Brazil Mission Update: The Night Before
Tonight, the team came together one final time before setting sail for our 4,500+ mile trip to Brazil tomorrow night. There is a joy and excitement in the room - many of us may not sleep, anticipating something like Christmas morning as we wake up Sunday morning to a new land, stretching jungles and a sea of dark-skinned, brown-haired people.
We are excited for the new places our eyes will focus upon. We're excited about new and unexpected smells. And ready or not, sweat to soak through clothes in minutes.
And hoping to not get lost in all the newness, we prayed for God to open our hearts to the things he will show us. To the things he wants to do in our hearts. To the cultivation of a deeper relationship, just as the river cuts deeper and deeper as it flows East from high in the Andean mountains.
Transitioning from 98mph to something much slower, it may be hard to adapt, as we pray to leave expectations at home. Since when does God keep to our minute-by-minute script!?
And in small and great acts of ruthless trust, eleven people step in faith to the South. A mom leaves behind her kids. A college student walks away from a semester at full-speed. Jobs, cell phones, PDAs, computers, cars, lattes, the 405 and the dulling routines are left behind as well.
Like children, we hope not so much for great accomplishments or a return on our investment, but more in getting lost in endless tributaries, serving the servants, and loving and being loved by a family we know but have not yet met.
Here, we pray we might be used. We might grow. We might get closer. And find new life on the river.
For more information about Missions at MPC, please email us at:
missions@malibupres.org
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