Stay tuned to meet a man that was abandoned by his mother 00:00:01.06\00:00:03.96 and adopted by an Adventist couple that changed his life... 00:00:04.00\00:00:07.41 My name is Yvonne Lewis and you're watching Urban Report 00:00:07.44\00:00:10.97 Hello and welcome to Urban Report 00:00:32.67\00:00:34.78 Today you're going to meet a man that actually embodies 00:00:34.81\00:00:38.67 our Dare to Dream philosophy that God's got a divine plan 00:00:38.70\00:00:42.52 for all of us... Let's welcome Pr. Moses Brown 00:00:42.56\00:00:45.95 to Urban Report and hear his story... 00:00:45.99\00:00:48.40 Welcome, Pastor Brown... 00:00:48.43\00:00:50.38 So good to see you Dr. Lewis... how're you doing? 00:00:50.41\00:00:52.73 I'm doing great, praise the Lord great to see you too... 00:00:52.77\00:00:55.97 How are you? God has been so good, 00:00:56.00\00:00:58.40 I'm just too blessed to be stressed... 00:00:58.44\00:01:00.80 Amen... amen... God is so good... 00:01:00.84\00:01:04.11 So, let's talk a bit about your journey... 00:01:04.15\00:01:07.41 because you have such an interesting past... 00:01:07.45\00:01:11.38 Tell us about... about when you were an infant 00:01:11.41\00:01:15.27 and what happened to you... Well, to start off... 00:01:15.31\00:01:18.81 when I was just... before I was born... 00:01:18.85\00:01:22.31 it was a little girl walking home from school 00:01:22.35\00:01:25.21 and... Bible School... there in... down near Miami... 00:01:25.24\00:01:30.31 and her father, which was a Baptist Preacher there 00:01:30.34\00:01:34.25 in Mannings, North Carolina there and they all died, 00:01:34.29\00:01:38.17 and she was living with her older sisters... 00:01:38.20\00:01:39.63 and she came to live down in Miami with her twin sister and 00:01:39.67\00:01:43.70 when she was walking away from Church... 00:01:43.73\00:01:45.42 a man invited her to take a ride home 00:01:45.46\00:01:46.74 instead of taking her all the way home, 00:01:46.77\00:01:48.95 they stopped at one of his homes and 00:01:48.99\00:01:50.78 when he was taking her through... 00:01:50.81\00:01:52.72 reluctantly she had looked at his property, etc... 00:01:52.76\00:01:57.36 and when they went to the bedroom... he slammed the door 00:01:57.39\00:02:01.42 and that's when he violated her, a 13-year-old girl 00:02:01.46\00:02:05.45 she didn't recognize she was pregnant 00:02:05.49\00:02:08.02 until much later... her twin sister looked at her 00:02:08.06\00:02:10.44 and said, "You're pregnant Cheri... " 00:02:10.48\00:02:12.88 and when she looked at the circumstance 00:02:12.92\00:02:15.25 she told her older sister and her sister said 00:02:15.29\00:02:17.53 "You know, we can't keep this child in here 00:02:17.57\00:02:20.15 it's impossible, we cannot keep another baby... 00:02:20.19\00:02:22.53 we're barely taking care of you, we don't have no food 00:02:22.56\00:02:25.90 hardly to feed you too. " but that came.. at a later stage 00:02:25.93\00:02:29.23 in the game... and so... something happened down there 00:02:29.27\00:02:33.04 that they had to move... further up... 00:02:33.08\00:02:34.42 part of Florida to Plant City 00:02:34.46\00:02:38.00 you know, God always has His hands in it... 00:02:38.03\00:02:40.48 and she ended up having to go down to 00:02:40.51\00:02:44.60 the nearby abortion clinic on the advice of her family 00:02:44.63\00:02:48.61 and while she was going there she heard a voice 00:02:48.65\00:02:50.67 that said, "If you let this baby live, I'll take care of you, 00:02:50.70\00:02:53.77 I'll take care of the child... " and hearing that voice 00:02:53.80\00:02:56.73 she turned around and she went back home 00:02:56.76\00:03:00.03 and when she got back home, her sister asked her, 00:03:00.06\00:03:03.26 you know, "What happened, did you get the abortion?" 00:03:03.30\00:03:06.44 and she said, "No, I'm going to trust God. " 00:03:06.48\00:03:09.59 and she put her trust in God Dr. Lewis 00:03:09.63\00:03:12.43 and she went to the hospital 00:03:12.47\00:03:14.43 she told the doctor, she said, "Listen, I can't keep 00:03:14.46\00:03:17.48 the baby because my sister said we're too poor... 00:03:17.52\00:03:20.47 but if you know somebody that you can find... anybody... 00:03:20.51\00:03:24.71 who can take care of a child, Christian person preferably" 00:03:24.75\00:03:28.92 he said, "I will... " the doctor didn't want to get 00:03:28.96\00:03:31.64 involved but something impressed him to call the lady 00:03:31.67\00:03:34.31 that used to bring... little kids 00:03:34.35\00:03:36.03 because she was the foster care lady in the area... 00:03:36.07\00:03:38.52 and she called Annette Brown she said, you know, 00:03:38.55\00:03:41.14 "Would you all come and look at this child we got, 00:03:41.18\00:03:43.73 before we put him in the system would you come 00:03:43.77\00:03:46.30 and look at this baby?" and they did... 00:03:46.33\00:03:48.76 they came down to the hospital 00:03:48.80\00:03:50.64 and my birth mother had already left me there 00:03:50.68\00:03:53.79 and then they named me Moses... 