Read letters from Ruth Brown
The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 147
Ruth Brown
Mission co-worker in Congo since 2011
Serving at the invitation of the Presbyterian Community of Congo
Give to Ruth's ministryDownload Ruth's prayer card
Contact: Ruth Brown (ruth.brown@pcusa.org)
Ruth will next be in the USA in May - December 2016. Email her to extend an invitation to visit your congregation or organization.
About Ruth Brown's ministry
Ruth Brown was appointed as a mission co-worker to serve as a development specialist with the leadership of the Presbyterian Community of Congo (CPC) focusing on food security issues. Ruth works with the CPC development staff as they expand existing development services and collaborates closely with ecumenical organizations with similar goals. She trains and accompanies church and community leaders in resolving problems by using local resources. She supports plans and training for community needs assessment and resource mapping, program monitoring, and evaluation. She also collaborates closely with other PC(USA) personnel assigned to the Central and West Africa area.
As a development specialist, Ruth works with communities to address the root causes of hunger and poor health rather than just treat symptoms. She strives to help adults and youth evaluate their situations and develop solutions that will serve the entire community.
Country context
The Democratic Republic of Congo, a country roughly one quarter the size of the United States, has been ravaged by conflict. The havoc wreaked by the rebellion that ousted the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997 and the following war to topple President Joseph Kabila have been aggravated by internal and regional inter-ethnic sentiments. After two civil wars the country is left with a devastated infrastructure and economy. People throughout the country struggle daily for survival. Despite these circumstances, the church in the DRC continues to faithfully bear witness to Christ’s good news through their multifold ministries.
About Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown brings 25 years of public health experience to mission service and a deep commitment to serve Christ by empowering people.
“This building up of people is the work of social justice, which, according to what my family and my church have always taught me, is the will of God,” she says.
Ruth’s history with the African continent goes back to 1979, when she served in the Peace Corps first in the Ivory Coast, where she taught English, and then in the Central African Republic, where her focus was health promotion.
Her experience with the Peace Corps made a lasting impression on her. “The joy and faith of the people, their courage, hard work and good humor, and in particular the determined will of the women to assist their children and their families have been powerful examples for me,” she says.
As a seasoned public health professional, Ruth brings a deep storehouse of knowledge to her duties. Yet she knows she has much to learn from African friends and colleagues with whom she serves. “I am looking forward to working with and learning from members of the Presbyterian Community of Congo such as Medi Kanda, who has developed over 100 functioning community coalitions for agriculture, literacy, environmental sustainability and microfinance,” she says. “I will greatly enjoy serving with these leaders.”
Ruth was a health service specialist with Rural Family Development in Onancock, Virginia, an agency of the Virginia Council of Churches, from 1999 to 2010. Previously she was director of health promotion for the Somerset County Health Department in Westover, Maryland. She has also been a health education coordinator for a tri-state migrant health program on the Delmarva Peninsula, a homeless center manager in Virginia, and a high school English teacher in North Carolina and Virginia.
Ruth holds an undergraduate degree from Davidson College and a master’s degree in public health from the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University.
A member of Ginter Park Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Virginia, Ruth hopes her life will bear witness to God’s concern for the dignity of all people. “I hope that I can support the current ministry of any church in any country in such a way that more people will recognize that all people, regardless of nationality, sex, age or physical abilities, are blessed creations loved by God who have full citizenship in the Kingdom of God.”
Ruth says the guiding Scripture for her life is Micah 6:8: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?”
“During his life on earth, Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled what the Lord requires,” Ruth says. “As Christians, we are to show our love with such action.”
Birthday: April 17
