Brazil

Going to Brazil on a mission trip was a life changing experience. Before the trip I was living in my own world of bitterness. While in Brazil, I realized how big God is and how small I am and how my earthly problems don’t matter. This experience caused me to get outside my comfort zone and showed me how God does love every tribe, language, people, and nation. Now that I am home i have challenged myself to love others like God loves me. Before the trip, I was searching for happiness in worldly things, now I know that true happiness solely comes from a relationship with Jesus. ~ Claire Taylor, Spring Brazil Team, Send Me 2012

Before the trip I had a lot of issues with my faith and the doubts that I had, but as soon as I got to Brazil I felt that God was with me and He gave me a change of faith and that is what i had been praying for. Brazil gave me an opportunity to re-establish my faith and to give me an idea of what truly being on fire for Christ feels like. ~ Jessica Breslau, Spring Brazil Team, Send Me 2012

I didn’t know how God would use me to do his work in Brazil but I knew I had to go. It would be an understatement to say that God completely blew everyone on the team away. It was a completely life changing and perspective shifting experience. I would recommend that everyone go on a mission trip because God can use you in ways you would never imagine! A verse that summarized the trip and my experiences was Isaiah 6: 8 “Then I heard the Lord’s voice saying, “Whom should I send, and who will go for us?” I said, “I’m here; send me.” ~ Macy Roe, Spring Brazil Team, Send Me 2012

While in Brazil I was blessed with the opportunity to share my testimony and the gospel for the first time. Over the trip God replaced my fear with His Holy Spirit, and I learned to be still and let the Lord do His work through me. For the first time in my life, I learned through the Brazilians and the experience as a whole that I am not of this world, and the things that matter most in life have nothing to do with the world at all, but all about God. ~ Emily May, Spring Brazil Team, Send Me 2012

This past March I was blessed with the opportunity to travel to Recife, Brazil on a mission trip with my school. Before landing in Brazil, I vividly remember having a plate of some sort of chicken placed in front of me on my tray and I thought to myself, “Why am I here?” However, I had no idea what was to come and the blessings I would receive. Upon arriving in Recife, my attitude changed immediately. I was ready to do whatever it was that the Lord asked of me. While in Brazil, the Lord asked me to witness to countless men, women, and children. I was asked to share the gospel in front of large groups of people while I stood on a stage in the middle of a park on a microphone. And while doing these things, I could not have been anymore joyful. I loved every minute of it and I continue to think about the Brazilians that I have met and maybe did not even meet. This trip has put the thought of going into the ministry on my heart heavily and I would not trade my experience in Brazil for anything. If you are given the opportunity to go on a mission trip, take it for what it is, a blessing, and do not pass it up. ~ Alex Lezon, Spring Brazil Team, Send Me 2012

Wow, how can I even begin to talk about how Brazil affected me.

We always hear and say that God has a plan, but it’s so amazing when you see that plan in action. God had definitely been using events in my life to prepare me for this missions trip to Brazil. I’ve always had a love of other peoples and cultures and use every chance I’m given to explore and understand other cultures. In fact, what I’m studying for four years in college is international relations. Recently, I’ve been participating in a Perspectives class. This class has a focus upon missions and, like the class states, has given me a different perspective on missions. God was using all of these to help prepare me for Brazil.

I’ll be honest, though. This was my first missions trip. I didn’t know what to expect. I had the mindset of going to Brazil to help change other people’s lives. Boy, was I wrong. God is so awesome! He’s able to use ordinary, broken people to show his perfection and glory (Acts 4:13). Not only that but He also changes you in the process. He molds you into what He desires you to be (Is. 64:8). God blew away my expectations and used Brazil and its people to change me. Their openness and friendly attitudes are catching. He gave me a taste of Revelation 7:9. Worshiping with my Brazilian brothers and sisters gave me chills knowing that one day every nation would be joining us in worshiping the ONLY name worthy to be praised. He showed me faces of people He desired to have a relationship with. I felt His longing to show them His love. Don’t go on a missions trip if you don’t want to change. You will, and it will be wonderful.

One of the things that hit me hard was something that happened while going door-to-door. Groups were given different sides of the road to witness to. On the side that we were on, we kept meeting believer after believer. On the other side of the road there were so many people that accepted Christ that day. How often do we reach out to our neighbors? Isn’t it so easy to ignore those that are often closest to us? There was a mission field right across the street. I’ll be honest. It took almost 5,000 miles for me to share Christ with someone for the first time. There’s a mission field in my dorm, in your apartment complex, in your family’s neighborhood. There are lost people everywhere that are going through life without God’s guidance. What are we doing about it?

Brazil and what God did there will always have an impact in my life. He opened my eyes to so many things and continued to strengthen my love for those other cultures. He’s given me a vision of what He wants in my life. Because of that, I will never forget Brazil.
~ V. Fancher, Spring Brazil Team, Send Me 2012