Please pray for the new men arriving at His Steps. 

• Chad is new here from AL. Please pray for him to fully surrender to the Lord. 
• Alex is also new here from Detroit. Please also pray for him to surrender to the Lord. 
• Paul continues to grow, please pray for him as he works on seeking forgiveness. 
• Jonathan is leaving next week, please pray for a job for him and his continued growth.

WOW, what a month! July was one of the most ministry packed months we have had in a long time. Kit and I left for Peru July 7 for 12 action packed days of ministry. We went to serve with Brad and Gina Shaw. Brad is training church planters in Cotahuasi, Peru.

Cotahuasi is a very remote town 200 miles and 10 hours away from any city and is nestled at the bottom of the deepest canyon in the world.  Our objective was to lead a seminar for the Christian leaders and their families from the many remote villages in the canyon.  I was to speak on the topics of "Integrity" and "Parenting".

Last year, Brad went on a country wide hunt for a Toyota jeep for him and some of the church planters for the purpose of reaching some of the very remote villages. After six weeks of looking, they found one. It was in very rough condition and needed lots of work.
The two months prior to leaving, Brad got busy on the computer and began ordering lots of parts to rebuild the jeep. Almost daily a package arrived at our house in Georgia.

The mechanics in Peru are very good they just can’t get parts. The best way to insure the arrival of stuff like that is to have someone bring it. We wanted to be sure were setting the right example for the Peruvians who many times think nothing of taking advantage of the law as long as you don’t get caught. With this in mind, and the convicting the Lord did in my own heart while I was preparing a message on integrity, we set out to be above reproach and not hide anything from customs. Someone had even given me money to cover the costs of all the taxes that could be applied.

As we were approaching Lima, the flight attendant informed us the custom forms never made it on the plane, so we would have to get one once we landed. The custom forms they handed out were in Spanish; I did the best I could filling it out. Kit and I prayed that we would get these things through customs without any trouble.

Once we had all the luggage we headed towards customs. We were met by a young smiling lady who took my form and showed me the mistakes I’d made and told me how to do it in the future. She then told me to put everything on the belt for scanning.  I placed all the bags on the scanning machine and walked through myself and looked back at the man looking at the screen. He was turned all the way around not looking at the screen at all. I was biting my lip to keep from smiling. I was fully expecting to have to open all the bags and explain everything and pay taxes on it, instead we were able to bless Brad and Gina with some extra money since we didn’t have to pay the taxes.

Once we arrived in Cotahuasi we had a great time of fellowship with Brad and Gina. The next day people began to show up early in the day for the seminar the next evening, many of whom came from villages way up in the canyon. We were blessed when 95 people showed up. They were a very attentive group from 7 different villages.

After one session we had a Q&A. I was really rattled in my soul by some of the questions. I'd been speaking on how important it is for us to spend time in God's Word on a regular basis, and one lady stood to ask me a question. She was around 50 years old and asked me what she was to do in spending time with God because she didn't know how to read. Then another stood and said the same thing. This rattled me because it showed me the overwhelming amount of work that needs to be down in this very remote part of the world.
Another lady began to cry and poured out her heart in concern for many of her family members and friends in her village that are severe alcoholics. She asked if we could come to her village and help with the problem of addiction. Just these couple of incidents showed me again of the work still to be done.

After the seminar we were blessed to be able to spend some good quality time with Brad and Gina; they have been serving here for 14 years. Brad and I even got to go fishing one afternoon and caught some rainbow trout in the Cotahuasi River! We brought them back and Kit fried them for dinner.

Upon returning to the States, we left a few days later for Seattle to speak at a picnic banquet for the "Mission House". This is a program just like His Steps and is run by Lyle Skillman who went through the His Steps program six years ago. We were really blessed to see how our Lord has used His Steps in reaching so many people in the Seattle area. What a refreshing time it was for us to hear so many testimonies of God's grace.
 

 
     Jesus is Lord,

     Tim Brown
       Director of His Steps Ministries
 

As always we thank the Lord for your faithfulness towards this ministry.


Give

If you are interested in meeting any ministry needs, you may contact Tim Brown:

timbrown@hisstepsministries.org
or
(770) 595-4249

All support is welcome. We exist by the grace of God through partners who care about helping others as our Lord commanded. Your gift is tax deductible.

I had the privilege this month to speak at the annual Biblical Counseling Conference at my home church Faith Community Church. During my preparation for the "Overview of Addictions" session I was reminded again of the sufficiency of the Scriptures. As biblical counselors, we are so blessed to know we can give people hope. All the other counseling models leave a person with the understanding that once an addict, always an addict. These people would have you believe that addiction is not a heart/inner man problem but a body problem first and foremost.