00:03:53.83\00:03:56.92 they said, "We got you out of the bulrushes... " 00:03:56.96\00:03:59.00 Awww... And so, here I am... 00:03:59.04\00:04:01.23 living this life... How precious is that... 00:04:01.26\00:04:04.89 there are so many... so many aspects of this 00:04:04.93\00:04:09.36 that we can kind of chew on... let me go back 00:04:09.39\00:04:12.06 for a second though... so your birth mother 00:04:12.10\00:04:14.73 was 13-years-old and raped by... 00:04:14.77\00:04:17.34 did you say an elder in the Church? 00:04:17.37\00:04:20.40 He was a Baptist... she was going to 00:04:20.43\00:04:23.19 the evening service that they had 00:04:23.23\00:04:25.91 he was one of the deacons, and he was taking her home 00:04:25.95\00:04:30.15 and in that car... it was hot... it was in August... 00:04:30.19\00:04:34.36 and down in South Florida it gets very hot... 00:04:34.39\00:04:38.60 but through that incident... it was truly a mess 00:04:38.63\00:04:42.76 but God had took His hand and made a miracle out of it... 00:04:42.80\00:04:46.73 Yes, yes... we praise God for that... 00:04:46.76\00:04:49.68 and for the fact that she listened to the voice of God 00:04:49.71\00:04:54.37 and she was obedient to what the Lord told her to do 00:04:54.40\00:04:59.02 so, she was 13-years-old and she had this 00:04:59.05\00:05:03.68 traumatic experience... do you know, now, in retrospect 00:05:03.71\00:05:07.86 and hearing the story, do you know 00:05:07.89\00:05:09.57 if the deacon was ever... were charges ever pressed 00:05:09.60\00:05:14.51 against him or anything like that? 00:05:14.54\00:05:16.16 it seems like back in those days... 00:05:16.20\00:05:17.61 those things kind of went over 00:05:17.64\00:05:19.16 he was not only a deacon... but he was a 00:05:19.20\00:05:21.43 one of the first African-American police officers 00:05:21.46\00:05:26.28 down there... and they were tied to all 00:05:26.32\00:05:28.20 these little games and more than games 00:05:28.23\00:05:30.00 it was a lot of things... that's what 00:05:30.04\00:05:31.74 the family she was living with, my mother was living with 00:05:31.77\00:05:34.68 had to move suddenly because the person... 00:05:34.72\00:05:37.08 they kind of knew each other all around and 00:05:37.12\00:05:39.42 and I went down 00:05:39.45\00:05:43.89 to look for him when I was going to 00:05:43.92\00:05:45.87 Forest Lake Academy... and we were traveling down to 00:05:45.90\00:05:48.29 to do a concert there... and my mother said, you know 00:05:48.33\00:05:52.24 this is... when she told me the story 00:05:52.27\00:05:53.85 my birth mother... that was another story in itself 00:05:53.89\00:05:57.09 of getting to know that I was adopted... 00:05:57.12\00:05:58.96 but she told me the story, she said, 00:05:58.99\00:06:00.79 his name... we went down through the columns 00:06:00.83\00:06:04.98 of the phone book... calling all the last names 00:06:05.01\00:06:08.16 starting with "Scott" and I came across somebody 00:06:08.19\00:06:11.27 who said, "Well, if you're looking for... that name... 00:06:11.31\00:06:13.63 Renner Scott... he said... they had his funeral 2 weeks ago 00:06:13.66\00:06:18.86 Hmmmmm... So God blocked it... 00:06:18.89\00:06:21.75 sometimes God does something to, what we think... 00:06:21.78\00:06:25.78 what we should be doing... and it would alter... 00:06:25.81\00:06:29.24 because He sees the future... and I believe that 00:06:29.27\00:06:32.56 most likely if I had gotten to knowing him... 00:06:32.60\00:06:35.82 there's something about knowing the father... 00:06:35.85\00:06:37.12 whatever he had done... due to the fact I was his child, 00:06:37.15\00:06:39.25 God maybe foreseeing something 00:06:39.28\00:06:41.93 that would have altered my course 00:06:41.97\00:06:43.60 to what He had already planned... 00:06:43.63\00:06:45.20 Yes... yes... and I think that's a very good way to look at it... 00:06:45.23\00:06:49.28 so let's back up now, so, someone... your birth mother 00:06:49.31\00:06:55.28 gave birth to you... and the doctor 00:06:55.31\00:06:57.70 called in a Mrs. Brown to look at you... 00:06:57.74\00:07:01.46 Mrs. Brown had foster children and he called her in... 00:07:01.49\00:07:04.79 to take a look at this newborn baby... 00:07:04.82\00:07:07.29 what happened from there... Well, when they got to the 00:07:07.32\00:07:11.50 hospital she... my sister and my dad... his name was Leroy Brown 00:07:11.54\00:07:17.72 out of all names... Judge Leroy Brown? 