Stay tuned to meet a man that was abandoned by his mother 00:00:01.10\00:00:03.87 and adopted by an Adventist couple that changed his life... 00:00:03.90\00:00:07.30 My name is Yvonne Lewis and you're watching Urban Report 00:00:07.34\00:00:10.94 Hello and welcome to Urban Report 00:00:32.59\00:00:34.66 Today you're going to meet a man that actually embodies 00:00:34.73\00:00:38.57 our Dare to Dream philosophy that God's got a divine plan 00:00:38.60\00:00:42.40 for all of us... Let's welcome Pr. Moses Brown 00:00:42.44\00:00:45.84 to Urban Report and hear his story... 00:00:45.87\00:00:48.28 Welcome, Pastor Brown... 00:00:48.31\00:00:50.28 So good to see you Dr. Lewis... how're you doing? 00:00:50.31\00:00:52.65 I'm doing great, praise the Lord great to see you too... 00:00:52.68\00:00:55.88 How are you? God has been so good, 00:00:55.92\00:00:58.32 I'm just too blessed to be stressed... 00:00:58.35\00:01:00.72 Amen... amen... God is so good... 00:01:00.76\00:01:04.03 So, let's talk a bit about your journey... 00:01:04.06\00:01:07.30 because you have such an interesting past... 00:01:07.36\00:01:11.27 Tell us about... about when you were an infant 00:01:11.30\00:01:15.17 and what happened to you... Well, to start off... 00:01:15.20\00:01:18.71 when I was just... before I was born... 00:01:18.74\00:01:22.21 it was a little girl walking home from school 00:01:22.24\00:01:25.11 and... Bible School... there in... down near Miami... 00:01:25.15\00:01:30.22 and her father, which was a Baptist Preacher there 00:01:30.25\00:01:34.16 in Mannings, North Carolina there and they all died, 00:01:34.19\00:01:38.09 and she was living with her older sisters... 00:01:38.13\00:01:39.56 and she came to live down in Miami with her twin sister and 00:01:39.59\00:01:43.57 when she was walking away from Church... 00:01:43.60\00:01:45.30 a man invited her to take a ride home 00:01:45.33\00:01:46.63 instead of taking her all the way home, 00:01:46.67\00:01:48.84 they stopped at one of his homes and 00:01:48.87\00:01:50.67 when he was taking her through... 00:01:50.71\00:01:52.61 reluctantly she had looked at his property, etc... 00:01:52.64\00:01:57.25 and when they went to the bedroom... he slammed the door 00:01:57.28\00:02:01.32 and that's when he violated her, a 13-year-old girl 00:02:01.35\00:02:05.35 she didn't recognize she was pregnant 00:02:05.39\00:02:07.92 until much later... her twin sister looked at her 00:02:07.96\00:02:10.36 and said, "You're pregnant Cheri... " 00:02:10.39\00:02:12.79 and when she looked at the circumstance 00:02:12.83\00:02:15.13 she told her older sister and her sister said 00:02:15.16\00:02:17.43 "You know, we can't keep this child in here 00:02:17.47\00:02:20.04 it's impossible, we cannot keep another baby... 00:02:20.07\00:02:22.40 we're barely taking care of you, we don't have no food 00:02:22.44\00:02:25.77 hardly to feed you too. " but that came.. at a later stage 00:02:25.81\00:02:29.14 in the game... and so... something happened down there 00:02:29.18\00:02:32.95 that they had to move... further up... 00:02:32.98\00:02:34.32 part of Florida to Plant City 00:02:34.35\00:02:37.89 you know, God always has His hands in it... 00:02:37.92\00:02:40.39 and she ended up having to go down to 00:02:40.42\00:02:44.49 the nearby abortion clinic on the advice of her family 00:02:44.53\00:02:48.50 and while she was going there she heard a voice 00:02:48.53\00:02:50.57 that said, "If you let this baby live, I'll take care of you, 00:02:50.60\00:02:53.67 I'll take care of the child... " and hearing that voice 00:02:53.70\00:02:56.60 she turned around and she went back home 00:02:56.64\00:02:59.87 and when she got back home, her sister asked her, 00:02:59.91\00:03:03.18 you know, "What happened, did you get the abortion?" 00:03:03.21\00:03:06.35 and she said, "No, I'm going to trust God. " 00:03:06.38\00:03:09.48 and she put her trust in God Dr. Lewis 00:03:09.52\00:03:12.35 and she went to the hospital 00:03:12.39\00:03:14.32 she told the doctor, she said, "Listen, I can't keep 00:03:14.36\00:03:17.39 the baby because my sister said we're too poor... 00:03:17.43\00:03:20.40 but if you know somebody that you can find... anybody... 00:03:20.43\00:03:24.60 who can take care of a child, Christian person preferably" 00:03:24.63\00:03:28.80 he said, "I will... " the doctor didn't want to get 00:03:28.84\00:03:31.54 involved but something impressed him to call the lady 00:03:31.57\00:03:34.21 that used to bring... little kids 00:03:34.24\00:03:35.94 because she was the foster care lady in the area... 00:03:35.98\00:03:38.41 and she called Annette Brown she said, you know, 00:03:38.45\00:03:41.05 "Would you all come and look at this child we got, 00:03:41.08\00:03:43.65 before we put him in the system would you come 00:03:43.69\00:03:46.19 and look at this baby?" and they did... 00:03:46.22\00:03:48.69 they came down to the hospital 00:03:48.72\00:03:50.56 and my birth mother had already left me there 00:03:50.59\00:03:53.70 and then they named me Moses... 