Oh, Brazil.
There is so much to say about it, but I don't feel that I have articulated it well up to this point.
I'll admit it, I'm a processor. Until I have fully processed an event, it is hard for me to talk about it. A lot of people have asked me how Brazil was, and all I've been able to say is "great". Great is such a lame word compared to the reality of it.
Just in case you were wondering, here are some fun facts I learned while being in Aracaju:
1. The sun comes up at 5 am! By 5:15, it was bright and shiny in my room. This means that the hottest part of the day is around 11 am. It was a little hard for me to get used to, but it works. The sun also sets around 5 pm, so the daylight was very precious to us.
2. Portuguese is not as close to Spanish as I thought it would be. But Portuguese is beautiful and I wish I could have learned more. Sometime in the near future, I will.
3. If you want to communicate with someone bad enough, you WILL find a way! Hand gestures are universal, my friends. God was gracious to us with great translators and even more gracious when they weren't around. I taught my new friend, Camilla (who knows a very small amount of English), how to score all of the rec events and how to do the rec awards with no translator the entire time. It was completely a God thing.
4. Brazilian coffee is what I imagine heaven will be like. Don't even bring up Starbucks because it is not even in the same league.
5. Teenagers and youth in Brazil are absolutely authentic in every part of life. It was beautiful to be able to do life with them for a few days. I was challenged and inspired.
6. Dancing should be a part of every worship service. Don't hate me Baptists. If you were a part of some of the worship services we were, you would absolutely say the same thing. I wanted to bring the dance teams home with me.
Here is a quick snapshot of what we did. The Baptist convention in the area had never done an evangelistic youth camp. They had done camp before, but only for believers. Our job was to put on a youth camp in partnership with them so that they could follow the same model in the future. There were 8 churches who participated. They brought 108 students to camp! This was way beyond the goal the convention had set for attendance.
Camp consisted of celebrations, large group bible studies, small group bible studies, and recreation, with LOTS of food in between! The camp was very fast paced because we were doing it in just a weekend. God provided some great leadership who absolutely love the Lord and loved the students.
My rec team was beyond awesome! With a translator and about an hour to explain all the games, they were just as good as any rec team I've ever seen at any camp. They gave the camp life and energy! I loved every single one of them. They were SO hard to leave. Here's a picture of them right before leading their first rec session:
God did work at camp! SIX students gave their life to Christ and many strengthened their relationship with Christ. It was such a blessing to be a part of.
I titled this blog "Obrigada" because it means thank you in Portuguese.
Thank you to each person who supported this trip and made it possible for me to go. My brother and I were able to raise more than we needed and were able to sponsor all of the kids who came that were non-believers! That is 28 kids! You guys did that!
I am so thankful for this experience. It was my first time to go out of the country for a mission trip and it absolutely rocked my world. It gave me a small taste of what the race will be like.
Thankful that my Jesus is at work all over the world and that he is letting me take part in it.
-LD
