Brazil!

Our latest adventure: travel to Brazil on mission to share the life and hope we’ve found in Jesus with the people of Porto Seguro, Brazil. This is a first for Annette and me. Our church has been involved in ministry here for a decade or so, but we’ve never been a part of this particular mission effort. We’ve wanted to come, knowing how important the ministry here is to many of our friends, but calendars and circumstances just haven’t lined up to allow us to come. In 2015 – we’re here.

We departed Orlando on Father’s Day Sunday evening after a full weekend of ministry. The flight was uneventful for the most part… on-time departure from Orlando, a pleasant flight to Sao Paulo that involved one movie and a lot of sleep… McDonald’s in the Sao Paulo airport as our last some-what American meal for a while… and then another couple of hours of sleep on the flight to our final destination, Porto Seguro. We checked into our hotel, grabbed a shower and a nap, then enjoyed dinner and sweet time of worship with our mission team. This morning, ministry begins.

I’m here with the band. “We” will play for a city-wide cultural renewal event of some sort in downtown Porto Seguro on Wednesday, lead worship during a conference for pastors on Thursday, and be involved in worship a couple of times on Sunday. The rest of our time here will involve construction, washing feet and distributing shoes in something called Happy Feet, providing eyeglasses, offering dental care – and most of all, sharing the love of Jesus. This is going to be interesting… and rewarding, I’m sure!

The “we” in the paragraph above is highlighted for this reason: While I’m here with the band, I have learned just two words in Portuguese, the native language here: good morning and thank you. So I obviously don’t have much to offer in singing and leading in worship. I’m here to facilitate the ministry however I can while three Portuguese-speaking worship leaders on our team lead. I can’t wait to experience these three singers – along with the very-capable members of our band – do their thing here in Porto Seguro.

The language barrier has already caused me to feel a little anxious and helpless. But Gary Taylor, leaded of mission efforts in Porto Seguro, reminded us last night that we can share the love of Jesus without words. And then I read a bit of 1 Corinthians 13 this morning and realized that I can love the precious people of Porto Seguro without saying a word: If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, do not have love, it profits me nothing…

“Apart from the spirit and motive of love,” writes John McArthur, “nothing done in the Lord’s name – no preaching, teaching, or service, not matter how orthodox or impressive – is truly acceptable to Him. It amounts to nothing.”

Lord, if I can’t speak or sing the language this day, may my love for the people of Porto Seguro burn bright in such a way that they see You in me. Amen.