00:03:53.73\00:03:56.80 they said, "We got you out of the bulrushes... " 00:03:56.83\00:03:58.90 Awww... And so, here I am... 00:03:58.93\00:04:01.10 living this life... How precious is that... 00:04:01.14\00:04:04.77 there are so many... so many aspects of this 00:04:04.81\00:04:09.24 that we can kind of chew on... let me go back 00:04:09.28\00:04:11.98 for a second though... so your birth mother 00:04:12.01\00:04:14.65 was 13-years-old and raped by... 00:04:14.68\00:04:17.25 did you say an elder in the Church? 00:04:17.29\00:04:20.29 He was a Baptist... she was going to 00:04:20.32\00:04:23.09 the evening service that they had 00:04:23.12\00:04:25.83 he was one of the deacons, and he was taking her home 00:04:25.86\00:04:30.03 and in that car... it was hot... it was in August... 00:04:30.07\00:04:34.24 and down in South Florida it gets very hot... 00:04:34.27\00:04:38.47 but through that incident... it was truly a mess 00:04:38.51\00:04:42.68 but God had took His hand and made a miracle out of it... 00:04:42.71\00:04:46.61 Yes, yes... we praise God for that... 00:04:46.65\00:04:49.58 and for the fact that she listened to the voice of God 00:04:49.62\00:04:54.29 and she was obedient to what the Lord told her to do 00:04:54.32\00:04:58.93 so, she was 13-years-old and she had this 00:04:58.96\00:05:03.57 traumatic experience... do you know, now, in retrospect 00:05:03.60\00:05:07.74 and hearing the story, do you know 00:05:07.77\00:05:09.47 if the deacon was ever... were charges ever pressed 00:05:09.50\00:05:14.41 against him or anything like that? 00:05:14.44\00:05:16.08 it seems like back in those days... 00:05:16.11\00:05:17.51 those things kind of went over 00:05:17.55\00:05:19.08 he was not only a deacon... but he was a 00:05:19.11\00:05:21.32 one of the first African-American police officers 00:05:21.35\00:05:26.19 down there... and they were tied to all 00:05:26.22\00:05:28.09 these little games and more than games 00:05:28.12\00:05:29.92 it was a lot of things... that's what 00:05:29.96\00:05:31.66 the family she was living with, my mother was living with 00:05:31.69\00:05:34.56 had to move suddenly because the person... 00:05:34.60\00:05:36.97 they kind of knew each other all around and 00:05:37.00\00:05:39.30 and I went down 00:05:39.33\00:05:43.77 to look for him when I was going to 00:05:43.81\00:05:45.77 Forest Lake Academy... and we were traveling down to 00:05:45.81\00:05:48.18 to do a concert there... and my mother said, you know 00:05:48.21\00:05:52.15 this is... when she told me the story 00:05:52.18\00:05:53.75 my birth mother... that was another story in itself 00:05:53.78\00:05:56.99 of getting to know that I was adopted... 00:05:57.02\00:05:58.85 but she told me the story, she said, 00:05:58.89\00:06:00.69 his name... we went down through the columns 00:06:00.72\00:06:04.89 of the phone book... calling all the last names 00:06:04.93\00:06:08.03 starting with "Scott" and I came across somebody 00:06:08.06\00:06:11.17 who said, "Well, if you're looking for... that name... 00:06:11.20\00:06:13.50 Renner Scott... he said... they had his funeral 2 weeks ago 00:06:13.54\00:06:18.74 Hmmmmm... So God blocked it... 00:06:18.77\00:06:21.64 sometimes God does something to, what we think... 00:06:21.68\00:06:25.68 what we should be doing... and it would alter... 00:06:25.71\00:06:29.15 because He sees the future... and I believe that 00:06:29.18\00:06:32.49 most likely if I had gotten to knowing him... 00:06:32.52\00:06:35.72 there's something about knowing the father... 00:06:35.76\00:06:36.93 whatever he had done... due to the fact I was his child, 00:06:36.96\00:06:39.16 God maybe foreseeing something 00:06:39.19\00:06:41.83 that would have altered my course 00:06:41.86\00:06:43.47 to what He had already planned... 00:06:43.50\00:06:45.07 Yes... yes... and I think that's a very good way to look at it... 00:06:45.10\00:06:49.17 so let's back up now, so, someone... your birth mother 00:06:49.20\00:06:55.18 gave birth to you... and the doctor 00:06:55.21\00:06:57.61 called in a Mrs. Brown to look at you... 00:06:57.65\00:07:01.35 Mrs. Brown had foster children and he called her in... 00:07:01.38\00:07:04.69 to take a look at this newborn baby... 00:07:04.72\00:07:07.19 what happened from there... Well, when they got to the 00:07:07.22\00:07:11.43 hospital she... my sister and my dad... his name was Leroy Brown 00:07:11.46\00:07:17.60 out of all names... Judge Leroy Brown? 