Brazil Mission Team 2010
Our team landed in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Saturday morning, August 7 after flying all night long on a jam packed airplane. After going through customs, we were greeted by a group of church members from First Baptist Church of Carapicuiba and taken to the church for a wonderful time of welcoming and feasting. We checked out the portion of the church on which we will be doing construction in the coming week. We are still puzzled at what we will be doing, but know we will understand once we start. Our team members were taken to the homes of church members where we will stay this week and the hospitality and food is phenomenol. After showers and some rest we met together with the church leadership around 8 PM Saturday evening for a time of introductions, praying, singing, and planning for the week. The people of First Baptist Church of Carapicuiba are loving people with a heart for Jesus. They sing with all their heart and have beautiful voices. They sang for us and we sang for them. Our team members are excited out of their minds to get started. I am so proud of each of these young people and their enthusiasm to serve their Lord on the mission field of Brazil. Below are some pictures of our last two days of travel and settling in. Please keep us in your prayers. Especially remember Joe. The Brazilans were told he was a soccer expert and plan on him hosting a soccer clinic on Friday. It will be fun and the gospel will be shared. Keep coming back each day for updates.
Sunday, August 8
Today we worshipped with the members of FBC Carapicuiba following a breakfast served to our team in the area we will be doing construction. Worship was an absolute awesome experience. In Brazil, today is Father's Day and the Father's were honored and given gifts during the service. The worship began at 9 AM and then Sunday School began at 10:30 AM. The Holy Spirit filled the room as the we were led in worship by the young people of the church. The entire congregation sang with all their hearts. The morning service was more casual and we were told the evening service is when the larger number of people would attend. Larry Burns preached the morning message from Isaiah 6 with an interpreter from England who was raised in Brazil as a son of a missionary. Our team had our own Sunday School class as we discussed a passage from the book of Matthew on the authority of Jesus. Following the Sunday School, Hayley, Joe, Heather, Chad, Nathan, and Justin met with the young people of the church to plan skits for the clown ministry. They will be performing at least 3 skits. We will be going into one of the local schools for them to share one of their skits. I am no less than amazed at the way each of our young people are able to communicate with the young people of Brazil who speak little or no English. The rest of us visited with a family across the street where the husband is lost. (He came to church tonight!) We were served a wonderful lunch of chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, rice, and green cassorole. We eventually were taken to our host homes for some rest before taken back to church at 6:30 PM for the evening worship. We were fed at the homes prior to church and then fed pizza after church. We are all gaining weight already. The service this evening was packed with people. There were many visitors to come because the Americans had come to worship with them. After much worship through music (some familiar and some not, but all good) and praise the service was turned over to us. Chad Hunter shared his testimony and did a marvelous job as he challenged the young men to live for Jesus. Our group, led by my dad, sang "Victory in Jesus" and the praise band began to play and the congregation joined with us in Portuguese. I brought a message from John 15 about abiding in Christ and was interpreted by a local pastor who spoke a little English. He asked me to use very simple words. It was interesting to say the least, but I believe God used it. I am very moved by the hospitality of the people of Brazil. I am moved even more by the continued excitment of our team. Tomorrow we begin construction work. We were able to see the blue prints tonight and Eric Parker was able to determine through an interpreter what we are expected to do this week. We will build forms for concrete to be poured into columns for the next floor. There will be 5 stories in the front portion of the church for education, music training, and Bible teaching. The sancturary will be 2 stories tall with a rounded type roof. Pray for the upcoming ministry opportunities we will have this week as we try to flexible and let God led.
Monday, August 9
Joe Baker celebrated his 23rd birthday today in Brazil. He said it was certainly different than any other birthday.Today our construction work began. We accomplished more that I ever expected. The church hired a construction group of five to work with us. We began building forms for the next floor which will also serve as the ceiling for the balcony of the sanctuary. We hope to have them ready to pour concrete before we leave. Our team is having the time of their lives. There has been much laughter as we try to communicate with the Brazilian contruction workers to understand what we are doing. Eric, Nathan, and Chad are doing a great job understanding them. Our group continues to grow closer to one another and to God as we see His working in our midst. Tonight we went with the church on their Monday ministry to the homeless on the streets of Carapicuiba.There were about 20 homeless folks in the parking lot of a pharmacy. This is a ministry First Baptist Church of Caripicuiba does every Monday. Larry shared a brief Gospel message, then we sang a few songs, shared the love of Christ with them, and gave them a snack of coffee and sandwiches. It was amazing how attentive they were when they learned Americans had come to tell them God loved them and so did we. Chad and Eric poured coffee into the cups of the homeless as others from our team handed out gospel tracts. This is an experience our team members will never forget. Justin Braswell had become a celebrity in Carapicuiba. The teenagers all follow him wherever he goes. He is quite the entertainer. He is also a hard worker as are all our members. Even Hayley and Heather got in the swing of things as they pounded nails. The church people are already asking if we are coming back next year. I think most of our team is ready to return if God is willing. As I stood atop the building this afternoon as things began to come together, I suddenly was overwhelmed with the feeling we are a part of something great. Keep us in your prayers as we continue to serve as missionaries in Brazil.
