Brazil 2007 (Part the First)
On Monday, June 25 I arrived home from a full week of ministry in Sao Luis, Maranao, Brazil. To both of you who read my blog (thanks, mom), I want to take the next few days and share some of the details of our trip. It was beautiful, exciting, scary, emboldening, and heartbreaking. It caused me to weep over the lostness of men and rejoice in the goodness of God who extends His grace to undeserving sinners. You are probably not going to read things here that are deep and profound, but I pray that as you read my words that you would be encouraged to draw near to the heart of God and challenged to let your light shine before men.
I set out from Nocona, TX on Friday afternoon, June 15 with two of our senior adult women, Travis and Rosita. We arrived at the DFW airport where we met our other two team members, Steve and Lynn. Steve is a frequent flyer and a member of the Admiral's Club, so he was able to get us into a more comfortable place to wait for our flight.
We boarded the flight and I ended up on the very back row next to a Brazilian woman. Being 6'4", airplane seats are never confortable for me, but on an overnight flight next to a perfect stranger they are almost unbearable. I managed to doze for a few minutes at a time throughout the night. Sunrise on the flight came early, but when it did it was spectacular. It was so bright that it blasted orange beams of light through the windows and onto the other side of the plane. As it continued to rise we could see the lush green valleys filled with the early morning mist and fog. From the very beginning we were treated to glimpses of God's glory in creation. We got into Sao Paulo at about 8am.
We had to go through customs, but thankfully no one got stopped or searched. We then had to maneuver through the Sao Paulo airport to recheck our bags and find our next flight. Thankfully we had a long layover to get this accomplished. I did get to use my first Portuguese to tell a woman, "Eu nao falo Portugues (I do not speak Portuguese)." For the first time in my life I really felt like a foreigner. All the signs were in Portuguese. Everyone was speaking Portuguese. Airline officials were shouting directions in Portuguese. Maybe it's because I'm a self-centered American, but it was tempting to expect everyone to understand me. It was good for me to be forced to adapt to everyone else.
Our next three flights were short, to Recife, Fortaleza, and then into Sao Luis. Thankfully all our bags arrived! The Fore family (Michael, Cynthia, Chris, Joseph, Carilee, and Jenny) met us at the airport and greeted us like family. I could tell that they missed "home folks." We met our bus driver for the week, Orlando, loaded up and headed for the hotel. We got checked in and headed to bed. Sunday would be a full day.
As I lay in bed and reflected on the first days of our trip a couple of things struck me. First, with all the things that could have gone wrong, very little actually did. Rosita did get stopped at every security check, but none of us were stopped at customs. All of our flights were smooth. There were no flight delays. We made all of our connections. We arrived with all of our luggage. I know that this was no accident. It may be a small thing, but I'm thankful that God is sovereign even over the details.
Second, during the 45-minute drive from the airport to the hotel God began to plant in my heart a burden for the people of Sao Luis. Even though I only watched through a bus window for a few minutes, I saw street children, thugs, partiers. I saw people without Christ and without hope who are destined for hell unless God saves them. I prayed that the love of Christ would compel me to be bold in sharing the gospel.
Third, I knew that I was going to preach Sunday night at the church service in Sacavem (a neighborhood within Sao Luis). I wanted to be sure that I preached a simple gospel message that would be a call to the lost and a challenge to the saints. I prayed that I would have a clear idea what I should preach.
Also, I really started to miss Catherine and the kids. More to come...
I set out from Nocona, TX on Friday afternoon, June 15 with two of our senior adult women, Travis and Rosita. We arrived at the DFW airport where we met our other two team members, Steve and Lynn. Steve is a frequent flyer and a member of the Admiral's Club, so he was able to get us into a more comfortable place to wait for our flight.
We boarded the flight and I ended up on the very back row next to a Brazilian woman. Being 6'4", airplane seats are never confortable for me, but on an overnight flight next to a perfect stranger they are almost unbearable. I managed to doze for a few minutes at a time throughout the night. Sunrise on the flight came early, but when it did it was spectacular. It was so bright that it blasted orange beams of light through the windows and onto the other side of the plane. As it continued to rise we could see the lush green valleys filled with the early morning mist and fog. From the very beginning we were treated to glimpses of God's glory in creation. We got into Sao Paulo at about 8am.
We had to go through customs, but thankfully no one got stopped or searched. We then had to maneuver through the Sao Paulo airport to recheck our bags and find our next flight. Thankfully we had a long layover to get this accomplished. I did get to use my first Portuguese to tell a woman, "Eu nao falo Portugues (I do not speak Portuguese)." For the first time in my life I really felt like a foreigner. All the signs were in Portuguese. Everyone was speaking Portuguese. Airline officials were shouting directions in Portuguese. Maybe it's because I'm a self-centered American, but it was tempting to expect everyone to understand me. It was good for me to be forced to adapt to everyone else.
Our next three flights were short, to Recife, Fortaleza, and then into Sao Luis. Thankfully all our bags arrived! The Fore family (Michael, Cynthia, Chris, Joseph, Carilee, and Jenny) met us at the airport and greeted us like family. I could tell that they missed "home folks." We met our bus driver for the week, Orlando, loaded up and headed for the hotel. We got checked in and headed to bed. Sunday would be a full day.
As I lay in bed and reflected on the first days of our trip a couple of things struck me. First, with all the things that could have gone wrong, very little actually did. Rosita did get stopped at every security check, but none of us were stopped at customs. All of our flights were smooth. There were no flight delays. We made all of our connections. We arrived with all of our luggage. I know that this was no accident. It may be a small thing, but I'm thankful that God is sovereign even over the details.
Second, during the 45-minute drive from the airport to the hotel God began to plant in my heart a burden for the people of Sao Luis. Even though I only watched through a bus window for a few minutes, I saw street children, thugs, partiers. I saw people without Christ and without hope who are destined for hell unless God saves them. I prayed that the love of Christ would compel me to be bold in sharing the gospel.
Third, I knew that I was going to preach Sunday night at the church service in Sacavem (a neighborhood within Sao Luis). I wanted to be sure that I preached a simple gospel message that would be a call to the lost and a challenge to the saints. I prayed that I would have a clear idea what I should preach.
Also, I really started to miss Catherine and the kids. More to come...
posted by dave woodbury | 5:47 PM
1 Comments:
Is there anyway you can put me in touch with the Fore family. I've known them since the early 90's, but have lost touch in the last 6 or 7 years. I stayed with them for several weeks after Jennilyn was born. If I could somehow give you my email address to send to them w/o publishing it on the blog, that would be great.
Lisa (Ackerman) Lawrence
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