About the Impact Churches
As a teenager, Paul was first confronted with the needs of the urban poor. Paul's parents would often give rides home to his teammates on the high school basketball team. Several of those young men lived in or near a bad drug neighborhood. So, Paul decided that, after he finished college, he would go work and serve among the inner-city poor in America.
During his junior year of college, Paul attended the URBANA missions conference. There, Paul committed himself to a life of full-time service in global mission. He thought he was headed to western China. After completing his bachelor's degree at the University of Maryland, Paul spent two summers in China as an English teacher.
In 1997 Paul started his seminary education. His plan was to obtain his M-Div in 3 years and then return to China. God had other plans. Faced with the fact that he had no money to pay for his seminary education, Paul started working full-time while attending seminary part-time. During that time, Paul met his wonderful wife and began a family
In the Spring of 2006, the Brown family believed that they were heading to SE Asia to serve as cross-cultural missionaries. But God seemed to be thwarting them from going. So, they asked God, "If you don't want us to go, what do you want us to do?" This led to months of prayer and reflection.
In October 2006 Paul wrote his desire for the Church. This became known as the Impact Churches.
