Barbara Vaughan helped wake up Madison for four years as one of the two news anchors on WKOW-TV’s morning news show. She left the program last August and by next August hopes to be living in Budapest, Hungary, with her husband Brian and their two daughters.
Right now the family still lives in Janesville, where they’ve made their home for the past five years. As is the case for many who feel the call to the mission field, they’re focusing first on putting together a team of people who will stand behind them with prayer and financial support.
The first call
Barbara and Brian Thompson first felt attracted to the mission field as they sat in church 15 years ago and grew frustrated at missionarys’ presentations that were not as informative as they could’ve been because they lacked strong visuals.
“Brian and I have sat in the pew many Sundays and heard missionaries share their ministries,” Barbara said. “So often they don’t have a picture or anything to show what their ministry is all about. We’d sit and think, ‘we’d love to be able to help them present their ministries and share with people the stories they have and what it is that they’re doing for God.’ That happened, over and over again.”
Brian’s work in video production complements Barbara’s experience in TV news reporting. They met each other and married when they were both working in Omaha. Their careers took them on to the Twin Cities and then to southern Wisconsin.
Barbara, who uses her maiden name on the air, enjoyed the opportunity to get back on the air at WKOW/TV27 after taking time off to be home with her daughters during their pre-school years. Her job called for her to get out of bed at 1:15am, in order to be to work by 2:30am. That schedule did have its advantages. “It was great for our family,” she said. “I could be home in the afternoons when my kids got off the school bus. But it did take its toll. I don’t know that you ever feel that you’re rested.”
The Second Call
When they talked about media and missions recently with some missionaries who visited their church, Bethel Baptist Church, and who actually did have a strong visual presentation, the missionaries told them, “There’s a real need for digital media in the global church world.”
The missionaries connected them with United World Mission, which is based in Charlotte NC. “That began a long journey of exploring opportunities, and listening to what God had to say to us,” Barbara said. “This whole idea of global missions has been blossoming in our hearts for 15 years.”
They now have an assignment, to work with church planters in Budapest, Hungary. “We’re not seminary-trained, like they are,” Brian said. “We just bring our professional skills to the team to develop some training materials. We think our ministry is unique because we can help all of these (missionaries). The power of digital media is such that God is going to do great things with that.”
To learn more about their new mission field and the opportunity to join their support team, check out their mission web page: http://www.digiwicket.info/ and their video http://tinyurl.com/25kaoe2 .