00:07:17.63\00:07:22.70 and they took a look and they said, 00:07:22.74\00:07:27.74 "Yes, we're going to train this child to be up... 00:07:27.78\00:07:31.11 for the Lord... we're going to navigate his path 00:07:31.15\00:07:34.38 he said, "We don't know how we're going to do it, but... 00:07:34.42\00:07:37.62 we could have never had a baby in the home... " 00:07:37.65\00:07:40.09 they had adopted two kids from the Adventist Orphanage 00:07:40.12\00:07:45.06 there in Korea... and they were 7 and 8 years old, 00:07:45.09\00:07:48.66 but then... she also had a young lady... 00:07:48.70\00:07:52.20 that somebody had dropped off 00:07:52.23\00:07:53.87 at her door... years before... and she was about grown 00:07:53.90\00:07:57.77 by the time I got there... so she took me in... 00:07:57.81\00:08:01.14 and she gave me the names that would fit... just in case 00:08:01.18\00:08:05.41 I tried to venture off... and "Moses Samuel" 00:08:05.45\00:08:08.28 she went to "Samuel" too as a middle name 00:08:08.32\00:08:11.02 Brown... she was making sure she gave you 00:08:11.05\00:08:14.16 some Biblical names... she didn't play... 00:08:14.19\00:08:17.23 she loved the Lord... she started the Church there 00:08:17.26\00:08:20.50 in Plant City area, one of the first churches 00:08:20.53\00:08:23.40 amongst the Churches that are started 00:08:23.43\00:08:25.63 in the South Atlantic Conference during that time... 00:08:25.67\00:08:27.90 but she engraved... and instilled in me... 00:08:27.94\00:08:32.77 that you can be better than what you think you are... 00:08:32.81\00:08:36.51 and she always said this little cliché... 00:08:36.54\00:08:39.91 you know, "Every man puts their pants on... the same way 00:08:39.95\00:08:42.88 get up and do something... " she kept us very busy... 00:08:42.92\00:08:46.15 and going to Church... during the Ingathering... 00:08:46.19\00:08:49.12 we were always out there... taught us how to play... 00:08:49.16\00:08:52.06 she couldn't play the piano herself... 00:08:52.09\00:08:53.13 but she put a piano and an organ in the Church... 00:08:53.16\00:08:55.93 she knew the notes... and we learned how to play 00:08:55.96\00:08:58.60 she just kept it going... because she wanted to serve God 00:08:58.63\00:09:00.80 with all the means that she had. What a beautiful... 00:09:00.84\00:09:04.97 what a beautiful testimonial... as related to your mom... 00:09:05.01\00:09:10.05 I mean, what a wonderful person she was... she had such love, 00:09:10.08\00:09:14.98 it sounds like she had such love she took children and gave them 00:09:15.02\00:09:19.92 she trained them up in the way that they should go. 00:09:19.95\00:09:22.42 Yes... yes... And gave you a work ethic and 00:09:22.46\00:09:26.29 a desire to serve the Lord and that's an incredible, 00:09:26.33\00:09:30.70 incredible legacy that she left, so how did you find out 00:09:30.73\00:09:35.24 that you were adopted? Dr. Lewis, that was somewhat 00:09:35.27\00:09:40.04 complicated... after not knowing 00:09:40.08\00:09:44.85 that I was adopted... then, having to find out 00:09:44.88\00:09:47.42 that I was adopted... it caused some anguish, 00:09:47.45\00:09:49.95 because, I thought that 00:09:49.98\00:09:52.25 the mother and father that I had there 00:09:52.29\00:09:54.16 Leroy and Annie Brown were my birth parents... 00:09:54.19\00:09:56.93 until I turned about 14 and saw myself... 00:09:56.96\00:09:59.66 and because I looked... kind of like my dad and 00:09:59.69\00:10:04.80 they were brown and 00:10:04.83\00:10:06.43 I was the only one looking like him 00:10:06.47\00:10:10.71 I kind of said, "This is what it is... " 00:10:10.74\00:10:12.91 but then... we discovered... 00:10:12.94\00:10:14.41 one day my mother 'fessed up and said, you know... 00:10:14.44\00:10:17.58 your birth mother is named Cheri Rogers... 00:10:17.61\00:10:23.39 and that took me for a loop... and I had to kind of 00:10:23.42\00:10:28.72 re-identify myself... who I was... 00:10:28.76\00:10:30.43 or what I was and what I was going to even be 00:10:30.46\00:10:33.46 it was an experience that I had to go back and pray 00:10:33.50\00:10:39.20 and, you know, the devil would start saying, you know, 00:10:39.23\00:10:41.77 "You're a bastard child in a way, you don't belong here 00:10:41.80\00:10:44.27 you ought to just take your life God can't have any plan for you 00:10:44.31\00:10:47.78 how could God have something for you 00:10:47.81\00:10:50.28 if you weren't even meant to be here... " 00:10:50.31\00:10:51.65 so you know how Satan tried to torment you... 00:10:51.68\00:10:53.92 Yes... But I had to go back 00:10:53.95\00:10:55.68 to the Word... and to that Proverbs... 00:10:55.72\00:10:59.05 "In all your ways acknowledge me... " 00:10:59.09\00:11:00.82 he said, "and I will direct your paths... " 00:11:00.86\00:11:02.89 "Trust in the Lord... with all your heart... 