00:07:17.75\00:07:22.82 and they took a look and they said, 00:07:22.85\00:07:27.85 "Yes, we're going to train this child to be up... 00:07:27.88\00:07:31.20 for the Lord... we're going to navigate his path 00:07:31.24\00:07:34.48 he said, "We don't know how we're going to do it, but... 00:07:34.52\00:07:37.71 we could have never had a baby in the home... " 00:07:37.75\00:07:40.18 they had adopted two kids from the Adventist Orphanage 00:07:40.21\00:07:45.14 there in Korea... and they were 7 and 8 years old, 00:07:45.18\00:07:48.78 but then... she also had a young lady... 00:07:48.81\00:07:52.32 that somebody had dropped off 00:07:52.36\00:07:54.00 at her door... years before... and she was about grown 00:07:54.03\00:07:57.86 by the time I got there... so she took me in... 00:07:57.90\00:08:01.26 and she gave me the names that would fit... just in case 00:08:01.29\00:08:05.52 I tried to venture off... and "Moses Samuel" 00:08:05.56\00:08:08.38 she went to "Samuel" too as a middle name 00:08:08.41\00:08:11.11 Brown... she was making sure she gave you 00:08:11.14\00:08:14.25 some Biblical names... she didn't play... 00:08:14.29\00:08:17.33 she loved the Lord... she started the Church there 00:08:17.36\00:08:20.57 in Plant City area, one of the first churches 00:08:20.60\00:08:23.50 amongst the Churches that are started 00:08:23.54\00:08:25.75 in the South Atlantic Conference during that time... 00:08:25.79\00:08:28.00 but she engraved... and instilled in me... 00:08:28.04\00:08:32.89 that you can be better than what you think you are... 00:08:32.93\00:08:36.60 and she always said this little cliché... 00:08:36.64\00:08:40.02 you know, "Every man puts their pants on... the same way 00:08:40.06\00:08:42.97 get up and do something... " she kept us very busy... 00:08:43.01\00:08:46.24 and going to Church... during the Ingathering... 00:08:46.28\00:08:49.21 we were always out there... taught us how to play... 00:08:49.24\00:08:52.14 she couldn't play the piano herself... 00:08:52.17\00:08:53.29 but she put a piano and an organ in the Church... 00:08:53.32\00:08:56.03 she knew the notes... and we learned how to play 00:08:56.07\00:08:58.70 she just kept it going... because she wanted to serve God 00:08:58.74\00:09:00.90 with all the means that she had. What a beautiful... 00:09:00.94\00:09:05.06 what a beautiful testimonial... as related to your mom... 00:09:05.10\00:09:10.14 I mean, what a wonderful person she was... she had such love, 00:09:10.18\00:09:15.10 it sounds like she had such love she took children and gave them 00:09:15.13\00:09:20.02 she trained them up in the way that they should go. 00:09:20.05\00:09:22.51 Yes... yes... And gave you a work ethic and 00:09:22.54\00:09:26.37 a desire to serve the Lord and that's an incredible, 00:09:26.41\00:09:30.83 incredible legacy that she left, so how did you find out 00:09:30.86\00:09:35.34 that you were adopted? Dr. Lewis, that was somewhat 00:09:35.37\00:09:40.15 complicated... after not knowing 00:09:40.19\00:09:44.94 that I was adopted... then, having to find out 00:09:44.98\00:09:47.52 that I was adopted... it caused some anguish, 00:09:47.55\00:09:50.06 because, I thought that 00:09:50.09\00:09:52.36 the mother and father that I had there 00:09:52.39\00:09:54.24 Leroy and Annie Brown were my birth parents... 00:09:54.28\00:09:57.03 until I turned about 14 and saw myself... 00:09:57.06\00:09:59.76 and because I looked... kind of like my dad and 00:09:59.79\00:10:04.90 they were brown and 00:10:04.94\00:10:06.53 I was the only one looking like him 00:10:06.57\00:10:10.82 I kind of said, "This is what it is... " 00:10:10.85\00:10:13.01 but then... we discovered... 00:10:13.05\00:10:14.52 one day my mother 'fessed up and said, you know... 00:10:14.55\00:10:17.70 your birth mother is named Cheri Rogers... 00:10:17.73\00:10:23.48 and that took me for a loop... and I had to kind of 00:10:23.51\00:10:28.80 re-identify myself... who I was... 00:10:28.84\00:10:30.51 or what I was and what I was going to even be 00:10:30.55\00:10:33.55 it was an experience that I had to go back and pray 00:10:33.58\00:10:39.33 and, you know, the devil would start saying, you know, 00:10:39.36\00:10:41.90 "You're a bastard child in a way, you don't belong here 00:10:41.93\00:10:44.40 you ought to just take your life God can't have any plan for you 00:10:44.43\00:10:47.86 how could God have something for you 00:10:47.90\00:10:50.37 if you weren't even meant to be here... " 00:10:50.40\00:10:51.75 so you know how Satan tried to torment you... 00:10:51.79\00:10:54.02 Yes... But I had to go back 00:10:54.05\00:10:55.78 to the Word... and to that Proverbs... 00:10:55.81\00:10:59.13 "In all your ways acknowledge me... " 00:10:59.17\00:11:00.93 he said, "and I will direct your paths... " 00:11:00.96\00:11:02.98 "Trust in the Lord... with all your heart... 