Tuesday, August 10
Today, most of our team did construction work all day. Hayley, Heather, and my dad helped my mom with a candy making class in the afternoon. We had an opportunity to really communicate with Pastor Elionii about our schedule and talk about our construction work and the free afternoon he had scheduled for tomorrow. He told us we could do whatever we wanted to do, so we decided to work and meet their goal of having the forms ready to pour concrete by Saturday morning. Pray we can accomplish this goal before we leave. At lunch, Larry Burns found out a close friend of his from back home returned from a mission trip yesterday and had a massive heart attack last night. They are not sure if he will make it. Please pray for Danny and his family during this time of crisis. Tonight we divided our group into two groups and held two home worship services. Several of our team members had opportunity to share their testimonies tonight. God continues to move as we grow closer to the people of Brazil as they bless us with their love and hospitality. One of our aims is to minister to the Brazilian construction team as they are not Christians. We hope as we develop friendships with them through working together, we will be able to share Christ with each of them. God has placed a wonderful opportunity before us.
Wednesday, August 11
We continue to bond with the people of Carapicuiba and they share their love with us. We worked construction all day and accomplished much. The food here is really good, and they feed us plenty of it. Between the church and their host home, Nathan, Chad, and Joe are getting 6 square meals a day. We had the national food of Brazil today which is made with pig's feet. Chad didn't know what he was eating. When we told him what is was and asked him if he liked pig's feet, he said, "I do now." The people here think it is really cold, but we think it feels great. It gets to about 70 to 75 degrees in the day and about 58 to 60 degrees at night. They think we didn't bring the right kind of clothes since we are wearing short sleeves. After working today and cleaning up, our entire team was invited to eat at a family's house across from the church. She fed all 12 of us plus our interpreter. We all ate like pigs. We all laughed and had an unbelievable time. I have not only seen our group bond, I have seen tremendous spiritual growth in a very short period of time. Tonight we had the Wednesday night worship at 8 PM. We sang a song in Portugeuse, read Scripture, and prayed. Then Pastor Elionii turned the service over to me. Nathan shared his testimony for the second time. It really fit with the message I was about to preach. We sang a song as the Brazilian praise band played along with us. I then preached with a now good friend named Jefferson interpreting. As we closed, the pastor said "the first time Americans came they brought 8 people and 1 preacher. The second time they brought 10 people and 2 preachers. This time we brought 12 people and 3 preachers, Pastor Duane, Pastor Larry, and Pastor Joe. He said he knew God is not a God of logic, but it looked to him that next time we would have 14 people and 4 preachers." I pray it happens and happens soon. They also tried to teach us a song in Portugeuse and told us they wanted us to sing it Sunday night. That would be a comical event if we try it. My attempts at speaking Portugeuse sure do make them laugh. Just imagine Portugeuse with a Southern accent. This trip has been an encouragement for the pastor and for the church. It has been a blessing to us. It has been a blessing to me to be with this team. Please pray for us as we travel to an alcohol and drug rehab center and then to a high school. Our young people will be clowning and doing skits. Joe will be preaching. God is still moving and working in our midst. We miss our families, but we are where we are meant to be this week.
Thursday, August 12
Today after a morning of construction, we took the construction workers out for lunch to build a relationship with them. They said they would come to church on Sunday. While the younger six of our group got ready for the their clown ministry, the rest of us went to a drug rehab center about two hours away. One of our team members is a substance abuse counselor from Gastonia. Pastor Elionii did not know that when he scheduled us to go there. Greg Hamrick was able to share some insights with those in the rehab center. The center has been able to share the gospel with these men, and they are turning their lives around. When we returned around 7:30 PM we were fed a wonderful dinner then we loaded up and went to a high school to present a program. There were about 700 kids there, and they were very noisy. The church's praise band played and sang. Joe shared a message with the teenagers and challenged them to give their lives to Christ. Many of the teenagers were unruly until Nathan Smith got up to share his testimony. After he started, there was a holy hush that filled the room. Our team and the group from the church were praying for the attention of the teenagers, and it happened. Once Natan finished, Larry quickly presented an invilation for anyone who would like to receive Christ. Many hands were raised, and about 20 young people came forward to make public professions of faith. This is the first time this church has ever gone to the school, but we pray it will not be the last. Tomorrow we are going to an orphanage then we will host a soccer clinic where the gospel will be shared. Please pray for a plentiful harvest.
