'OK God, we're coming'

Wood 'N You owners close up shop, leave town on a faith journey

MOSES LAKE — Before the interview can even begin, Wendy Brown offers a caveat.

"Before we do anything else, this is all going to be about God," she said.

Fair enough.

Brown and her husband of 22 1/2 years, Art, closed their business, Wood 'N You, last week and left town Wednesday. The reason?

"Actually, we feel the Lord's calling us to Baker City, Ore.," Art said. He's been driving the bus for Big Bend Community College, and ended up staying a night in that city in September.

"I got up the next morning, did my devotions, got back on the bus and started heading out," he recalled. "I just felt the Lord saying, 'There's a lot of lost folks down there.' And then a little later it was, 'You need to come to them — they won't come to you.' So we've been praying about it ever since September."

In October, Art took Wendy to show her the town. The couple decided to go in the middle of December.

"We listed our house the second week in January — it sold in four days," Wendy said. "And so we're like, 'OK God, you want us there sooner than we thought. OK, we're ready to go.'"

The original plan was to leave at the end of the school year, Art said.

"We put the house up for sale like Wendy said on Monday, people looked at it on Wednesday and bought it on Friday," he said. "So it's like, 'Ok, God, we're coming.'"

The Browns lived in Moses Lake for 13 1/2 years, Wendy said. They came to the area because Art was hired to work for the Department of Fish and Wildlife managing the Columbia Basin Trout Hatchery. The Browns owned Wood 'N You for three and a half years, although Wendy worked there for 10.

Last year, the business moved to Red Rock Creek Gallery.

"The move was good because we got to meet the people at Red Rock Creek," Wendy said. "They're a bunch of awesome people—"

" — who happen to be from Baker City, Ore.," Art interjected.

Wendy said that they had not known that until Art returned from Oregon.

"It was just hard for us to say, 'OK, we're going to go just because (God) told us to; we don't have anything lined up down there,'" Wendy said. "But just realizing that God always keeps his promises, and just because we haven't done it that way before doesn't mean it won't work. And so when God sold our house in four days, I knew it was the right thing to do."

The couple said that they were not actively looking to leave the area.

"Moses Lake has been real good to us, it's been a good community," Art said. "We always thought we'd live here until we retire, or die or whatever .. The Lord just really touched my heart that day, and it was a totally God-filled day."

Children Naomi, 17, and Brandon, 16, have also made the move. The Browns' oldest children, Nathan, 22, and Nick, 20, will remain in Moses Lake with their families.

Wendy said she plans to do some contract framing, but there are no immediate plans to open a new business in Baker City. Art has no work lined up, nor a house, although a pastor in the area has offered the Browns a place to stay until they can find a place.

"I feel the Lord has a special plan for us down there, I don't know if it's in the ministry or what it is, but it's working in the community," Art said.

"Basically our job here on earth is to lead other people to Christ," Wendy said. "That's our first and foremost job here on earth. And so, in doing that, I believe God is taking us down there to help us be workers for him …"

"We're going down on faith, that's what it is," Art said.

Wendy said that their pastor called the move a faith journey.

"(He said), 'You may stick your foot out, and you may not feel like there's anything underneath it, but when you put it down there'll be something there," she said.