00:11:03.01\00:11:05.44 and lean not to your own understanding... " 00:11:05.48\00:11:07.87 and so I had to back off my own understanding 00:11:07.90\00:11:09.83 and put it to God's hands... and God whispered in my ear... 00:11:09.86\00:11:12.82 He said, "I am with you... and I will never leave you, 00:11:12.86\00:11:15.83 never forsake you... the circumstances under which 00:11:15.87\00:11:18.98 you have placed yourself in... or you're in... " 00:11:19.02\00:11:21.85 he said, "I've been there all along with you... " 00:11:21.89\00:11:24.68 and so, I had to trust that God had a plan 00:11:24.72\00:11:27.92 bigger than what I knew... and when I found out that God 00:11:27.95\00:11:31.76 was in it... I backed off and let God handle it... 00:11:31.80\00:11:35.53 Amen... and that's what it's all about... 00:11:35.57\00:11:39.30 letting God... letting go and letting God... 00:11:39.33\00:11:43.03 just letting Him handle it... 00:11:43.06\00:11:44.96 Yes... The amazing thing... 00:11:44.99\00:11:47.89 again... you've given a lot of little elements here... 00:11:47.93\00:11:51.25 that we could chew on... the amazing thing is that 00:11:51.28\00:11:54.57 God did have a plan for you and He navigated this whole deal 00:11:54.60\00:12:00.72 you know, the situation that took place was so traumatic 00:12:00.75\00:12:06.80 I'm sure.. for your birth mother and yet.. God had a plan for you 00:12:06.83\00:12:10.46 and just brought you through gave you to wonderful parents 00:12:10.49\00:12:15.51 I mean... you're life could have been so different... 00:12:15.54\00:12:18.25 but he gave you to wonderful parents 00:12:18.28\00:12:20.98 and then... they brought you up to know and fear God... 00:12:21.02\00:12:24.86 and that's just... that's such a wonderful blessing 00:12:24.90\00:12:28.70 God had that plan for you, Pastor Brown... 00:12:28.74\00:12:31.78 Yes... yes... All... from the very beginning 00:12:31.81\00:12:34.33 He had a plan for you... and that's the God 00:12:34.36\00:12:36.87 that we serve... a loving God... that can take 00:12:36.91\00:12:39.35 a really traumatic situation and turn it into a blessing... 00:12:39.38\00:12:44.17 Amen... It's an amazing thing... 00:12:44.21\00:12:46.68 I go through that, Dr. Lewis, and I wake up with a different 00:12:46.71\00:12:50.84 attitude because I realize that it was God's purpose 00:12:50.88\00:12:53.61 for me... to be here... when I go by so many places 00:12:53.65\00:12:56.39 where so many kids have been 00:12:56.43\00:12:59.80 "let go" and say, "God, you gave me a chance... " 00:12:59.84\00:13:02.38 and with all the circumstances under which 00:13:02.41\00:13:04.97 I did come into the world you know, society indicates that 00:13:05.01\00:13:08.20 those are the circumstances that I should not be here... 00:13:08.24\00:13:11.40 but God interfered and He intervened and He kind of 00:13:11.43\00:13:16.42 navigated that whole program to work out 00:13:16.45\00:13:19.35 the way He wanted it to be... so I can't do anything 00:13:19.39\00:13:21.52 but give God glory... just to be alive today... 00:13:21.55\00:13:24.29 Amen... amen... so when you found out 00:13:24.33\00:13:27.27 that you were adopted... it was kind of earth shattering 00:13:27.30\00:13:31.26 for you at first... because it kind of undermined 00:13:31.29\00:13:35.81 your foundation in a sense, so how did you get it back? 00:13:35.85\00:13:40.65 how did you begin to accept what had happened? 00:13:40.68\00:13:45.06 Well, I went back and looked at all the things that my 00:13:45.09\00:13:48.00 mother had done for me... and my parents... 00:13:48.04\00:13:50.25 they had... she surely tried, she gave everything 00:13:50.29\00:13:55.15 we had Bible Studies and we went to Church more often than 00:13:55.18\00:14:01.74 most people did... she tried to send me to 00:14:01.77\00:14:04.94 good schools and tried to do all those things 00:14:04.98\00:14:07.82 and that... it kind of brought me back to see 00:14:07.86\00:14:10.67 that what she meant was for my good... 00:14:10.71\00:14:13.95 Hmmmmm... And technically, she was my 00:14:13.99\00:14:17.17 mother because she had me... she took me from birth 00:14:17.20\00:14:20.18 and from that point... it was hard to identify 00:14:20.22\00:14:23.90 anything else because I was her son... 00:14:23.93\00:14:25.68 That's right... And she gave me the name... 00:14:25.72\00:14:28.08 but I guess, her plan was, in the course of getting older 00:14:28.11\00:14:33.35 I'd probably find out... so she went on and told me 00:14:33.38\00:14:36.87 and I kind of knew who my other people were, 00:14:36.91\00:14:39.71 and those connections started building... 