Friday, August 13
Today construction was completed to the point of pouring concrete. The trucks will arrive in the morning at 9 AM to pour the floor for the next story and the beams for the roof trusses of the sanctuary. By lunch tomorrow, the portion of the project we came to work on will be complete. To God be the glory. More was accomplished than I ever imagined. This afternoon most of us went to a day care for the poor of Carapicuiba where there were children and some emotionally sick adults. I shared the gospel with the adults while the young people of our team used clowning to minister to the children. Nathan used balloons to talk about the whole armor of God and Joe shared the gospel with the EvangeCube. Hayley Duncan did a tremedous job of putting the clowning skits together. They will be performing skits and clowning again tomorrow in the city of Aluminio as we do street evangelism for children. Tonight we gathered at a local indoor soccer arena to play soccer with First Baptist Church of Carapicuiba. We also invited the construction workers, and they came. They agreed to come to church Sunday morning. Joe shared the gospel using a soccer ball made for evangelism. It had the plan of salvation on it using colors. Everyone had a wonderful time. There were many people there from the church and others who were visitors. Our time here is winding down, and we will be home soon. Our team is excited about sharing with our church what we have experienced. This has definitely been a life changing experience for each person on the mission team. Thank you for all your prayers.
Saturday, August 14
Today the concrete trucks came and the portion of our project we came to do is finished. The Brazilian people say we accomplished more in one week than they had been able to accomplish in six months. They are so excited. We went to the church FBC of Carapicuiba planted this afternoon and our clowns along with the clowns and ministry team from FBC of Carapicuiba ministered to the children of Alumino. We concluded the day there with a worship service in their ten foot by ten foot place of worship. There was standing room only. There is much to tell, but it is late and time will not allow. We'll be home soon and you will hear about the great things God has done. On Sunday we will worship one more time with the Brazilian church. I wish each of you could experience what we are. See you soon.
Sunday, August 15
We worked with a small group of construction workers this week. Our plan was to establish a relationship with them in the hope of winning them to Christ. One of those men was saved today. It was an emotional service for everyone. Reaching our construction goal was wonderful, but reaching people for Jesus is what this trip is all about. Our team members shared their hearts during today's service each saying this trip had changed his/her life forever. The service went on for four hours, but none of us even noticed the time. Instead we wished it would never end. The people of Carapicuiba sang in their language, and we sang in ours; but all of us lifted praise to our Father in heaven. The joy, the worship, the praise was beyond description. Monday evening we will begin our journey home. We will be back in Old Fort Tuesday afternoon, but we will leave a part of ourselves in Brazil. God willing, we will return to our brothers and sisters in Carapicuiba.
Tuesday, August 17
We are home after a wonderful, successful, inspiring, and tiring trip. We started our day yesterday with breakfast at the church. When we stepped into a room we had been using to store our things while we worked to have devotions, the pastor came in and told us a few people had some things they wished to say to us. They were in tears as they thanked us over and over for coming and asking us to return. They hugged each of us. The pastor gave our young people each a tee shirt with the church's logo on it. Then, as Hayley led our devotions, she gave each of us a chance to share an area we thought in which we had grown spiritually this past week. As the Brazilians joined us, we each shared, and more tears were shed. After saying our goodbyes to those we would not see again on this trip, we went to a town called Embu to shop for souviniers and have lunch. We returned to our homes to finish packing, shower, and return to the church for supper before leaving for the airport where there were more tearful goodbyes. As we left Brazil, we were sent by First Baptist Church of Carapibuiba as thier missionaries to North Carolina. Our team left Sao Paulo at 9:40 PM last night and arrived safely home in Old Fort at 1:30 PM today. Uur families met us at the church waving and jumping up and down as we arrived. Two columns of colorful balloons framed the driveway entrance. We will never be the same. I would like to thank Bob Smith for taking us to the airport and picking us up. A special thanks to all those who prayed for us because you were a part of our team, and we couldn't have done all we did without your support. Thank you to those who supported our trip financially. Each of you has a part in the construction which was accomplished, the lives that were touched, and the souls that were saved. God put together a team to accomplish what he wanted done, and each did thier part. That is what church is all about. Let us continue to minister together here in Old Fort, throughout our nation, and around the world. Tchau! (Bye!)
Pastor Duane
