Missionary Spotlight

From FMB Letter to Spain Mission

April 11, 1975 – Columbia, South Carolina

P.D. and Brenda Lee were appointed as missionaries to Spain in the Board meeting this week. They are an attractive and competent couple. Their personal testimonies to the Committee and to the 12,000 people gathered for the appointment service were much appreciated.

The Lee’s will add strength to Baptist work in Spain and I am delighted that they have been appointed.

Sincerely,
Dr. J.D. Hughey, European Director

Recently someone asked me, “How did you know you were called to go as missionaries?” This is the story of how the Lord made a way for my husband and I to become missionaries to Spain.

At the age of 8, I gave my heart to Jesus, was baptized, and became a member of Bethel Baptist Church. From that time forward I have had a close relationship with the Lord and have depended on Him in my daily life. At the age of 12, I dedicated my life to full-time Christian service and was elected as church pianist. My life was taught and guided by my loving Christian parents who were the best examples that I could have had, demonstrating how to serve and love others.

When I was 9, a dear pastor’s wife started GA’s in our church and took 5 of us girls to Camp GARAYWA. This was my first introduction to learning about missionaries and I was deeply impressed. During my Clarke College years, I worked at Camp GARAYWA as a counselor and camp pianist. I was blessed to be able to lead several campers to the Lord.

During my years at Blue Mountain College I attended a BSU Convention and felt the Lord leading me to do summer mission work. I applied and was chosen to work in Baltimore, Maryland with the Home Mission Board. It was during this summer that I became reacquainted with a young man, P.D. Lee, from Starkville. His early lifestyle was very similar to mine in that he was blessed with a Christian home and a family that was active in First Baptist Church. His mother was the church secretary, his father an active member of the church building committees. His Mom and Grandmother were active in WMU and Lottie Moon Offering was a household name at Christmas. P.D. became a Christian at the age of 12 and was baptized and became a member of First Baptist Church. As a child, he attended Camp Garaywa the first year it was opened. He never forgot about meeting his first missionaries.

After our marriage in 1964, we lived in Huntsville, Alabama. P.D. was a graduate of Mississippi State University with a degree in electric engineering and was employed by the Army Missile Command. 

We became active in our church, making new friends, helping with the music as a pianist, and singing in the choir. A few years later, during a visit home, P.D.’s father asked if he would like to move back to Starkville and become his business partner, working with him to grow Lee’s Radio & TV Business.

So we moved to Starkville to start a new way of life. We became active in First Baptist Starkville. I started a couples supper club with new friends, worked with children’s choirs, was active in WMU, and enjoyed raising the two children the Lord had blessed us with. P.D. enjoyed playing guitar for a hobby and soon had a group of people who had moved from Honduras join him. Not many of them spoke English, but who needs to speak when music is its own language. 

Little did we know the Holy Spirit was beginning a new plan for our lives. In 1971 P.D.’s father became seriously ill and at the age of 58 was diagnosed with ALS. The following months were very difficult especially for P.D. and his mother. His father passed away in December of 1972.

It is hard not to question why these things happen in life but as a couple we drew closer to the Lord than any other time of our married life. We became more dependent on Him for daily strength and guidance. As we grew in our Christian faith we felt very strongly that He was leading us to help others, first within our family members, but then reaching out to others in our church family through visits to nursing homes, sharing devotionals, and leading musical programs for them.

In the seventies, the business grew in spite of that period with high inflation. We enlarged the business, with a sales department of musical instruments and furniture. I joined the business as sales and business manager. By 1974 we enjoyed the work in the business but we were no longer satisfied. There was something missing – we wanted more time for family and more time to help others. After much prayer and seeking God’s will in our lives we came to the conclusion that we wanted to get out of the business. Our prayers and thoughts continued to return to travels we had made and enjoyed, especially to Mexico. P.D wanted to realize his dream to learn to speak Spanish, so we began to have lessons as a family.

In June we took a camping trip with friends and quite by accident, Sammy and Sue Simpson, missionaries on furlough from Ecuador, were with us. P.D. and Sammy became quite involved in discussing new opportunities with the Foreign Mission Board (now the International Mission Board), and the needs in Radio & TV ministry. P.D. was not an ordained minister at that time so he was doubtful he would qualify. The next week P.D. asked me to write to the Board about their Radio Ministry. As we waited for an answer I began to research places, Spain in particular. In the library material, there was a picture of the city of Alicante. I remarked that it really would be too much to ask for our placement to be in a city as beautiful as this. A few days later the letter from the Board came saying: request missionary to install radio equipment in Alicante, Spain.

There were frequent letters and phone calls from the Board and everything seemed to be in order, that is, until one day we received a financial statement that said we must be debt-free. Well, we didn’t have a good answer for that one. Yes, we were trying to make arrangements for selling, but so far no luck. We received an invitation from the FMB to attend a meeting in Atlanta the next week to continue with our approval process.

I had spoken to a good friend in real estate about wanting to sell. He was a bit discouraging, telling us it wasn’t good timing but that he would keep us in mind. Our prayers continued to be “Lord, we are depending on you for guidance and we know as you have done many times in our lives that as long as you are leading us Your will be done.”

Monday morning, our real estate friend and two other gentlemen entered our store, greeted us, and proceeded to say they had heard we might be interested in selling our business. Before the morning was over a deal was made to sell the business and inventory, and we felt assured we could go to Atlanta that Thursday and let the Board know that everything was clear with our finances.

We were blessed with 21 years of missionary service in the International Mission Board. The Lord took us to many places, and provided us with many opportunities to serve. Each place P.D. and I went to has its own stories of the Lord leading and protecting us as we served Him; stories that I love to tell. They serve as reminders that each day is a new opportunity to serve and wait on the Lord to show us His will. Our mission is never complete.