00:14:39.74\00:14:42.94 and then I met my birth mother 00:14:42.98\00:14:45.12 and relatives and my birth mother told me the story, 00:14:45.16\00:14:47.66 because I had to ask my birth mother 00:14:47.70\00:14:49.09 "Why did you let me go?" because she had 3 other children 00:14:49.13\00:14:51.94 after me... she was trying to find security in her life 00:14:51.98\00:14:54.76 she was just a teenager and she found an older guy 00:14:54.80\00:14:57.38 that took her in and moved to Rochester, New York 00:14:57.41\00:15:00.12 and that's why I went up there to meet her... 00:15:00.15\00:15:03.26 when I was at Forest Lake about the age of 14 00:15:03.30\00:15:06.34 and they told me that... she said, "I had to let you go" 00:15:06.37\00:15:09.39 because... in this situation you would most likely... 00:15:09.42\00:15:12.28 by the man I married would most likely have killed you by now 00:15:12.32\00:15:14.52 knowing that you're not his child... 00:15:14.56\00:15:17.03 and the way he treats his own children... 00:15:17.06\00:15:19.42 and she said... she just gave me the story 00:15:19.46\00:15:21.75 how she had to live with the fact... living off that pressure 00:15:21.79\00:15:26.93 on whether to have me or not have me... 00:15:26.96\00:15:28.98 but she told me... and that's why I know 00:15:29.01\00:15:30.96 faith in God pays off... she said, "My faith in God was 00:15:31.00\00:15:34.07 that He was going to take care of you. " 00:15:34.11\00:15:35.76 because God promised her as a child... 00:15:35.80\00:15:37.55 He said, "I'll take care of that child. " 00:15:37.59\00:15:39.31 Wow! that is so deep, 00:15:39.34\00:15:42.50 so when you went to meet your mother... 00:15:42.53\00:15:47.93 your birth mother... what were you expecting 00:15:47.97\00:15:50.72 and when you walked away from that meeting... 00:15:50.76\00:15:53.38 what had you received? There's something about bonding, 00:15:53.41\00:15:57.86 you know... whichever way you go you try to bond 00:15:57.90\00:16:01.49 with the original and this was the person that 00:16:01.52\00:16:05.04 brought me into the world... 00:16:05.08\00:16:08.39 I was just gazing at her... looking at her... 00:16:08.42\00:16:12.66 trying to see those mirror places on her body 00:16:12.69\00:16:15.64 that kind of looked like mine... Is that my face? 00:16:15.67\00:16:18.58 look like hers or something... 00:16:18.62\00:16:20.82 and just to see her personality etc... and then... 00:16:20.86\00:16:24.58 for her to give me the history you know... what happened 00:16:24.62\00:16:27.46 what was going on... and then having to ask her 00:16:27.50\00:16:30.19 "Why didn't you keep me?" and so that caused a little 00:16:30.23\00:16:33.90 frustration as a teenager... I was somewhat indignant... 00:16:33.94\00:16:37.58 you know... Why did you just let me go... 00:16:37.61\00:16:40.01 and you kept these other 3? You could have kept me too... 00:16:40.05\00:16:43.03 and I didn't even understand Dr. Lewis... 00:16:43.07\00:16:47.07 the connections to how I really was... 00:16:47.11\00:16:51.08 in existence right now 00:16:51.12\00:16:53.02 but I realized that 00:16:53.06\00:16:54.89 it was nothing but the hands of God... 00:16:54.93\00:16:56.29 she had explained to me... she said, "I could not keep you" 00:16:56.33\00:16:59.38 and she said "it was for your own... your better good... " 00:16:59.41\00:17:02.43 and she said, "I did not abort you either" 00:17:02.46\00:17:04.27 she said... "I gave you a chance to live" 00:17:04.30\00:17:06.07 and she said... " I didn't know how you were 00:17:06.11\00:17:07.81 going to turn out what you're going to turn out as 00:17:07.84\00:17:09.32 or who even had you... " she said even after years later 00:17:09.36\00:17:13.20 she went looking for me... but, she said, she didn't know 00:17:13.24\00:17:17.05 what was going on... but she knew that 00:17:17.08\00:17:18.55 God was taking care of me... and I had to come to the 00:17:18.59\00:17:21.10 realization that, "It's in God's hands. " 00:17:21.13\00:17:23.60 and He was navigating this path... 00:17:23.64\00:17:26.01 It wasn't in anybody else's hands... 00:17:26.04\00:17:28.38 because God put me in a Seventh-day Adventist home... 00:17:28.41\00:17:31.23 there were many other homes, people could have been called 00:17:31.26\00:17:33.84 God started me off as a Seventh-day Adventist 00:17:33.88\00:17:37.23 I'm glad He did... Yes... 00:17:37.26\00:17:38.69 I'm so glad He did... I don't know what 00:17:38.72\00:17:40.26 I would have ended up.. I won't be on your show 00:17:40.29\00:17:42.58 probably... if I had ended up somewhere else... 00:17:42.62\00:17:44.84 Oh, we praise the Lord, we just praise the Lord for 00:17:44.88\00:17:49.10 what He's done in your life and how His hand has always 00:17:49.14\00:17:53.33 been on you... He's never left you for a moment 00:17:53.37\00:17:56.30 and we just praise the Lord for that... 00:17:56.34\00:17:58.81 So after you met her and after you left... 00:17:58.84\00:18:01.24 how did that affect your relationship with your 00:18:01.28\00:18:05.56 adopted mother... your adoptive mother... 