The actions of Jesus were always uppermost in Dewey Briscoe’s mind during his 42 years of ministering to others.
"What did Jesus do all of his life? He ministered to the needs of the people. So if Jesus is living in us and we don’t do that, we’re not practicing what Jesus told us to do. We have got to minister to the needs of people," Dewey said recently.
Saved at the age of 12, Dewey couldn’t sit still when he felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit during a Sunday School lesson. Baptized a short time later by his father, who was a pastor for more than 50 years, Dewey hadn’t planned on becoming a pastor too.
For more than a decade, Dewey fought God’s call. Like Jonah, he thought he could run from the challenge the Lord set before him. At the age of 38, Dewey finally accepted his call to preach God’s word.
"In September 1965, I went forward and told the church that God wanted me to preach His word. In two weeks, I preached my first message from 1 John 4:7-11 called ‘God is Love,’" he remembered.
With his wife, Inas, at his side, Dewey preached more than 30 messages the first year at different churches around Cullman County in Alabama. The next year he was called to his first pastorate at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church — the church his father pastored when Dewey made his profession of faith 27 years before.
"I’ve enjoyed pastoring all eight churches that I’ve pastored and I believe God put me in every one."
Dewey recalled a special day when his secretary informed him of a hospitalized church member who had asked him to visit her.
"A deacon and I drove over to see her and when we walked in the room, she began to cry. She said, ‘Brother Dewey, I don’t want to die — I have never been saved.’ I took my Bible and began reading the scriptures on how to be saved. She was gloriously saved and the next day, she died. That was worth my going to Michigan [to pastor a church]," Dewey shared.
During his ministry, Dewey and Inas faced some difficult times when they could barely make ends meet for even basic necessities.
"We were only making $125 a week and had two boys starting in high school. We went broke, just living for a long time with no meat on the table. On one visit to Birmingham to visit one of my members that was in the hospital, we stopped in a grocery store and I went to the meat counter to see if I could find some meat at a cheap price. Fatback was 79 cents a pound and I had to pass it up," Dewey recalled.
Through it all, their faith never wavered. "I knew we’d get by," Inas said.
"I have had so many prayers answered when we were down and almost out. It was tough, but God always took care of us. I have never made more than $300 a week as a full-time pastor."
"Never had $1,000 in the bank at any time in 42 years. We managed to get by — God is a great supplier but he doesn’t oversupply. He gives us our needs day by day," Dewey said.
Dewey and Inas recalled one year when they didn’t have money during Christmas.
"I didn’t know what we were going to do. I went the next morning to my office and got down on my knees. I prayed and cried to the Lord to help us," Dewey remembered.
Two weeks later, a check for $100 arrived from Dallas, Texas. A couple of weeks after that, a Christmas card arrived with a $100 bill tucked inside. Then, a $50 check from the last church his father pastored.
"Jesus said if you keep my commandments and do those things that are pleasing to me, you can ask anything in my name and I can give it to you. That is a positive statement from our heavenly Father and I’ve lived on this all my ministry," Dewey said.
When health issues finally forced him into retirement, Dewey turned to Mission:Dignity for help.
"I have never been paid very much — just enough to get by. That’s okay because I was doing the Lord’s work that He called me to do, not knowing I would live to be 80 years old. I hate to ask for help, it’s not my cup of tea, but it would be so nice if you could," he noted on his application.
Last year, Dewey and Inas began getting a monthly grant from Mission:Dignity. Without it, Dewey feared they would have to sell their home. Now, he and Inas have enough to cover their monthly bills.
"Thanks is not enough to say for what Mission:Dignity is doing to help retired pastors. The money we get will be used wisely. It means so much to us. My prayer is to God for Him to really bless Mission:Dignity and all who give to make this happen," Dewey said.
"We’ve done without in order to help someone. But God called us into His ministry — His ministry to minister to people — and whether it be a physical need or a spiritual need, that’s what we’ve always tried to do," Dewey added.
Just what Jesus would do.