00:11:02.92\00:11:05.36 and lean not to your own understanding... " 00:11:05.39\00:11:07.76 and so I had to back off my own understanding 00:11:07.83\00:11:09.70 and put it to God's hands... and God whispered in my ear... 00:11:09.73\00:11:12.70 He said, "I am with you... and I will never leave you, 00:11:12.73\00:11:15.74 never forsake you... the circumstances under which 00:11:15.77\00:11:18.87 you have placed yourself in... or you're in... " 00:11:18.91\00:11:21.74 he said, "I've been there all along with you... " 00:11:21.78\00:11:24.58 and so, I had to trust that God had a plan 00:11:24.61\00:11:27.82 bigger than what I knew... and when I found out that God 00:11:27.85\00:11:31.69 was in it... I backed off and let God handle it... 00:11:31.72\00:11:35.46 Amen... and that's what it's all about... 00:11:35.49\00:11:39.19 letting God... letting go and letting God... 00:11:39.23\00:11:42.90 just letting Him handle it... 00:11:42.93\00:11:44.83 Yes... The amazing thing... 00:11:44.87\00:11:47.77 again... you've given a lot of little elements here... 00:11:47.80\00:11:51.14 that we could chew on... the amazing thing is that 00:11:51.17\00:11:54.48 God did have a plan for you and He navigated this whole deal 00:11:54.51\00:12:00.62 you know, the situation that took place was so traumatic 00:12:00.65\00:12:06.69 I'm sure.. for your birth mother and yet.. God had a plan for you 00:12:06.72\00:12:10.36 and just brought you through gave you to wonderful parents 00:12:10.39\00:12:15.40 I mean... you're life could have been so different... 00:12:15.43\00:12:18.13 but he gave you to wonderful parents 00:12:18.17\00:12:20.87 and then... they brought you up to know and fear God... 00:12:20.90\00:12:24.77 and that's just... that's such a wonderful blessing 00:12:24.81\00:12:28.61 God had that plan for you, Pastor Brown... 00:12:28.64\00:12:31.68 Yes... yes... All... from the very beginning 00:12:31.71\00:12:34.22 He had a plan for you... and that's the God 00:12:34.25\00:12:36.79 that we serve... a loving God... that can take 00:12:36.82\00:12:39.25 a really traumatic situation and turn it into a blessing... 00:12:39.29\00:12:44.09 Amen... It's an amazing thing... 00:12:44.13\00:12:46.59 I go through that, Dr. Lewis, and I wake up with a different 00:12:46.63\00:12:50.73 attitude because I realize that it was God's purpose 00:12:50.77\00:12:53.50 for me... to be here... when I go by so many places 00:12:53.54\00:12:56.27 where so many kids have been 00:12:56.30\00:12:59.71 "let go" and say, "God, you gave me a chance... " 00:12:59.74\00:13:02.28 and with all the circumstances under which 00:13:02.31\00:13:04.88 I did come into the world you know, society indicates that 00:13:04.91\00:13:08.12 those are the circumstances that I should not be here... 00:13:08.15\00:13:11.29 but God interfered and He intervened and He kind of 00:13:11.32\00:13:16.32 navigated that whole program to work out 00:13:16.36\00:13:19.26 the way He wanted it to be... so I can't do anything 00:13:19.29\00:13:21.40 but give God glory... just to be alive today... 00:13:21.43\00:13:24.17 Amen... amen... so when you found out 00:13:24.20\00:13:27.17 that you were adopted... it was kind of earth shattering 00:13:27.20\00:13:31.14 for you at first... because it kind of undermined 00:13:31.17\00:13:35.71 your foundation in a sense, so how did you get it back? 00:13:35.74\00:13:40.55 how did you begin to accept what had happened? 00:13:40.58\00:13:44.95 Well, I went back and looked at all the things that my 00:13:44.99\00:13:47.92 mother had done for me... and my parents... 00:13:47.96\00:13:50.16 they had... she surely tried, she gave everything 00:13:50.19\00:13:55.03 we had Bible Studies and we went to Church more often than 00:13:55.06\00:14:01.64 most people did... she tried to send me to 00:14:01.67\00:14:04.84 good schools and tried to do all those things 00:14:04.87\00:14:07.71 and that... it kind of brought me back to see 00:14:07.74\00:14:10.58 that what she meant was for my good... 00:14:10.61\00:14:13.85 Hmmmmm... And technically, she was my 00:14:13.88\00:14:17.09 mother because she had me... she took me from birth 00:14:17.12\00:14:20.09 and from that point... it was hard to identify 00:14:20.12\00:14:23.79 anything else because I was her son... 00:14:23.83\00:14:25.59 That's right... And she gave me the name... 00:14:25.63\00:14:27.96 but I guess, her plan was, in the course of getting older 00:14:28.00\00:14:33.23 I'd probably find out... so she went on and told me 00:14:33.27\00:14:36.77 and I kind of knew who my other people were, 00:14:36.81\00:14:39.61 and those connections started building... 