00:18:05.59\00:18:08.07 My adoptive mother was a strong lady... 00:18:08.10\00:18:10.51 she was an entrepreneur and a business woman herself, 00:18:10.55\00:18:14.85 and, I guess, she had known in her heart 00:18:14.89\00:18:19.10 that something like this would tend to take place, 00:18:19.14\00:18:22.18 but she would always... she said, "You know what the 00:18:22.22\00:18:25.23 reality is... so that you can make your bed 00:18:25.26\00:18:27.18 hard... but you're going to sleep on it... 00:18:27.21\00:18:28.56 she had all these clichés... Yeah... 00:18:30.09\00:18:32.86 So you're out... you can even leave home 00:18:32.89\00:18:34.71 it's up to you... you know, she said, "But this is what 00:18:34.74\00:18:39.22 I had to offer you... I offer you Jesus Christ" 00:18:39.25\00:18:42.98 and that was the strongest answer she gave me 00:18:43.02\00:18:45.67 that love... that said "You can have this life here 00:18:45.71\00:18:49.21 with me... " she said, I promise you 00:18:49.24\00:18:51.60 I'll give you all the mothering" she did... 00:18:51.63\00:18:53.98 she gave me all the love that I could even imagine... 00:18:54.02\00:18:57.54 and with that love, I have installed it... 00:18:57.58\00:19:01.41 and she had never left my heart... 00:19:01.44\00:19:02.71 and she realized that 00:19:02.75\00:19:05.68 her love for me was not 00:19:05.72\00:19:08.58 predicated on the love that my birth mother had 00:19:08.62\00:19:12.27 and I knew that it was just genuine... 00:19:12.30\00:19:14.71 it was what it was... where it was... 00:19:14.75\00:19:17.08 and nothing can substitute the love of my adoptive mother. 00:19:17.12\00:19:20.04 That is so beautiful... 00:19:20.07\00:19:22.87 now, you're speaking of her in the past tense... 00:19:22.91\00:19:26.02 Is she resting in Jesus now? 00:19:26.05\00:19:28.19 She's resting in Christ Jesus, she died in 1991... 00:19:28.23\00:19:31.97 she adopted me when she was in her late fifties... 00:19:32.00\00:19:35.39 so it was a lot of gossip around the community, you know, 00:19:35.43\00:19:40.77 "Who is this baby that this lady got... 00:19:40.80\00:19:42.89 did her husband go out and have one... 00:19:42.93\00:19:44.99 did one of the children go out of town 00:19:45.03\00:19:47.02 and bring a child back"... you know... how all those stuff was 00:19:47.06\00:19:50.30 but she adopted me in her late 50s... 00:19:50.34\00:19:54.04 and she died in 1991... 00:19:54.07\00:19:56.75 and my dad had died before her 00:19:56.79\00:19:59.98 and then also my birth mother she died before even my... 00:20:00.01\00:20:02.98 she died when she was about 4o some years old... 00:20:03.01\00:20:06.34 Hmmmm... So, they all kind of passed away 00:20:06.38\00:20:08.91 but just not too long ago, they wrote a story on her... 00:20:08.95\00:20:13.43 just two years ago... in the front page of 00:20:13.47\00:20:15.98 The Tampa Tribune... and it said, "Mother Brown" 00:20:16.01\00:20:18.83 and they told her story... so even after she's gone 00:20:18.86\00:20:21.64 the legacy that she has left here 00:20:21.68\00:20:24.30 has just transcended year to year... decades... 00:20:24.33\00:20:28.39 Oh... that's wonderful... that is so wonderful... 00:20:28.42\00:20:32.27 and what a tribute you are to her... 00:20:32.31\00:20:34.51 that is just a beautiful thing, so, let's go now from 00:20:34.55\00:20:39.61 that part of your journey... to where you are now... 00:20:39.65\00:20:44.68 What are you doing now? Um... I guess 00:20:44.71\00:20:49.84 if I'd say everything you'd think I'm cloned... 00:20:49.87\00:20:52.69 but I'm trying to stay in one place... 00:20:58.35\00:21:00.29 I work with Adventist Health Systems in the ministry that is 00:21:00.32\00:21:04.13 so drawn to my heart... 00:21:04.16\00:21:10.25 which is working in chaplaincy they've just got six hospitals 00:21:10.28\00:21:13.73 down here, The Adventist Florida Hospital 00:21:13.76\00:21:16.32 work there... in that capacity part time... 00:21:16.35\00:21:19.11 and then I run, "Feed our Children" ministries 00:21:19.15\00:21:21.84 Feed our Children ministries is a ministry that I started 00:21:21.87\00:21:26.27 twenty some years ago... seeing the children who were 00:21:26.30\00:21:30.70 just left abandoned, hungry, starving 00:21:30.73\00:21:33.90 because of the drug activities that were taking place 00:21:33.93\00:21:36.24 in the communities... in urban areas... 00:21:36.28\00:21:39.26 that have drugs cocaine, crack cocaine... 00:21:39.30\00:21:42.21 everything that you can imagine and that inadvertently 00:21:42.25\00:21:45.90 causes an effect on the children because when I went to 00:21:45.94\00:21:49.35 one of the communities, where the children had 00:21:49.39\00:21:52.50 seen a shooting... in the parking lot... 00:21:52.54\00:21:55.04 the Police Department asked me, 00:21:55.07\00:21:56.60 would I come down and talk to the Community... 