The Bible presents an entirely different interpretation and conclusion about “addictive” behavior. The Bible teaches that every person lives out of his heart.  The “addict” is one who wholly treasures something in his heart, such that he is willing to put aside almost anything to possess it (Ed Welch, Addictions: A Banquet at the Grave). At the root of “addictive behavior” is the desire to please self.  At the core of “addiction” is self worship. In reality, the “addict” doesn’t worship the drug, substance, or a person but himself. He has become an idol worshiper, and the idol is self. The idol worship of self, brought on by the intoxicating effects of drugs or alcohol, captures and grasps securely the person in captivity. At His Steps we teach that this bondage can be broken through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

It’s always a blessing when I hear from former residents. Twice in the past couple of weeks I’ve been greatly encouraged by phone calls of former residents. I’m sure you, like me, sometimes wonder how all the guys are doing. Recently, men from Texas and Washington state called to say thank you for all I had done for them three years ago while in the program. Those affirmations are little blessings the Lord brings from time to time. I hope they encourage you as much as they do me.

The guys headed to church.

The Lord continues to bring men into the program. Currently there are two men from California, one from Alabama, another that was living here in Atlanta and the most recent counselee came here to Atlanta from Hawaii for his dad’s funeral and never made it back. He fell deep into addiction in a very short time frame after the funeral. He had gone to Hawaii to get away from all his life here but soon found out the environment was not his problem. The Bible tells us that our deceptive wicked hearts are the problem, not our environment. We cannot get away from ourselves, so moving does not do any good. This is exactly what this man discovered as he abused drugs in Hawaii just as he did on the mainland.
 

Shane getting ready to do some serious yard work!

Please continue to pray for the men here. Please pray that the men would see others in the house as more important than themselves. Since addicts are such self centered people, this is a hard sin for them to turn from. 
 

     Jesus is Lord,

     Tim Brown
       Director of His Steps Ministries
 

Give

If you are interested in meeting any ministry needs, you may contact Tim Brown:

timbrown@hisstepsministries.org
or
(770) 595-4249

All support is welcome. We exist by the grace of God through partners who care about helping others as our Lord commanded. Your gift is tax deductible.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.



In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
in the bleak midwinter, long ago.
 
Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain;
heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
 
Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
but his mother only, in her maiden bliss,
worshiped the beloved with a kiss.
 
What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
yet what I can I give him: give my heart.

     Tim Brown
       Director of His Steps Ministries
 

Give

If you are interested in meeting any ministry needs, you may contact Tim Brown:

timbrown@hisstepsministries.org
or
(770) 595-4249

All support is welcome. We exist by the grace of God through partners who care about helping others as our Lord commanded. Your gift is tax deductible.

A note from one of the men in the program who will be graduating later this month:


"My name is Jeff. I came to His Steps in June 2013 because I had problems with alcohol in my life. My life was out of control and not right with God or my family. I had been struggling with this burden for a long time and finally reached a point where I couldn't take it any longer. I went to my pastor and asked him for help. My pastor knew Tim Brown, the director of His Steps Ministries. We talked about me going to His Steps. I was scared at first; it's a long way from my home in Iowa, but I knew I needed to do something so I decided to give it a try. I wanted to do this not only for myself, but most importantly for the Lord and my family.

The day came for me to depart and travel to Georgia. My pastor and his wife drove me from Des Moines to Woodstock. I began to wonder if I was doing the right thing, and once I arrived it took some getting used to. But after a while, things all smoothed out and once I started getting plugged into the teaching and daily disciplines things began to make sense to me. I could see that God was involved in my life like never before. I was finding out who God really is and really began to understand the Word of God. Then I really started seeing God working in my life. We had a lot of different studies to go through, interestingly all of them seemed to intertwine with each other.

 I've learned from my time at His Steps that my addictions are a sin problem in my life and that with the Lord's help I can overcome my sins. I know now the importance of having the Lord at the center of my life, and without Him I would be doomed. I now have the desire to keep growing in the Lord and in His Word. I've come to love Him with my whole heart and want to follow Him until He calls me home or comes back for me. I'm grateful to my pastor and church family for sending me to His Steps and thankful that my wife has continued to stand by me through this process, and I look forward to going home to be with her and our children."

I pray you are as encouraged as I am from these notes from the men.

Bald Eagle Baptist Church in Julian, PA

In other news, Kit and I were blessed to be able to travel together to Pennsylvania earlier in November. Bald Eagle Baptist Church in Julian, PA invited me to speak for their 178th anniversary. We were truly blessed by the people there. They sent a young man to His Steps this past year, and during that time Pastor Spaugh and I came to know each other. We have never been to PA and have always heard how beautiful it is, and it truly was. But we agreed that the bigger beauty for us was seeing this body of believers at Bald Eagle Baptist. We were truly blessed by their generosity and comradery. After the Sunday morning service, we had a large, and I mean large, meal together in the church fellowship hall. The food was great and the fellowship was better. I couldn't help but think how wonderful the meal we will all enjoy together one day with our Lord will be.

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
Revelation 19:6-9

Jesus is Lord,

Tim Brown
Director of His Steps Ministries

Prayer

• Please pray for the three men that graduated in November: that they will get involved with their local church and continue to grow in their relationship with our Lord.
• Please pray for the new men arriving at His Steps. There is always some bit of apprehension upon arrival.