00:14:39.64\00:14:42.84 and then I met my birth mother 00:14:42.88\00:14:45.01 and relatives and my birth mother told me the story, 00:14:45.05\00:14:47.58 because I had to ask my birth mother 00:14:47.62\00:14:48.98 "Why did you let me go?" because she had 3 other children 00:14:49.02\00:14:51.85 after me... she was trying to find security in her life 00:14:51.89\00:14:54.69 she was just a teenager and she found an older guy 00:14:54.72\00:14:57.29 that took her in and moved to Rochester, New York 00:14:57.33\00:14:59.96 and that's why I went up there to meet her... 00:15:00.06\00:15:03.16 when I was at Forest Lake about the age of 14 00:15:03.20\00:15:06.23 and they told me that... she said, "I had to let you go" 00:15:06.27\00:15:09.27 because... in this situation you would most likely... 00:15:09.30\00:15:12.17 by the man I married would most likely have killed you by now 00:15:12.21\00:15:14.41 knowing that you're not his child... 00:15:14.44\00:15:16.91 and the way he treats his own children... 00:15:16.95\00:15:19.31 and she said... she just gave me the story 00:15:19.35\00:15:21.65 how she had to live with the fact... living off that pressure 00:15:21.68\00:15:26.82 on whether to have me or not have me... 00:15:26.86\00:15:28.89 but she told me... and that's why I know 00:15:28.92\00:15:30.89 faith in God pays off... she said, "My faith in God was 00:15:30.93\00:15:34.00 that He was going to take care of you. " 00:15:34.00\00:15:35.66 because God promised her as a child... 00:15:35.70\00:15:37.43 He said, "I'll take care of that child. " 00:15:37.47\00:15:39.20 Wow! that is so deep, 00:15:39.23\00:15:42.37 so when you went to meet your mother... 00:15:42.40\00:15:47.84 your birth mother... what were you expecting 00:15:47.88\00:15:50.61 and when you walked away from that meeting... 00:15:50.65\00:15:53.28 what had you received? There's something about bonding, 00:15:53.31\00:15:57.79 you know... whichever way you go you try to bond 00:15:57.82\00:16:01.39 with the original and this was the person that 00:16:01.42\00:16:04.96 brought me into the world... 00:16:04.99\00:16:08.26 I was just gazing at her... looking at her... 00:16:08.30\00:16:12.53 trying to see those mirror places on her body 00:16:12.57\00:16:15.54 that kind of looked like mine... Is that my face? 00:16:15.57\00:16:18.47 look like hers or something... 00:16:18.51\00:16:20.71 and just to see her personality etc... and then... 00:16:20.74\00:16:24.48 for her to give me the history you know... what happened 00:16:24.51\00:16:27.38 what was going on... and then having to ask her 00:16:27.42\00:16:30.09 "Why didn't you keep me?" and so that caused a little 00:16:30.12\00:16:33.82 frustration as a teenager... I was somewhat indignant... 00:16:33.86\00:16:37.49 you know... Why did you just let me go... 00:16:37.53\00:16:39.93 and you kept these other 3? You could have kept me too... 00:16:39.96\00:16:42.93 and I didn't even understand Dr. Lewis... 00:16:42.96\00:16:46.97 the connections to how I really was... 00:16:47.00\00:16:50.97 in existence right now 00:16:51.01\00:16:52.91 but I realized that 00:16:52.94\00:16:54.78 it was nothing but the hands of God... 00:16:54.81\00:16:56.18 she had explained to me... she said, "I could not keep you" 00:16:56.21\00:16:59.28 and she said "it was for your own... your better good... " 00:16:59.31\00:17:02.32 and she said, "I did not abort you either" 00:17:02.35\00:17:04.19 she said... "I gave you a chance to live" 00:17:04.22\00:17:05.99 and she said... " I didn't know how you were 00:17:06.02\00:17:07.72 going to turn out what you're going to turn out as 00:17:07.76\00:17:09.22 or who even had you... " she said even after years later 00:17:09.26\00:17:13.13 she went looking for me... but, she said, she didn't know 00:17:13.16\00:17:16.93 what was going on... but she knew that 00:17:16.97\00:17:18.43 God was taking care of me... and I had to come to the 00:17:18.47\00:17:20.97 realization that, "It's in God's hands. " 00:17:21.00\00:17:23.51 and He was navigating this path... 00:17:23.54\00:17:25.91 It wasn't in anybody else's hands... 00:17:25.94\00:17:28.28 because God put me in a Seventh-day Adventist home... 00:17:28.31\00:17:31.11 there were many other homes, people could have been called 00:17:31.15\00:17:33.75 God started me off as a Seventh-day Adventist 00:17:33.78\00:17:37.12 I'm glad He did... Yes... 00:17:37.15\00:17:38.59 I'm so glad He did... I don't know what 00:17:38.62\00:17:40.16 I would have ended up.. I won't be on your show 00:17:40.19\00:17:42.49 probably... if I had ended up somewhere else... 00:17:42.52\00:17:44.76 Oh, we praise the Lord, we just praise the Lord for 00:17:44.79\00:17:49.00 what He's done in your life and how His hand has always 00:17:49.03\00:17:53.23 been on you... He's never left you for a moment 00:17:53.27\00:17:56.20 and we just praise the Lord for that... 00:17:56.24\00:17:58.71 So after you met her and after you left... 00:17:58.74\00:18:01.14 how did that affect your relationship with your 00:18:01.18\00:18:05.45 adopted mother... your adoptive mother... 