Fun facts of our return flight home: Latam airplanes have a max speed of 871 km/h. The Amazon River and Belem look very similar to Vancouver and all the islands near the BC coast. (Our team has successfully arrived back in Canada!)
As I write this, we are flying over Brazil, on our first of three flights. It is still surreal that we have been here for a month. Thinking back to the memories of our first couple days in Brazil, it feels like yesterday and yet when I think about all the things we have done in the last month, it looks like we’ve been traveling just as fast as this plane is!
It is bitter-sweet to look back on the many amazing things that happened this past week. It was a week of lasts and yet so many incredible memories.
Picking up where I left off last week – On Tuesday, we had the privilege to be part of another ProVIda team meeting. For me, these meetings are an amazing testimony of what a missions organization is; They begin their week of ministry by worshiping together and setting their focus on God. They take turns leading the Bible study, allowing different people to bring their own gifts to the team and for everyone to be spiritually fed. I really enjoyed chatting with Paula again and having her affirm in us that people we have visited in the prisons will remember us and care about us.
(and now… Christiana is finally finishing the last blog post, only a month later!)
On Tuesday morning, we had more opportunity to pray with the missionaries for the specific requests of each ministry. Something that is big for ProVida right now is the transition of closing the boys home and waiting for a sale to go through. They really were hoping for a similar organization to be able to buy it but based on financing, it may not be possible. Also two of the long-term missionaries from Germany are returning home in September and will not be returning which is leaving big gaps in the ministries that ProVida is currently involved in. We enjoyed laughter and conversation over lunch with the ProVida team and were even allowed to help clean up with dishes in the kitchen (unlike at our host family where we were shoed away if we tried to help! 🙂 )
Our team with some of the long-term ProVida staff!
Tuesday afternoon we returned to the same boys prison as previous weeks although we ended up meeting 4 new boys. We had some great conversations and were able to get to know them. After asking them to share something with us, they always flipped the question back to us which was great and it even gave us opportunities to show that we do not know what the future holds for us either. In sharing their prayer requests, they were very honest that they are uncertain about Christianity yet they do want it and acknowledged that something is missing in their lives. It was a very meaningful afternoon and a good way to end off our time at this particular prison.
Wednesday, Olivia, Jo, Kelly and I headed out to the boys home and helped clean the houses and prep for the upcoming summer camps that they will be holding. It was a hot, sweaty, wet and dirty business but we had some good laughs along the way and it was a great change of pace as well as meaningful to be directly serving the long-term missionaries.
The afternoon and evening was spent playing games with our host family and learning more Portuguese words including tent and camping because the family had bought little tents for the kids and we spent a couple nights camping in yard together!
Thursday was a holiday for all of Brazil! As a special event we planned an excursion with the whole Brazilian family plus some of the other important people during our month of ministry – including Rafael and his family (ProVida missionary) and Jamison and his daughter (our driver for the month). We went out to a recreational camp where there was a pool, bikes to ride, a little boat to paddle and a horse you could ride!
The day was spent soaking up the sun and enjoying time together with everyone! We topped off the evening by going out for pizza and playing a game with Jo – a missionary from Wales (a woman of many stories and an incredible ability to make a person laugh, while also being someone I had great theological conversations with!)
Oh ya, and pizzas in Brazil are a little bit large!
Friday was a bit of an emotional day. We visited the women’s prison for the fourth and final time. After a time of sharing testimonies and a bible story, the girls at the prison started expressing how much they appreciated us being there and how it brought joy into their lives and into their week. It was amazing to hear from them what it meant to them and it didn’t take long for a room full of women to have tears in their eyes. Some of our team members also were able to have amazing conversations and hear more of the life stories of some of the girls.
From L to R: Melissa, Jo, Jeanne, Olivia, Maria, me and Paula
In the afternoon we were able to connect with the new leaders of ProVida – a young couple who have been serving for many years – and offer our appreciation and give feedback on our last month.
Saturday and Sunday were wrap-up days and a time to enjoy moments with the family we were staying with. We were thrown a huge farewell party on Saturday night that many of the people we had met in the last month were invited to! In true Brazilian fashion it involved lots of food and World Cup futêbol decorations!!
There are so many moments to look back on and try to capture but it is simply too difficult to get them all. Our team is so thankful for the many people we could meet and spend time with in Brazil and for the long-term work that ProVida is participating in because they are definitely working to be a light in dark places.
For those of you were faithfully checked the blog and supported the Church in Brazil and our team through your prayers, thank you. The people and country of Brazil has a pretty special place in my heart now, and Lord willing, I hope to return someday.
Most of our Brazilian family!!
Please continue to pray for the people and ministry in Brazil. Here’s a few specifics 🙂
– that God would provide willing and able workers to participate in the ministry of ProVida
– for lives to be changed for the young people who are in the prison system in Brazil
– for the corruption of the government and its effect on the nation
– for the immense material poverty that contributes to the amount of youth violence and drug and alcohol abuse
– continued freedom for the work of ProVida in the prisons because authorities are starting to be stricter on who can go into the prisons
Sea to Sea 2017 