Bryson Browning Explores Bonaire

Bryson Browning (left), one of three summer interns serving with TWR on the island of Bonaire, learns and works alongside missionary Mark Pallant. 

Bryson Browning knew he wanted to serve God with his mechanical engineering degree. After prayers for direction, God answered Bryson and led him to TWR. When his spring semester as a sophomore at Marshall University ended, he prepared to leave home and journey to the Caribbean island of Bonaire with two other TWR interns.

On Bonaire, Bryson has learned a lot about engineering in a missionary role on a tiny island. He serves with Broadcast Operations by building fences around the towers, cleaning up fiberglass, installing cameras, running wires through the ceiling and walls, replacing some ground radials around the towers and more.

What led you to joining TWR?

At Marshall University, I go to a campus ministry called Cru, and The Traveling Team, a group of itinerant evangelists, visited during one of the meetings. After they came, I scheduled a phone call with one of the guys from the team, and he told me about TWR. I felt led to join TWR because I was struggling with how I wanted to serve the Lord with my career, and I heard about TWR within a few days.

What are you looking forward to while working at TWR?

Gaining experience and using what I am learning in school to serve God. I also am looking forward to learning new skills that will help me later on as well.

What is one of your biggest challenges this summer?

Adjusting to the heat and not being able to speak the local language have been challenging for me.

How did you get interested in ministry?

I felt a calling on my life within the first month of my freshman year of college toward ministry. I didn’t understand it at the time, but after spending time with Cru and going on missions with them, I learned what I wanted to do. I think this internship also will give me further direction.

How is this internship preparing you for your future?

It’s showing me what it looks like to be involved with missions with my skills in engineering. This internship is making me think a lot about what the rest of my life is going to look like.

What have you explored on Bonaire?

We took a tour around the northern part of Bonaire, and it was beautiful. We saw a bunch of landmarks and cool animals. We saw an iguana, some flamingos and sea snails along the coast that had some beautiful shells. We found a monument of a cross on top of a mountain where you could see most of Bonaire and the island right next to us.

We asked Olly, another Bonaire intern, how he’s seen Bryson thrive on the island.

Olly’s answer: Bryson’s willingness to tackle challenges is really admirable. He was the first one to try driving manual. He has also spent a bunch of time exploring Bonaire, learning about the culture and embracing change.  

Fun fact: Bryson loves golf!

Images: (top, banner) Bryson Browning (left) joins Site Engineer Mark Pallant in the studio on Bonaire; (middle, right) Bryson (right) and fellow intern Burke Murray (left) used part of their summer to build fencing on the Bonaire site.