00:18:05.48\00:18:07.98 My adoptive mother was a strong lady... 00:18:08.02\00:18:10.42 she was an entrepreneur and a business woman herself, 00:18:10.45\00:18:14.76 and, I guess, she had known in her heart 00:18:14.79\00:18:19.03 that something like this would tend to take place, 00:18:19.06\00:18:22.06 but she would always... she said, "You know what the 00:18:22.10\00:18:25.10 reality is... so that you can make your bed 00:18:25.13\00:18:27.07 hard... but you're going to sleep on it... 00:18:27.10\00:18:28.50 she had all these clichés... Yeah... 00:18:29.97\00:18:32.74 So you're out... you can even leave home 00:18:32.77\00:18:34.61 it's up to you... you know, she said, "But this is what 00:18:34.64\00:18:39.11 I had to offer you... I offer you Jesus Christ" 00:18:39.15\00:18:42.88 and that was the strongest answer she gave me 00:18:42.92\00:18:45.59 that love... that said "You can have this life here 00:18:45.62\00:18:49.12 with me... " she said, I promise you 00:18:49.16\00:18:51.49 I'll give you all the mothering" she did... 00:18:51.53\00:18:53.90 she gave me all the love that I could even imagine... 00:18:53.93\00:18:57.43 and with that love, I have installed it... 00:18:57.47\00:19:01.30 and she had never left my heart... 00:19:01.34\00:19:02.60 and she realized that 00:19:02.64\00:19:05.57 her love for me was not 00:19:05.61\00:19:08.48 predicated on the love that my birth mother had 00:19:08.51\00:19:12.18 and I knew that it was just genuine... 00:19:12.21\00:19:14.62 it was what it was... where it was... 00:19:14.65\00:19:16.99 and nothing can substitute the love of my adoptive mother. 00:19:17.02\00:19:19.95 That is so beautiful... 00:19:19.99\00:19:22.79 now, you're speaking of her in the past tense... 00:19:22.82\00:19:25.93 Is she resting in Jesus now? 00:19:25.96\00:19:28.06 She's resting in Christ Jesus, she died in 1991... 00:19:28.10\00:19:31.87 she adopted me when she was in her late fifties... 00:19:31.90\00:19:35.27 so it was a lot of gossip around the community, you know, 00:19:35.30\00:19:40.68 "Who is this baby that this lady got... 00:19:40.71\00:19:42.78 did her husband go out and have one... 00:19:42.81\00:19:44.88 did one of the children go out of town 00:19:44.91\00:19:46.92 and bring a child back"... you know... how all those stuff was 00:19:46.95\00:19:50.22 but she adopted me in her late 50s... 00:19:50.25\00:19:53.96 and she died in 1991... 00:19:53.99\00:19:56.66 and my dad had died before her 00:19:56.69\00:19:59.89 and then also my birth mother she died before even my... 00:19:59.93\00:20:02.86 she died when she was about 4o some years old... 00:20:02.90\00:20:06.23 Hmmmm... So, they all kind of passed away 00:20:06.27\00:20:08.80 but just not too long ago, they wrote a story on her... 00:20:08.84\00:20:13.34 just two years ago... in the front page of 00:20:13.38\00:20:15.88 The Tampa Tribune... and it said, "Mother Brown" 00:20:15.91\00:20:18.71 and they told her story... so even after she's gone 00:20:18.75\00:20:21.55 the legacy that she has left here 00:20:21.58\00:20:24.19 has just transcended year to year... decades... 00:20:24.22\00:20:28.29 Oh... that's wonderful... that is so wonderful... 00:20:28.32\00:20:32.19 and what a tribute you are to her... 00:20:32.23\00:20:34.40 that is just a beautiful thing, so, let's go now from 00:20:34.46\00:20:39.50 that part of your journey... to where you are now... 00:20:39.53\00:20:44.57 What are you doing now? Um... I guess 00:20:44.61\00:20:49.74 if I'd say everything you'd think I'm cloned... 00:20:49.78\00:20:52.65 but I'm trying to stay in one place... 00:20:58.25\00:21:00.19 I work with Adventist Health Systems in the ministry that is 00:21:00.22\00:21:04.03 so drawn to my heart... 00:21:04.06\00:21:10.13 which is working in chaplaincy they've just got six hospitals 00:21:10.17\00:21:13.60 down here, The Adventist Florida Hospital 00:21:13.64\00:21:16.20 work there... in that capacity part time... 00:21:16.24\00:21:19.01 and then I run, "Feed our Children" ministries 00:21:19.04\00:21:21.74 Feed our Children ministries is a ministry that I started 00:21:21.78\00:21:26.18 twenty some years ago... seeing the children who were 00:21:26.21\00:21:30.59 just left abandoned, hungry, starving 00:21:30.62\00:21:33.79 because of the drug activities that were taking place 00:21:33.82\00:21:36.16 in the communities... in urban areas... 00:21:36.19\00:21:39.19 that have drugs cocaine, crack cocaine... 00:21:39.23\00:21:42.10 everything that you can imagine and that inadvertently 00:21:42.13\00:21:45.80 causes an effect on the children because when I went to 00:21:45.83\00:21:49.24 one of the communities, where the children had 00:21:49.27\00:21:52.41 seen a shooting... in the parking lot... 00:21:52.44\00:21:54.94 the Police Department asked me, 00:21:54.98\00:21:56.48 would I come down and talk to the Community... 