Lush green jungle, mountains, waterfalls, hummingbirds and big blue butterflies. This was the setting of our first ministry point in South America.
Our mission in Itatiaia was the fulfilment of a vision God gave Mariana Adolpho 10 years ago: to build a prayer room on the mountain where people from all over the world could come and spend time with God.
There is a big witchcraft influence in the area and hotels and houses ran empty as a result. During our time there we helped to build the prayer room, painted the house in bright, life giving orange and yellow colours, interceded in prayer for the people in the area, and fellowshipped around the dinner table with delicious local Brazilian dishes.
We experienced the Holy Spirit in a very tangible way and God revealed His will to us of seeking Him purely for who He is and not what He can offer.
For our 3 days in Rio de Janeiro we were invited to Wesleyana Igreja by Pastor Marco and his overwhelmingly loving church community.
Although they could not speak English at all, we had the best "conversations"... with big facial expressions, hand signs and google translate. We got an average of 20 facebook friend requests per day and Brazilian selfies with the missionaries accompanied almost every kiss on the cheek.
The need was to awaken the church's heart for missions, so we performed a drama on the Portuguese version of The Anthem, shared our testimonies and the vision of Global Challenge through a translator, and just spent quality time by building relationships and praying with them.
Pastor Marco was in a way a metaphor for Jesus in our team. We could not plan anything, as the language barrier prevented us from knowing what would happen next. Therefor we just followed Him blindly, being spontaneous in the moment, trusting where he would lead us. We realized that our faith and trust in Jesus should also be more like that. There is so much freedom in this kind of living.
God blessed our team with the money we needed to go up the mountain in Rio and pray at the Christ Redeemer statue. We prayed specifically for people not to idolize the stone man, but rather connect with the living and resurrected Jesus!
In Belem we had a few unplanned days before our Amazon boat departed. But God had plans. A local church took us in at very short notice and treated us like honoured guests...providing for us in everything, including sightseeing to Vero Peso Market and a day on Mosquiro Island.
We shared our testimonies in church and at a local primary school, did a drama in a park where a lot of young people hang out at night and went out to houses to pray for specific needs.
As a leader of our team, I learned first hand about the power of God's Word. How the Bible clarifies any misunderstanding there might be, without me having to explain or sound convincing. I also learned how loving one another covers a multitude of sins.
Our 5 day boat trip on the Amazon was all about chilling in our hammocks, interacting in broken Portuguese with the other passengers, eating wild Amazonian fruit and being in awe of God's beautiful creation.
The giving and serving heart of the Brazilian churches is something that really struck me as an example to live by.
As Paul said in James 2: Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
Their actions speak louder than their words while they live to represent Jesus on earth.
Obrigada Brazil!
It's been "Legal"!