New year! New students! On January 2nd, we were blessed to start 2024 with nine new students from Tennessee, Texas, California, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and El Salvador, all in our Spanish Department. Not all have made it to Fort Worth yet because of immigration issues, but one by one, they are showing up, and while waiting on Student Visas, they are taking their classes online through Zoom. As they begin their new journeys, please pray that they will be the best students possible and soon enter full-time ministry serving God and local congregations.

Student Introduction

Daniel Martinez

Brother Daniel Martinez is a terrific young man, 38 years old, from Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. He is married to Melinda, and together they have three sons, ages 14, 12, and 10. His mother primarily raised Daniel after his father’s passing when he was only five years old. She raised him in the church at the 89th Street congregation in Ensenada. (The building is pictured below, along with his family). He obeyed Christ in baptism when he was a teenager. As an adult, he supported his family through a construction and house painting business while his wife was a stay-at-home mother and wife. I asked him why he wanted to attend preaching training school. Though his English is about as good as my Spanish, little to none, he stated he came to BTSOP to confirm his convictions, increase his ability to save his sons, and then work for the Lord in whatever doors may open. I was touched when he discussed having the tools to prepare his boys spiritually. I don’t know if it is the loss of his father at a young age, but the passion with which he spoke about saving them was touching. I have heard a lot of reasons over the years why men choose to preach, and most all always answer in short, they want to be the best they can be to serve God. This may be the first time one responded the same, but as well, added that he wanted to be a better spiritual role model for children. Please keep him in your prayers as he begins this two-year journey at BTSOP.

Daniel Martinez Family

New Web-Sites

I want to express our gratitude to Sister Marie Kinsella. For around 25 years, she has worked as the web host for our works with Chimala Mission and the Brown Trail School of Preaching. She did a fantastic job keeping the sites fresh, easy to use, and beneficial for the brotherhood, no matter what we threw at her. Unfortunately, she decided to retire recently, and because of that, we have had to find new hosts, and we are building two new sites. The first site, http://www.browntrailschoolofpreaching.com will be our official site with all the school information. The site is up, but we still have a way to go in order to finish it. We are also building a second site, our archive and job posting site. This site is coming soon, but it will take months to upload all the archives we have and continue to collect. We hate to lose Sister Marie; she is a great coder and servant of God, yet we are grateful for those willing to help us continue this good work in the future.

Graduate Updates – Greg Knight

Greg Knight came to Brown Trail in 1975 for his training under the leadership of Wendell Winkler and graduated in 1977. He and his wife, Karen, have two children and two grandchildren. Since graduation, together they have served with eight congregations and a two-year, full-time mission work. They have labored in Mineral Wells, Lipan, Rising Star, Abilene, Kirbyville, and Pottsboro (all in Texas), and his last full-time work was with the Central congregation in Denison, Texas. As of December 31st, 2023, he “retired” from pulpit work. He and his wife have purchased some property in that area and will continue to worship with the church in Denison.

I first heard of Brother Knight in 2007, when my wife and I moved near Beaumont, Texas, to work with the church in Kountze. The sister congregations of Kountze and Kirbyville enjoyed a very close fellowship. I always heard about how fun and encouraging he was, but I only had the opportunity to meet him a few years later.

Brother Knight is a man who loves God, the church, and the souls of men. He always has a smile, ready to laugh, and ready to serve. Though he is retiring from pulpit work, he retired to focus on missions. In 1994, he took his first mission trip to Haiti, then to Ukraine, and since then, he has worked in Cameron, Ghana, Uganda, and Tanzania, East Africa. He just arrived home from a two-week trip in Talawanda, Tanzania, where he and others have been establishing a Bible training program and working to establish congregations.

Part of Brother Knight’s ministry is to teach the local preachers how to work their land to become self-sufficient since the local congregations are too poor to support a preacher fully. In most places deep in Africa, unemployment is 95%, and most live off several acres of land. He goes into areas like this and teaches them modern hydro and farming techniques so they can grow foods naturally to their locations year-round, enough to support their families and preacher training programs. This is his primary focus now, and we pray for his success, for it will be God’s success and many more years of service to the Master!

Brother Knight and Karen

Conclusion

Please keep us in your prayers as we begin 2024. We are already looking toward summer when we will bring in a new batch of English students. Please let us know if you know any young men considering ministry. Also, please contact me if you are interested in me visiting the congregation you attend to show the presentation of the school.

Brotherly,
heath w stapleton