Sharing my Trip

Leading a group to Brazil this summer was really great. Teaching 5 classes before, and 2 after the trip was wonderful. Part of debriefing was asking everyone to give the poster version of their trip, the trailer version, and the movie version: because everyone will have a different amount of time and interest level in hearing about it. So here is mine:

Poster (or elevator pitch): Great trip. Celebrated 30 years of ministry in Brazil well. I led 34 people all coming and going at different times. I felt more peace/grounded and was able to be grateful for the past and look forward for the future. We have a great team in Brazil and I am proud to be a part of them.

Trailer (My favorite suggestion was to take 5-10 favorite pictures and share about each one):

Part 1: seeing people I’d just met from the USA fall in love with my little yellow church. Here we are praying for Pastor Celio and his family. We celebrated 30 years of ministry in Brazil- and I’ve been a part of basically 20 of those 30 years. And 10 of those years were at the little yellow church. When you are busy living those years, there are a lot of pot holes and hard times and hard things. It was amazing to see how when you look back over 30 years, love just flows over all those pot holes and fills them in. It looks a whole lot neater and nicer looking back.

Part 2: In 2012, I took pictures of the kids we were serving at the trash dump community of Carpina. In this picture, you see some of those (then little) kids laughing at the pictures of themselves from way back when. The trash dump has closed, the kids have grown up, but people serving there and loving the community has not. It has been incredible to see how Brazil has changed over the years. Those who visit now are not seeing the same things. I tried to wrap my head around how Carpina has its own mall, it’s own Sal e Braza (Leitao) restaurant, and even a basic kind of peanut butter. Different doesn’t mean bad or good, it just takes some time to get used to.

Part 3: This is as close to a group picture as we got. Perhaps a better group leader of 34 people would have made sure to get an “official” picture in our matching shirts. That didn’t happen. I honestly didn’t even think about that until just now. Working with Michelle to organize things before, during, and after the trip was a lot of work. But it was fun work for me. There is always this pressure to make every moment count on a mission trip. It is so.much.money. It is only so.many.days. You have to do all.the.things. Or not. Or God just reminds you that you can’t. Or you lose your voice. Or you have to 1 Peter 5:7 it and cast it all on God. And He will give you what you need for that day- on that day- not before or after.

Part 4: It is a really cool thing to be able to do, as a job, what you really want to do in life. I know it is not common to be able to do that. Steve Turner invented this really great job of being the Brazil representative for World Renewal and he did it for 28 years. In and around Covid Steve became the head representative for all of World Renewal, and I became the Brazil representative. At the 30 year celebration, he took the time given to celebrate his years of service to officially pass on the baton on to me- and set me up for success in the years to come. It was a great, kind, and humbling thing, and I am grateful.

Part 5: This is at my little yellow church, singing something. I want to say this carefully and clearly: I love my family and my home and my life here in the USA. We are right where God wants us to be- I am where God wants me to be. But sometimes I like Brazil Rachel better. My body likes Brazilian food better. My soul thrives in Brazil, even while the sweat is dripping- I can shower later. My spirit soars at the intersection of Jesus, children, Brazil, and poverty. It is just the way I was made. When I am not there, I miss it (saudades). And that is a dichotomy that won’t be reconciled until heaven. And that is ok.

The last part of sharing your story is sharing the “movie” version. I haven’t put together that yet, but I did do a debriefing podcast, which is kinda the same thing, and here it is.