If you are interested in meeting any ministry needs, you may contact Tim Brown:

timbrown@hisstepsministries.org
or
(770) 595-4249

October brought a big change to His Steps. On October 23, we closed on the old ministry property. Several months ago a small local church approached us about buying the property; they plan on using the house for their services while they grow and raise funds to build a new sanctuary. As I walked around inside the house one last time, I was quite overwhelmed as I reflected over the past ten years. As I pondered all the men the Lord had brought through the doors of that little house, I was reminded of all the days and nights that I had spent teaching God’s Word right there in that living room. Over the past ten years, at least 4,500 Bible studies have taken place right there in that little house. I have taught an estimated 3,000 Bible studies and perhaps 1,500 studies have been taught by guests. WOW!

My hope lies not in what I have done there but in God’s Word.  Isaiah 55:6-11 says it well,

 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout,  giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;  it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

I’m so thankful that God will accomplish His purpose through the teaching of His Word. My only desire is to be a faithful sower of His Word, leaving the results of that sowing to Him.
The men moved from the old ministry house 2 weeks ago and are really enjoying their new house. They have much bigger bedrooms and 2 more bathrooms! The challenge now is keeping that bigger home clean. Hopefully, some of the practical housekeeping skills they learn here will transfer to their future residences.

Four of the men on a Saturday afternoon hike in the Cohutta Wilderness.

The people of Faith Community Church continue to amaze me with their dedication to serve the men at His Steps. The guys really enjoy all the extra activities that get them out of the house on the weekends. Just recently there was a Saturday where they were involved in various activities.  One resident was taken clothes shopping by a church member. Another was taken to a shooting range, and four others were taken for a hike in the North Georgia Mountains.  The very next day a sweet couple from church with two kids had all six of them over for dinner and an evening playing board games. This is exactly what these guys need to see, that you can have fun and a good time without using substances. 
 

Tim Brown
Director of His Steps Ministries
  

 Prayer:

• Please pray for me over the next two weeks. I have a very busy schedule. I will be traveling to Alabama for a fund raising event. Kit and I are traveling to Pennsylvania to speak at a church three times over the weekend.
• Pray for the men in the house to continue to grow in their knowledge of our Savior. 

If you are interested in meeting any ministry needs, you may donate here or contact Tim Brown:

timbrown@hisstepsministries.org
or (770) 595-4249

All support is welcome. We exist by the grace of God through partners who cae about helping others as our Lord commanded. Your gift is tax deductable.

One of the men has had steady weekend visitation from his siblings. I asked him if he had family interaction of this sort prior to coming to His Steps. He said, “I was living life as if my family didn't even exist. All I was focused on was getting high. Now I really enjoy my family and hope that I can continue to interact with them and build a stronger relationship with them. I now see life as living totally for God, loving and serving Him and loving and serving others. Those others for me now is my family.”

Seeing and hearing these types of changes taking place in these young men’s lives is very encouraging to me. I’m always encouraged when I see that our Lord is using this ministry to bring about change in the lives of men who have been struggling with life dominating sins. I only write this for you to also be encouraged and for you to see that God is using you in the lives of these men.

These two men both celebrated a birthday this month. We enjoyed a Mexican feast!

Even though I've seen great things happening I have been very over whelmed this month with the number of calls I've been receiving for men to come into the program. Just this past week I had a call from California. I thought that was a long way away, until I had a call from South Africa. We have been full for a number of months. Thankfully, a friend of mine in Kentucky is starting a program just like ours and will be ready to receive men in Mid-October. Please pray with us that our Lord would move many more hearts towards helping men caught in this sin.

Personal News: September has been an action packed month for us personally. We were able to enjoy 9 days at the beach. Also, September is our anniversary month. This year we celebrated 41 years of marriage. God has been so good to Kit and me. He has blessed us beyond anything we could have ever imagined. 

41 Years!

Me relaxing on the beach with a good book.               Sitting on the dock of the bay, but we weren't wasting time, (for those of you that remember the song) we were waiting for fried shrimp, Yummy!
 

Tim Brown
Director of His Steps Ministries
 

 Prayer:

• Please pray for the current residents of the house. Pray that they would totally forsake their sins. Many times these guys genuinely want to forsake the sin of addiction but are unwilling to examine their hearts and forsake all sin.
• Please pray for the sale of the house. We have a contract and need to get all the small details worked out. Upon sale, the men will move to the house right next door to me. We will be leasing this house temporarily as we move forward.
• Continue to pray for new ministry partners.

Praise:

• Kit finished her supervision phase of counseling certification and will be presented at the annual conference as a new member next month. I’m so proud of her and her diligent work in pursuing this and we have both been really blessed to see God continue to give us opportunities to counsel others.

If you are interested in partnering with us financially and beyond, you may contact Tim Brown:
timbrown@hissteps.org
or (770) 595-4249

All support is welcome. We exist by the grace of God through partners who care about helping others as our Lord commanded. Your gift is tax deductible.