Last summer, Kevin G. Browne, retired U.S. Air Force chaplain, drove 835 miles from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Fulton to take on the job of his life.
"I came the 8th of August to Kingdom Christian Academy, and school started a week later," he said.
The move was complicated, he said, but things jelled quickly.
"I had to have some major miracles," he added. "I sold my house in four hours to the first person who walked through."
Browne said he's found a new home at KCA, and is living his passion to create an environment that supports Christian education.
"I'm here until God takes me out kicking and screaming," he said, laughing.
Browne was born in Washington, D.C.
"Don't hold that against me," he said with a grin. "I spent most of my growing up in the Midwest."
His education is extensive. Browne holds three masters degrees. His first was a masters in education from Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary in Michigan.
In 1990, he went on active duty as a chaplain in the Air Force.
"I spent 23 years working with real American heroes," Brown said. "I flew around the world 12 times."
His overseas assignments included such places as Turkey and Korea and Iceland.
"I had a 'hardship' duty in Hawaii," he added. "That's sarcasm."
Then Browne became an adoptive parent. His son William was age 7 when adopted, and is now 24 years old.
"How did that happen?" Browne said. "I must have blinked."
Browne, never married, raised Williams as a single parent.
"I was an administrator at my son's Christian school until he graduated," he said. "That was my last official act."
Brown's second masters degree was in curriculum and instruction in 2012 from Colorado Christian University.
"I made the mistake of telling God I'm not going to college any more," he said.
God had other plans, however, and the next year, Browne received his third masters degree in executive leadership from Liberty University.
Being able to apply his education and religious beliefs to his job leading this school means a lot to Browne.
"This is an incredible ministry," he said. "KCA was started in 1995 and met at Fulton Baptist Church. They they got this facility - we rent from Missouri School for the Deaf. It's a great facility."
Grades start at pre-kindergarten, and on May 20 at the new Southside Baptist Church, KCA will graduate their first senior class, with three members receiving diplomas.
"This is really, really historic," Browne added. "It's not only historic for the school, it's historic for the community."
Browne lauds his staff and teachers, attributing to them some of the joy he's found in his new post.
"I have an incredible team of teachers who love Christ and love the kids," he said. "Each one of them sacrificially comes here to work."
The school has 17 teachers and 160 students, all of whom pay tuition.
"We do have a needs-based financial aid program," Browne added.
The school, he added, gives children a good grounding, along with learning Christian fundamentals at home and in the church.
"How you think is how you act and how you act - it's really how you interact and contribute to society," Browne said.
KCA is non-denominational. Browne said he grew up in "Urban Pentecostalism," then became a Baptist at age 13.
"I was ordained in the Baptist church," he added.
During his term as Air Force chaplain, what his soldiers and their families needed most was a sure thing - and Browne said he helped them build that strong foundation through faith, something that would stick with them no matter what happened in their lives.
"These families are always in the midst of transition - war, deployment," he said.
He wanted to give military families a solid rock upon which to stand.
"And training others do do that work," he said of that period of his life. "That was the exciting thing about Christian education."
At KCA, Browne said he leads by serving.
"I have the privilege of serving this team," he said of his staff. "My job is to make sure they have everything they need to do the best jobs they can."
He said that's the real role of a leader.
"I make sure they're professionally and spiritually equipped. I'm just humbled that I get to do it," he added.
As cheerleader-in-chief, Browne also said nurturing the children and receiving their trust - and hugs - is a big part of his passion.
"When the kids are hurting, just to put an arm around them and pray with them - being their pastor as well as their administrator," he said of his role.
KCA students will soon participate in a Scripps National-sanctioned spelling bee for their 110 elementary-through-middle school students. That spelling bee is planned for Feb. 9.
"The winner is eligible to go to State," Browne said. "I'll be in the front row cheering them on."