00:21:56.51\00:21:58.58 so I started talking to kids and we bring up snacks 00:21:58.61\00:22:01.95 we brought out snacks... I asked one of the kids, 00:22:01.98\00:22:05.25 "What would you like to have?" He said, "I'd like to have a 00:22:05.29\00:22:07.79 Thanksgiving Meal like they have on television" 00:22:07.82\00:22:10.06 I thought he was just kidding with me... 00:22:10.09\00:22:11.33 but I realized after talking with him, 00:22:11.36\00:22:13.29 he said, "The only thing he had for Thanksgiving was 00:22:13.33\00:22:16.83 a hot dog and some chips etc. " because his mother sold 00:22:16.87\00:22:20.77 everything for the crack... and, when that took place 00:22:20.80\00:22:24.64 it was very difficult for him to even imagine what it was like 00:22:24.67\00:22:29.68 to have a Thanksgiving Dinner... 00:22:29.71\00:22:31.48 and so I told him, I said, "Well," I knew I was on 00:22:31.51\00:22:34.82 the radio doing some commentary during that time 00:22:34.85\00:22:36.79 I said, "I'll get on the radio I'll ask the Community to come 00:22:36.82\00:22:38.82 out" and said, "You get your friends 00:22:38.85\00:22:40.79 and you bring your friends out and we'll see what happens... " 00:22:40.82\00:22:43.96 that I don't want you to go through another Thanksgiving 00:22:43.99\00:22:46.70 without having that feeling of family connection 00:22:46.73\00:22:50.77 so, he had gotten approximately 400 friends 00:22:50.80\00:22:55.30 from the Community... and I brought out the food 00:22:55.34\00:22:58.54 that I thought was going to feed about a hundred 00:22:58.57\00:23:01.68 but Dr. Lewis, I tell you, God worked a miracle that day... 00:23:01.71\00:23:04.91 I mean, I read about the fish and the loaves of bread... 00:23:04.95\00:23:08.28 but it took place again right here in the Tampa Bay area 00:23:08.32\00:23:11.62 because the people in the Community were looking 00:23:11.65\00:23:14.16 and said, "How are you going to feed that many people with 00:23:14.19\00:23:16.66 such a little bit of food... but we had no notion 00:23:16.69\00:23:19.03 that you were bringing that many people out..." 00:23:19.06\00:23:21.06 but I told them... I said, "The God I serve 00:23:21.10\00:23:23.13 He'll make a way out of nowhere... " 00:23:23.16\00:23:25.57 Come on... come on now... And the media camera 00:23:25.60\00:23:28.04 was out there... they wanted... you know, 00:23:28.07\00:23:30.21 sometimes the media loves to see action... 00:23:30.24\00:23:32.31 that would have been a big story... 00:23:32.34\00:23:34.34 but I said, "There will be no blasphemy 00:23:34.38\00:23:36.58 coming against God's name He is the One 00:23:36.61\00:23:38.78 that told me to do it, what God got, God will provide" 00:23:38.81\00:23:42.68 and I just let it go... you have all those negative 00:23:42.72\00:23:46.49 images around you that keep saying, 00:23:46.52\00:23:48.56 even ought to stop it, just call it off, 00:23:48.59\00:23:50.56 I said, "No, but God told me to do this... 00:23:50.59\00:23:52.39 and it is His job to make this thing 00:23:52.43\00:23:56.46 come to fruition" and at the end 00:23:56.50\00:23:58.23 when the cameras were out there 00:23:58.27\00:23:59.57 they saw that little bit of food... 00:23:59.60\00:24:01.64 people had... you know... how we are sometimes... 00:24:01.67\00:24:05.14 we bring our foil and our little Tupperware... 00:24:05.17\00:24:08.51 they brought their foil and Tupperware 00:24:08.54\00:24:11.01 and had food left over... Come on now Preacher... 00:24:11.05\00:24:14.22 That's my God... Come on now... 00:24:14.25\00:24:16.25 So look at God... just like when Christ fed 00:24:16.28\00:24:20.02 the multitude... God stretched the food... 00:24:20.06\00:24:23.69 He stretched the food... that's what we say, you know, 00:24:23.73\00:24:26.39 when people come over on Sabbath 00:24:26.43\00:24:28.10 and you don't think you have enough 00:24:28.13\00:24:29.96 "Oh Lord, please stretch the food" 00:24:30.00\00:24:31.87 I feel you... I feel you... Look at God... 00:24:31.90\00:24:35.24 look at how He did that... and look at the faith 00:24:35.27\00:24:37.97 He honors your faith... you had faith... 00:24:38.01\00:24:40.98 you knew that if God told you to do it, 00:24:41.01\00:24:43.58 He was going to make a way for it to happen... 00:24:43.61\00:24:46.18 and He did... Yes, He did and knowing... 00:24:46.21\00:24:49.38 once you start reading Christ's Word... 00:24:49.42\00:24:52.59 it shows you over and over 00:24:52.62\00:24:54.82 that He's a God of His word and that He'll never lie... 00:24:54.86\00:24:57.89 and when He says, "He'll never leave you 00:24:57.93\00:25:00.50 and never forsake you" I know that's true 00:25:00.53\00:25:03.13 in every aspect... I have learned to pray 00:25:03.16\00:25:05.70 the promises in the Bible, and by praying the promises 00:25:05.73\00:25:09.57 God always has to answer those prayers... 