· Born 1968 in Albuquerque, NM

· Born Again in 1976

· Baptized and a member of Grace Baptist Chapel in Albuquerque, NM in 1976

· Surrendered life to the ministry in 1988 and attended the Missionary Baptist Seminary in Little Rock, AR

· Announced call to preach in 1990

· Married Shannon Hooten in 1993

· Graduated from the Seminary, receiving Bachelor’s Degrees in Theology & Bible Language in 1993, and a Master’s Degree in Bible Languages in 1994

· Pastored Grace Missionary Baptist Church, 1995-2004

· Pastored Brookside Missionary Baptist Church, 2004-2006

· Has two kids, Quentin & Mckenzie

The Missionary

In the winter of 2004, Bro. Stephen Lee moved to the St. Louis Area with his family to pastor Brookside MBC.  Because the church did not have a parsonage, they began to look for a house.  Choosing to live in the city of St. Charles, primarily because of property valuations, the Lee’s would have been within 5-10 miles of the church building living near several of Brookside’s members. 

However as their hunt began, it seemed they were pushed further and further west into the St. Charles County area.  Houses that would meet their family’s needs were seemingly hard to find at that time of year, and the Lee’s were pressed for time.  Whether it was faulty wiring, bad neighborhoods, or too expensive, their search was frustrated.  They put their needs into the Lord’s hands and eventually settled in O’Fallon, 30 minutes away from the church building, believing He had a purpose for it.

As they were house hunting, two ideas kept springing into Bro. Lee’s mind.  One was that a church was needed in the area.  His original desire was that Brookside would grow with a large enough segment living in the western St. Charles County/O’Fallon area to call a missionary and begin a church.  The other idea was to host Bible studies in his house.

In fall 2004, Bro. Lee began having some home Bible studies, inviting everyone on his street.  Two families came, and the Bible studies started.  The course Bro. Lee developed was supposed to take 6-8 weeks, but they spent 6 months on it.  The people who came were eager to learn the Bible, and there was good discussion about it.  Many times, they would spend 1½ – 2 hours talking about the Bible.

With the completion of the course came time for a break.  Bro. Lee intended to come back and continue the studies at a later time.  However, because of unforeseen hardships to the two families, they could not proceed at that time.  Yet during that break, the Lee’s met other families and told them of the studies.  Many indicated they would be interested in coming if they began again.

In the winter of 2006, Bro. Lee felt the Lord was dealing with him to resign from pastoring Brookside MBC.  At the same time, he kept feeling a desire to continue the Bible Studies and wondered what would happened if he left the area.  In May of 2006, after much thought and prayer, he resigned from Brookside.  Then, as the Lord continued to lead him, he realized that the Lord wanted him to begin a work in the O’Fallon/Western St. Charles County area.

Bro. Lee has never thought of himself as being a missionary.  However, he realizes that the Lord often selects the least likely of candidates to accomplish His purposes so He will receive the glory.  Upon that thought, Bro. Lee sees himself as an unworthy earthen vessel the Lord uses to carry His precious message to the world.