A Passion to Help Others

In 1995 Mission Brenham founders began their search for the right person to lead the new ministry.

Not only would the leader be charged with building the ministry from scratch, but he would also need to develop trusting relationships with underprivileged families, with volunteers and staff, and with community leaders. To bridge this gap meant overcoming longstanding cultural, economic, and racial divides among Washington County citizens.

To take up this challenge, the board selected Marcus Lawhon – a young graduate from Baylor University, and a stranger to Brenham. "I think I was the only one who would take the job," Marcus jokes.

Indeed, the task may have been daunting to many. But Marcus accepted the challenge and brought with him, in abundance, a passion to serve the poor and bring others to the light and love of Jesus Christ.

At the time, Marcus was confident that he could make a difference in the lives of others. Today, with many successes behind him, his desire to help the community has grown even stronger.

An eye-opening experience.

In his earliest years at Baylor University, Marcus felt sure that he was on the path to become a wealthy business tycoon. Then he suddenly found himself virtually penniless, having to decide which daily meal he could eat with his meager savings.

For Marcus, this was a life-changing experience, even though his deprivation lasted only for a weekend. He was participating in a poverty simulation program at Mission Waco, where he learned firsthand how his less-fortunate neighbors were living.

"It was a real eye-opener," Marcus recalls. "I was very much changed after that weekend. I knew I could do something about the unhappy reality that so many people face every day."

Dropping his business major, Marcus opted instead for sociology and the ministry. He began volunteering at Mission Waco and seeking additional ways to help those who are less fortunate. He spent a year as a student missionary in Moldova, a small country near Ukraine, where he and other missionaries helped to establish a church.

Turning the world upside-down.

"A world that abandons its spirituality begins to fall apart,” Marcus says. “Promiscuous relationships lead to poor family structure and discord. That leads to children who lack support and guidance, and they don't do well in school. Without educational, spiritual and emotional foundations, the kids grow up to become dysfunctional in their jobs and relationships. So they usually aren't good mothers and fathers to their children, starting the destructive cycle over again. This pattern can have a profoundly damaging impact on the community."

"The followers of Christ should be just the opposite," Marcus continues. "We are to be salt and light — preserving that which is good and dispelling the darkness.

"So, if we are followers after Christ," Marcus concludes, "we should ultimately be turning this dysfunctional world upside-down. And Washington County is in need of such turning."