Va.
“I hope to learn what it is to serve God outside the United States and how I can best do that in my life,” he said.
As liaison, Brown will represent Virginia Baptists with the Indian Baptist churches and leaders and assist Indian Baptist leaders in a variety of ways, including working with children in the nearby Precious Children's Home and helping high school students improve their English.
“I hope to strengthen the partnership between Indian Baptists and Virginia Baptists,” he says.
He is living in a small apartment in a dormitory on the campus of the Indian Baptist Theological Seminary, just outside of Kottyam, the city that is home to the India Baptist Convention and many of its leaders.
Brown's assignment in India isn't his first with Virginia Baptists. Last fall he spent two months in Picayune, Miss., coordinating the teams of volunteers from Virginia who were assisting victims of the Gulf Coast hurricanes. He worked closely with Baptists in Picayune and with churches affiliated with the Pearl River Baptist Association.
But his interest in missions was piqued in the winter of his senior year at William and Mary, when he traveled to the Bahamas with a group from the school's Baptist Student Union. The team spent a week ministering on the islands.
“We really got a lot accomplished that week,” Brown said. “I thought, ‘If we can get this much done in this short a time, how much more could be done if I spent months ministering somewhere?' ”
Brown's parents-Kent and Ann Brown-are active members of First Baptist in Gretna, and both have participated in mission trips with Virginia Baptists. Ann is vice president of the state's Woman's Missionary Union and both she and Kent represented Virginia WMU at an anniversary celebration of Amity Press in China last summer.
Brown's grandparents also are active Virginia Baptists. His dad's father-Allen Brown Sr.-directed the Virginia Baptist Mission Board's church music department for decades before retiring, and he and his wife, Charlotte, are members of First Baptist Church in Richmond.
Brown's mom's parents-Ed and Emily Fitzgerald-are active at First Baptist in Gretna. Ed Fitzgerald has served on the Virginia Baptist Mission Board and Emily has been active in Virginia WMU.