00:21:56.63\00:21:58.66 so I started talking to kids and we bring up snacks 00:21:58.70\00:22:02.04 we brought out snacks... I asked one of the kids, 00:22:02.08\00:22:05.36 "What would you like to have?" He said, "I'd like to have a 00:22:05.39\00:22:07.90 Thanksgiving Meal like they have on television" 00:22:07.93\00:22:10.13 I thought he was just kidding with me... 00:22:10.17\00:22:11.41 but I realized after talking with him, 00:22:11.45\00:22:13.37 he said, "The only thing he had for Thanksgiving was 00:22:13.40\00:22:16.94 a hot dog and some chips etc. " because his mother sold 00:22:16.97\00:22:20.88 everything for the crack... and, when that took place 00:22:20.92\00:22:24.75 it was very difficult for him to even imagine what it was like 00:22:24.79\00:22:29.76 to have a Thanksgiving Dinner... 00:22:29.80\00:22:31.58 and so I told him, I said, "Well," I knew I was on 00:22:31.61\00:22:34.93 the radio doing some commentary during that time 00:22:34.96\00:22:36.87 I said, "I'll get on the radio I'll ask the Community to come 00:22:36.91\00:22:38.91 out" and said, "You get your friends 00:22:38.94\00:22:40.87 and you bring your friends out and we'll see what happens... " 00:22:40.91\00:22:44.03 that I don't want you to go through another Thanksgiving 00:22:44.07\00:22:46.77 without having that feeling of family connection 00:22:46.81\00:22:50.87 so, he had gotten approximately 400 friends 00:22:50.90\00:22:55.42 from the Community... and I brought out the food 00:22:55.45\00:22:58.64 that I thought was going to feed about a hundred 00:22:58.68\00:23:01.80 but Dr. Lewis, I tell you, God worked a miracle that day... 00:23:01.83\00:23:05.00 I mean, I read about the fish and the loaves of bread... 00:23:05.04\00:23:08.38 but it took place again right here in the Tampa Bay area 00:23:08.41\00:23:11.72 because the people in the Community were looking 00:23:11.76\00:23:14.24 and said, "How are you going to feed that many people with 00:23:14.27\00:23:16.73 such a little bit of food... but we had no notion 00:23:16.77\00:23:19.10 that you were bringing that many people out..." 00:23:19.14\00:23:21.19 but I told them... I said, "The God I serve 00:23:21.23\00:23:23.25 He'll make a way out of nowhere... " 00:23:23.29\00:23:25.67 Come on... come on now... And the media camera 00:23:25.70\00:23:28.15 was out there... they wanted... you know, 00:23:28.19\00:23:30.30 sometimes the media loves to see action... 00:23:30.34\00:23:32.41 that would have been a big story... 00:23:32.45\00:23:34.45 but I said, "There will be no blasphemy 00:23:34.48\00:23:36.69 coming against God's name He is the One 00:23:36.72\00:23:38.86 that told me to do it, what God got, God will provide" 00:23:38.90\00:23:42.76 and I just let it go... you have all those negative 00:23:42.80\00:23:46.57 images around you that keep saying, 00:23:46.60\00:23:48.64 even ought to stop it, just call it off, 00:23:48.68\00:23:50.64 I said, "No, but God told me to do this... 00:23:50.68\00:23:52.48 and it is His job to make this thing 00:23:52.52\00:23:56.58 come to fruition" and at the end 00:23:56.61\00:23:58.35 when the cameras were out there 00:23:58.39\00:23:59.69 they saw that little bit of food... 00:23:59.73\00:24:01.74 people had... you know... how we are sometimes... 00:24:01.78\00:24:05.26 we bring our foil and our little Tupperware... 00:24:05.29\00:24:08.62 they brought their foil and Tupperware 00:24:08.65\00:24:11.13 and had food left over... Come on now Preacher... 00:24:11.16\00:24:14.30 That's my God... Come on now... 00:24:14.34\00:24:16.35 So look at God... just like when Christ fed 00:24:16.39\00:24:20.11 the multitude... God stretched the food... 00:24:20.14\00:24:23.79 He stretched the food... that's what we say, you know, 00:24:23.83\00:24:26.49 when people come over on Sabbath 00:24:26.52\00:24:28.23 and you don't think you have enough 00:24:28.26\00:24:30.08 "Oh Lord, please stretch the food" 00:24:30.12\00:24:31.98 I feel you... I feel you... Look at God... 00:24:32.01\00:24:35.36 look at how He did that... and look at the faith 00:24:35.39\00:24:38.10 He honors your faith... you had faith... 00:24:38.13\00:24:41.08 you knew that if God told you to do it, 00:24:41.12\00:24:43.68 He was going to make a way for it to happen... 00:24:43.71\00:24:46.27 and He did... Yes, He did and knowing... 00:24:46.31\00:24:49.49 once you start reading Christ's Word... 00:24:49.52\00:24:52.67 it shows you over and over 00:24:52.70\00:24:54.90 that He's a God of His word and that He'll never lie... 00:24:54.94\00:24:57.98 and when He says, "He'll never leave you 00:24:58.01\00:25:00.60 and never forsake you" I know that's true 00:25:00.63\00:25:03.24 in every aspect... I have learned to pray 00:25:03.27\00:25:05.80 the promises in the Bible, and by praying the promises 00:25:05.84\00:25:09.66 God always has to answer those prayers... 