On December 6, 1931, the Rev. and Mrs. Davis O. Bryson were set apart for missions service in Colombia, South America. The service was conducted in Milan, Tennessee. with the Rev. E. R. Ramer delivering the consecration sermon. Mrs. Johnie Massey Clay presented the charge and delivered the commissions.

Three weeks later the Brysons arrived in Buenaventura, Colombia and commenced a ten year ministry in that South American country. "Misses Brintle and Barnett were there to meet us, and we were certainly glad to see them," Davis wrote. "We had heard so much Spanish on the ship that it made us long to see someone that could speak English. We did not know the language nor know how to check our baggage into the country. We needed them."

They became veteran missionaries and valuable contributors to the growth of the Cumberland Presbyterian mission in Colombia. The pictures on this page remind us of those days a half century ago when the Brysons' presence on the field was so important. They were sent to former editor of The Missionary Messenger, Mrs. T. C. Stockton, by Roy Spencer, having been sent to his mother by Mrs. Bryson during the thirties.
[Source: The Missionary Messenger, April 1989, page 19]

The Rev. Dr. Davis O. Bryson died January 16 in California. A funeral service was held in Sunnyvale, CA. A memorial service is planned for Feb. 11 at the Chinese Church in San Francisco. Mr. Bryson was a missionary to that congregation for many years, serving in a ministry with youth and young adults, and with the English speaking congregation. With his wife, the late Gladys Holt Bryson, Bryson was a missionary in Colombia, SA, 1931-1946.

A graduate of Bethel College (1928) and the Cumberland Presbyterian Seminary (1931), Bryson pastored churches in Tennessee and Arkansas before going to Colombia. The Brysons have a son, James D. Bryson, who survives.

The family requests that contributions be made to the Bryson Scholarship Fund with the Board of Missions.
[Source: The Cumberland Presbyterian, February 1990, page 8]

[Source: Yearbook of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1991, page 109]