Auburn couple embraces missions calling in media outlet

Alabama natives Phil and Sheila Brown know what it means to wait on God’s timing. While both were called to missions early in life, it was not until they reached their mid-40s that their callings came true.
“We first applied in 1986 with the International Mission Board (IMB),” said Phil Brown, who at the time ran his own video production company in Opelika. But with their oldest of two children being 13 at the time, IMB officials could not appoint them due to policy restricting appointees with teenagers.
   
“It was disappointing,” Phil Brown said, but “we knew we would reapply one day.”
   
And 12 years later, the Browns — members of Lakeview Baptist Church, Auburn — did just that. They were appointed as overseas correspondents for the Americas Bureau in 1998. They served South America, Middle America and the Caribbean Basin.
   
After four years of shooting on-site footage, editing and producing videos and organizing the multitude of projects to make these videos happen, the Browns transitioned from associate missionaries to career missionaries. Beginning in April of this year, the Browns began learning the role held by Mickey Searcy, 25-year veteran missionary to the Caribbean.
   
Mickey and his wife, Charlotte, moved to the Bahamas in 1977 to  develop and run the Caribbean media center, which was transferred to Hollywood, Fla., in the late 1980s.
   
Phil Brown became team leader in June. Serving alongside fellow missionaries, he leads the team of 12 in producing promotional material for missions teams worldwide.
   
“The role is not as hands-on in production as before,” Phil Brown said, noting his role as coordinator.
Some of the projects he is coordinating include brochures, Web pages and training videos. The team also is working with Campus Crusade and a media team in Colombia to provide the “Jesus” film there.
   
Sheila Brown serves as project manager for the team. Along with helping organize the who, what, when and where of producing, she also manages the financial end.
   
Her role is similar to what she did when they owned the video company, she said.  While living in Auburn, Sheila Brown also worked with adults with disabilities in vocational rehabilitation through the Auburn and Opelika city schools. 
   
Phil Brown also worked in education. He taught at Auburn University full time for 18 years.
   
His heart for missions came while in high school, but it was a missions trip to Paris that clinched his calling. “I saw a church planter use media training to show what missionaries are doing around the world,” he said, noting the trip helped him see the wide range of talents used by missionaries.
   
Sheila Brown said her call came in fifth grade during missions education at church. “God dropped the seed while I was in GAs,” she said.
   
And now that the Browns are fulfilling their missions call, their vision is to help fellow missionaries discover ways media can be used to target unreached people groups.
   
“We want to assist missionaries within our region and beyond,” Phil Brown said. “This is a growing role, and this is a great place to be able to serve missionaries around the world.”