Mission Trip to Brazil

Brazil. A trip so big it has taken me weeks to gather my thoughts to write it up. In part because I volunteered for the task of chief photo distributor, which took up a lot of spare time. But the mass of thoughts to be expressed has been the provocation for this weblog existing, because I couldn't think of any medium more appropriate. It's a long post, yes - but I don't know any other way to express it!

Our dining and Bible study room

What a growing experience! First, a very rough outline of what we did: Our mornings were taken up with Bible teaching and prayer. Rick, our very impassioned Brazilian-American host, would teach for an hour. Then "Bible Study Betty", Betty McKinney, would pick up and teach for another hour. Wow. After that, group prayer. Afternoons were usually a service project of some sort. Evenings, we loaded in the bus and went to some church where Rick would serve as a revival speaker. Gary Livermon, an American minister who came on the trip, would also preach, with translation. We were the prayer team. No matter that we couldn't understand the language - "Pray what the Holy Spirit tells you to pray!" And there you have the makings of quite an adventure.

1. Grace. But early on, Betty was teaching on Galatians 1. Verses 6-7: "...so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - which is really no gospel at all." Betty spoke vividly of this contrast, between the First Love which we discover in the grace of Christ, and the Work of Law which so easily comes creeping in to spoil it.

It touched my heart. I went out - and there was a fresh airy lightness all over me as I absorbed that thought. I never really had a dramatic conversion... "If I can't remember the day of my First Love - maybe it's today!" I think it was. Such freshness, such freedom of heart. I found some dead weights in my soul and made a little ceremony of cutting them off, to drop from a high place. I wished I had a thousand foot cliff to drop them over!

Some local kids enjoy toothbrushes we handed out

2. Finding my place. Being a 40-something amid a preponderance of 20-somethings, I didn't always feel like I fit in socially. Really had to learn to accept that and just be there, instead of trying to push my way in to a social place. Then one day God spoke to me clearly on this: "Don't try to fit in and be like the others. Use your gifts!" And so I became the "camp photographer", and of course the computer guy, since I brought the only laptop and everybody wanted to use it!

3. A new weapon of warfare. Rick urged us to spend a lot of time together, praying in tongues (and if you don't have that gift, see him, he'll be happy to pray that it be given to you, right here and now!) But why so much time? It's a way of joining our spirits with God's spirit, letting God lead, instead of being stuck praying what our limited minds already know. And you know? I have found it to be a big help. When moods are low and the soul's sky is dull gray, this can cut through, back into the faith, hope, and joy! I'm keeping this one!

4. The biggest lesson of the trip for me was very personal, and quite unexpected. It goes like this: "If you find that you have a gift, flex it!"

I knew that I had some help facing the Portuguese language. High school study of Latin, middle school French, and a decent operational smattering of Spanish. And a known gift for languages. Well, The first night we were in a church, the Portuguese worship songs were projected on a screen, and it became apparent that this language is _very_ close to Latin. And what Latin can't help me with, Spanish usually can. I soon concluded, this is doable!

I decided to hit it with my shoulder. To really put in an effort to learn the language while I was there, and see how well I could do. Well, God blessed that beyond my wildest imaginings. After about 5 days it began to pay off. As I strained to understand songs or sermons in Portuguese, usually not translated into English, I began to grasp phrases and bits of meaning - that actually had some spiritual encouragement to them. I began to run into moments to have conversations with Brazilian people, however faltering, that were fun and taught me more.

"The Lion's Church", a particularly lively church we visited

Toward the end one evening it really helped. The worship leader began to pray: "O Pai." "Oh Father" It was a long prayer, and every time he said that phrase, he said it with such love and tenderness that it really touched my heart. No one else seemed to notice. It was then that I knew I had invested my energy wisely.

Conclusion: learning a language in live context is a lot of fun! Every day is a new encounter, a new puzzle. What new words can I catch this time?The details will delight some of you and bore others. So rather than put them all in this mainstream I put them in a sidelog, here. Click and enjoy.

Then there was The Song. Early on, we visited one Baptist church where the worship music was just joyful, energetic, I wanted it ALL! How I wished I had a device fit to record it! But a few days later we went to the mall, and Pastor Tony (Rick's #2 man who runs the mission when Rick is away) showed me what CD to buy to get some of it. I got it, and soon I had the music on my iPod and listened during bus rides. Yes, there was that one delightful song. I listened repeatedly, not understanding, then slightly understanding, then asked for help with a few words. At some point God spoke to me: "That isn't just pretty music. That song is for YOU."

I bought a dictionary. Returning home, I tackled the hard work of translation. REALLY flexing the gift. And then I was really blessed. The song is all about blessing, in fact, a bit of theology we often overlook. It quotes heavily from Deuteronomy 28, the Blessings of the Law. On the principle that in Christ, freed from sin and the Curse of the Law (also Deut. 28) we have access to and should expect the blessings! "Blessed when you come in and when you go out... The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity - in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground, in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you."

I shared it the first night our small group met, after our return. Some of the girls remembered what I had forgotten, namely that the night we heard that song, the young people in the church we were visiting danced a dance to go with it. A dance meaningfully related to the words, at that! One of our girls particularly was blessed by it, and took away a copy to share where she lives. She was blessed, I was blessed, others were blessed.

Yes. If you have a gift, if you find joy in doing something unusual, flex it!