Explore Church in Missoula recently went on a mission trip to Brazil. Follow them on their journey as we post journal entries that were written by a member of their team. You can find previous entries at www.mtsbc.org.
Day 3
We arrive on a red eye flight and touch down at 2:15 am in Manaus, Brazil. We check in at the motel at 4:00 am, after getting to bed at 4:30. This is our first time in a bed since Friday night. After 34 hours of travel, we have finally arrived (sort of).
I slept in and missed breakfast, which was so sad. The coffee was still amazing though. One year of Portuguese practice on Duo Lingo has gotten me nowhere. It is shocking how little I understand. I feel frozen, like a deer in the headlights. Hearing conversational Portuguese is like another planet compared to practicing on a phone app. It would take years to understand.
I pray for a supernatural ability to speak and understand, but sometimes the greatest miracle is the willingness to look foolish. The courage to try and fail is rare and valuable. It is becoming increasingly rare in a culture surrounded by perfect pictures and presentations. When all the answers are one Google search away, it feels foreign to fail. Like a toddler, like a baby babbling its first words, a child knows that it is loved. A kid who knows that his or her efforts and failures are a delight will never stop trying, they’re fearless. God, you are fearless. Jesus you were fearless. Please make me fearless like you. Grant me the willingness to be judged and rejected, to do what you are doing.
Day 4
How can a church of 25 people plant two separate churches in two “invasion zones” controlled by drug lords, run an after-school program, have a dental clinic, and run a Ju Jitsu studio teaching local kids in a pallet-house town? It defies logic! Who are these people? They are people I want to meet. These are the people doing the work, with the people. Jesus, you leave the 99 to find the one. Wherever and whoever they are. How can I speak the language of their hearts? Give me the words to say. Make a way.
Meeting the local indigenous people, Venezuelans, Brazilians, all living together; mixing, melting. We see jaguar-tooth necklaces and drug traffickers. It sounds scary, but these drug lords want the church in their areas because they help; they do good. The western church could learn something from these Brazilian church plants.
There is no law against doing good. This place is not safe without favor, but the church has favor. Sometimes when the church is ridiculed, rejected, and looked down upon, it is because it has stopped doing what it was meant to do. To care for widows and orphans is the true religion. These people live and love like Jesus, and it is humbling to see.
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