Growing up as a child of missionaries, it seemed logical. By age 11, Jeannine Brabon knew she was going to follow in her parents’ footsteps. But having lived all her short life to that point in Colombia, Jeannine also knew that
missionary work could be dangerous. "Lord," this young girl cried out, "I’m not brave enough." But God gave her the courage. And now, after studying in Wilmore and serving in Spain for 16 years, Jeannine Brabon finds herself back in the place where her calling began.

Colombia — home of drug dealers, assassins and criminals. Murder is so common in Colombia, newspapers rarely carry articles about the crimes. In a country with a population of about 35 million, nearly 30,000 people are killed each year. Compare this with the United States which boasts over 260 million people and just over 23,000 murders in 1994. Colombians commonly refer to the rule of evil as the "culture of death."

Jeannine, the 1997 Asbury Seminary alumna/us of the year, grew up as a young girl during Colombia’s undeclared civil war known as La Violencia. During that time in the 1950s an estimated 200,000 lives were taken. And so, she knew what a dangerous place Colombia could be — yet that did not stop her from being obedient.

For 26 years, Jeannine has been a career missionary with OMS International.  For the last seven, she has been ministering in Medellín, the second largest city in Colombia. In addition to her duties as a professor at the Biblical
Seminary of Colombia where she teaches biblical Hebrew, Jeannine ministers to some of the most notorious criminals in the country, in the country’s most notorious prison — Bellavista.

There are more than 4,000 inmates crammed into a prison designed to hold 1,500. Up until seven years ago (when the Bible studies began), Bellavista was known for its violence — there was an average of two murders a day within the prison walls. It’s in this setting that Jeannine conducts a Bible study program with a leadership team drawn from the seminary, ex-offenders and prisoners. And as lives are being transformed, the killings are slowing — only
seven inmates have been murdered since 1990.

There are 500 inmates who are currently studying the scriptures either through the Bible Institute (which is a one-year, intensive seminary course of study) or through the discipleship/mentor program. In this program, an inmate receives Christ and is discipled. He, in turn, takes other inmates under his wing for discipleship. In addition to this responsibility, each converted inmate is challenged to witness to two people everyday. And on the weekends, when family and friends are allowed to visit, the inmates often evangelize the visitors. Thousands have been saved through this ministry.

Because of Jeannine’s obedience as a little girl, these men, whose lives were once known for violence and hatred, are now known for peace and love. When an inmate arrives at Bellavista and meets Jeannine for the first time, her words offer hope: "Jesus loves you," she always says. "And you are valuable to Him."  In a culture where a man’s worth is based on how much money can be made from each murder, those words have a telling truth.

For Jeannine, each time she enters the prison she realizes it could be her last. Death threats constantly surround her — but as she says over and over again, "Security is not found in the absence of danger, but in the presence of
Jesus." Not only does she live this message, but she preaches it to the men whose lives could be snuffed out in a moment. Unfortunately, Juan Carlos Londoño’s life was snuffed out too early.

Juan was one of those 4,000 prisoners at Bellavista. He had been a sicario — a paid assassin — and held a high command in Medellín’s drug cartel. But through the outreach at Bellavista, Juan’s life had been transformed. No longer a feared terrorist, Juan was described as a "prince of a man who humbly served His Lord and Savior." Walking down the corridor towards the prison chapel with his Bible in hand, he was fatally shot twice in the head. Juan Carlos was killed one month before he was to graduate from the Bible Institute.

For Jeannine, this scene has become all too familiar. But there is comfort in knowing that this man (and the many other martyred men from her ministry) did not die a Christless death. From a little 11-year-old girl who thought she
wasn’t brave enough to do the job to God’s "angel" (as the prisoners call her), Jeannine Brabon has become the deliverer of the life-changing message of Jesus Christ.