00:25:09.70\00:25:12.91 and so I prayed with authority He's given me 00:25:12.95\00:25:16.10 that this will come to fruition when I'm doing His will... 00:25:16.13\00:25:19.25 when I know that I'm doing His will, 00:25:19.28\00:25:21.74 I have nothing to fear but fear itself... 00:25:21.77\00:25:24.26 So, I trust God... all the way... 00:25:24.30\00:25:26.36 And so we started the ministry called "Feed our Children" 00:25:26.39\00:25:30.45 we're on the website feedourchildren. org 00:25:30.49\00:25:32.92 and in there we deliver food 00:25:32.95\00:25:36.25 to the people in need... see, I wanted something that 00:25:36.29\00:25:38.72 would cut the red tape because I see a lot of people 00:25:38.75\00:25:41.41 going down... trying to get food who are hungry or needy 00:25:41.45\00:25:43.93 I said, "God doesn't have any red tape or anybody in line... " 00:25:43.97\00:25:46.16 He just told the disciples to go out 00:25:46.20\00:25:47.56 and spread the food out... and so, I cut the red tape 00:25:47.60\00:25:50.21 I said, "When they call us... that means they need it... " 00:25:50.25\00:25:52.83 so, we have volunteers all over... 00:25:52.87\00:25:54.76 who would take the food to needy families 00:25:54.80\00:25:57.30 elderly people who feel like they got to pay 00:25:57.33\00:26:00.06 their medical bills, and trying to take care of 00:26:00.10\00:26:02.76 grandkids with their children, parents inside the jail 00:26:02.79\00:26:06.55 in life... that can get very difficult... 00:26:06.58\00:26:08.27 and so, we've taken it... to the 00:26:08.30\00:26:10.82 "Just call us and we'll open the door for you" 00:26:10.86\00:26:12.71 and we'll make sure that we do the will of God 00:26:12.75\00:26:15.51 we put in those bags... a tract... Steps to Christ 00:26:15.54\00:26:18.23 and Bible Readings for the Home, things that they can find 00:26:18.27\00:26:22.51 Christ Jesus... and we're hoping 00:26:22.54\00:26:24.62 that when we walk down those streets of gold, Dr. Lewis, 00:26:24.66\00:26:27.26 they'll run up and say, "You know, that bag 00:26:27.30\00:26:29.04 that you gave me with food... not only was it food 00:26:29.07\00:26:31.61 to feed physical body but it fed my soul... " 00:26:31.64\00:26:34.76 Yes... yes... praise the Lord... how beautiful is that 00:26:34.80\00:26:39.24 so you're feeding, you're addressing 00:26:39.27\00:26:41.86 the physiological issues and the spiritual issues... 00:26:41.89\00:26:45.47 and emotional... because those are... 00:26:45.51\00:26:48.04 that's an act of love Pastor, doing that, giving someone food 00:26:48.08\00:26:52.32 that's hungry... that is an act of love... 00:26:52.36\00:26:54.71 We praise the Lord for your ministry. 00:26:54.74\00:26:57.15 What would you like to leave with our viewers... 00:26:57.18\00:26:59.75 You have 30 seconds to tell our viewers something... 00:26:59.78\00:27:02.23 What would you leave them with about your ministry? 00:27:02.26\00:27:04.67 Feed Our Children has been a part of it... and... 00:27:04.71\00:27:08.05 you can always be there... trying to help people... 00:27:08.08\00:27:12.00 they can go to our website and 00:27:12.04\00:27:13.31 feedourchildren. org 00:27:13.35\00:27:15.56 and they'll find us there... if they want to contribute 00:27:15.59\00:27:17.87 they're welcome... and also... keep me in prayer 00:27:17.90\00:27:20.15 I need prayer... I preach all over the Country 00:27:20.19\00:27:23.45 I've been in Kenya... I was with Obama's grandmamma 00:27:23.49\00:27:26.71 last year... they had it in the paper... 00:27:26.75\00:27:29.45 I met her... we're helping her orphanages 00:27:29.49\00:27:31.85 over there... so God is working with us... 00:27:31.89\00:27:34.19 when I travel around... I'm preaching the gospel 00:27:34.22\00:27:36.67 trying to save souls around the world and also 00:27:36.70\00:27:38.96 do a lot of crusades here in the United States... 00:27:39.00\00:27:41.21 so keep me in your prayers... Thank you so much Pastor Brown 00:27:41.25\00:27:45.14 and... our viewers might not know 00:27:45.18\00:27:47.24 but you also sing... and you're going to be 00:27:47.28\00:27:49.59 on our Program Magnify Him coming up soon 00:27:49.62\00:27:51.90 Oh, I'm looking forward to that. 00:27:51.94\00:27:53.07 This is a man of many gifts right here... 00:27:53.11\00:27:54.46 Right here... God has blessed you. 00:27:54.49\00:27:56.60 Thank you so much. Thank you so much. 00:27:56.64\00:27:58.47 May God continue to richly bless you. 00:27:58.50\00:28:00.63 And thank you so much for tuning in... 00:28:00.67\00:28:02.63 Tune in next time... It just wouldn't be the same 00:28:02.66\00:28:04.88 without you... 00:28:04.92\00:28:06.12