00:25:09.60\00:25:12.81 and so I prayed with authority He's given me 00:25:12.84\00:25:15.98 that this will come to fruition when I'm doing His will... 00:25:16.01\00:25:19.15 when I know that I'm doing His will, 00:25:19.18\00:25:21.65 I have nothing to fear but fear itself... 00:25:21.68\00:25:24.19 So, I trust God... all the way... 00:25:24.22\00:25:26.25 And so we started the ministry called "Feed our Children" 00:25:26.29\00:25:30.36 we're on the website feedourchildren. org 00:25:30.39\00:25:32.83 and in there we deliver food 00:25:32.86\00:25:36.13 to the people in need... see, I wanted something that 00:25:36.16\00:25:38.60 would cut the red tape because I see a lot of people 00:25:38.63\00:25:41.30 going down... trying to get food who are hungry or needy 00:25:41.34\00:25:43.84 I said, "God doesn't have any red tape or anybody in line... " 00:25:43.87\00:25:46.07 He just told the disciples to go out 00:25:46.11\00:25:47.48 and spread the food out... and so, I cut the red tape 00:25:47.51\00:25:50.11 I said, "When they call us... that means they need it... " 00:25:50.15\00:25:52.75 so, we have volunteers all over... 00:25:52.78\00:25:54.68 who would take the food to needy families 00:25:54.72\00:25:57.19 elderly people who feel like they got to pay 00:25:57.22\00:25:59.92 their medical bills, and trying to take care of 00:25:59.95\00:26:02.66 grandkids with their children, parents inside the jail 00:26:02.69\00:26:06.46 in life... that can get very difficult... 00:26:06.49\00:26:08.16 and so, we've taken it... to the 00:26:08.20\00:26:10.70 "Just call us and we'll open the door for you" 00:26:10.73\00:26:12.60 and we'll make sure that we do the will of God 00:26:12.63\00:26:15.40 we put in those bags... a tract... Steps to Christ 00:26:15.44\00:26:18.14 and Bible Readings for the Home, things that they can find 00:26:18.17\00:26:22.41 Christ Jesus... and we're hoping 00:26:22.44\00:26:24.51 that when we walk down those streets of gold, Dr. Lewis, 00:26:24.55\00:26:27.18 they'll run up and say, "You know, that bag 00:26:27.22\00:26:28.95 that you gave me with food... not only was it food 00:26:28.98\00:26:31.52 to feed physical body but it fed my soul... " 00:26:31.55\00:26:34.69 Yes... yes... praise the Lord... how beautiful is that 00:26:34.72\00:26:39.16 so you're feeding, you're addressing 00:26:39.19\00:26:41.73 the physiological issues and the spiritual issues... 00:26:41.76\00:26:45.37 and emotional... because those are... 00:26:45.40\00:26:47.94 that's an act of love Pastor, doing that, giving someone food 00:26:47.97\00:26:52.21 that's hungry... that is an act of love... 00:26:52.24\00:26:54.61 We praise the Lord for your ministry. 00:26:54.64\00:26:57.05 What would you like to leave with our viewers... 00:26:57.08\00:26:59.65 You have 30 seconds to tell our viewers something... 00:26:59.68\00:27:02.12 What would you leave them with about your ministry? 00:27:02.15\00:27:04.59 Feed Our Children has been a part of it... and... 00:27:04.62\00:27:07.96 you can always be there... trying to help people... 00:27:07.99\00:27:11.93 they can go to our website and 00:27:11.96\00:27:13.23 feedourchildren. org 00:27:13.26\00:27:15.43 and they'll find us there... if they want to contribute 00:27:15.46\00:27:17.77 they're welcome... and also... keep me in prayer 00:27:17.80\00:27:20.04 I need prayer... I preach all over the Country 00:27:20.07\00:27:23.34 I've been in Kenya... I was with Obama's grandmamma 00:27:23.37\00:27:26.61 last year... they had it in the paper... 00:27:26.64\00:27:29.34 I met her... we're helping her orphanages 00:27:29.38\00:27:31.75 over there... so God is working with us... 00:27:31.78\00:27:34.08 when I travel around... I'm preaching the gospel 00:27:34.12\00:27:36.58 trying to save souls around the world and also 00:27:36.62\00:27:38.89 do a lot of crusades here in the United States... 00:27:38.92\00:27:41.12 so keep me in your prayers... Thank you so much Pastor Brown 00:27:41.16\00:27:45.06 and... our viewers might not know 00:27:45.09\00:27:47.13 but you also sing... and you're going to be 00:27:47.20\00:27:49.46 on our Program Magnify Him coming up soon 00:27:49.50\00:27:51.80 Oh, I'm looking forward to that. 00:27:51.83\00:27:52.97 This is a man of many gifts right here... 00:27:53.00\00:27:54.34 Right here... God has blessed you. 00:27:54.37\00:27:56.50 Thank you so much. Thank you so much. 00:27:56.54\00:27:58.37 May God continue to richly bless you. 00:27:58.41\00:28:00.54 And thank you so much for tuning in... 00:28:00.58\00:28:02.51 Tune in next time... It just wouldn't be the same 00:28:02.54\00:28:04.78 without you... 00:28:04.81\00:28:06.08