First off let me confess of a habit that I've developed since coming down here. It involves eating pizza. A few years back a wise man (Aaron Sanders - you can pay me later) talked me into putting a little Bull's-Eye BBQ sauce on my pizza. I thought it was strange, but I tried it, and I liked it. When I got down here I noticed that Brazilians like to put not barbecue sauce but ketchup and mayonnaise on their pizzas. My first response was, "Nope, No Way, Never!" But then I stayed here for another 3 months. And to be honest I like it! Ketchup and mayonnaise actually taste good on pizza.
Now that I've got that off my shoulders, let me tell you my plans for the next month or so. As I said in an earlier blog, I'm no longer doing my training here from February to April as originally planned - instead I will be doing one research trip (or if I have time two) up the Rio Solimões. So what will we be researching on these research trips? Well I'm glad you asked. Plain and simple, we're looking for river communities (think ~200 people living a very basic lifestyle) to send future missionaries. Our purpose in these trips is to find river communities where the Gospel has still not been brought. Some communities already have churches that are thriving, while some are not even open to Christians living with them. We will be stopping at three different river municipals (think ~10,000 people living in a more 'civilized' town on the river) in order to find out about the conditions of the river communities surrounding them. Hopefully, and God willing, we will be able to meet some people from these communities while we are staying in the municipals in order to find out more information about the spiritual state of their community. If things go real well, we'll accompany them out to their community to see for ourselves the possibility of sending American and/or Brazilian missionaries out there to evangelize and church plant. Does that make sense?
What makes this trip really special for me is that one of the three municipals where I am going is most likely where I will be living, full-time, come June. So when we stop at this municipal, we're not just looking for hypothetical purposes, but I'll actually be looking for myself a home! While in the municipal we'll ask about some surrounding Ribeirinho communities to see if there is any one community in particular that appears to have a real need for a missionary and that will be willing to accept some missionaries in the future. As you could imagine, I am very excited to be living out on the river - and even more excited about knowing a lot more details about what exactly my job will look like having gone to where I will be spending a year doing missions work.
So, when does this start? Well, tomorrow! I'm leaving tomorrow, and will most likely be returning somewhere around March 15th or so. So this trip will give me a little over a month of solid Brazilian culture and language (no Americans on this trip, so I'll be speaking only Portuguese!).
So, please pray!
Pray first off that God would lead us to people to talk to and communities where they still know nothing of His sacrifice of His Son on the cross. Paul says in Colossians 4:3, "Pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ." Pray for this foremost - that God would open up doors for His people that He created to know Him and worship Him.
Pray for my language. I praise God that language is going well. I've gotten many complements that I'm sounding "more Brazilian. This could mean that I actually sound Brazilian, or it could just mean that I sounded terrible when I first got here! At any rate, pray that God continues to give me His grace in communicating with people around me. I've been told to be prepared to preach while I am in the interior - in Portuguese! Pray that language would not get in the way of God's Word being taught, and of God being worshiped.
Pray for peace of mind! I'm being thrown into a lifestyle completely contrary to the 'normal' American lifestyle. Pray that I would adjust and enjoy doing life differently.
Pray for safety for myself and the Brazilian who I will be with. At one of the municipals we will actually be teaming up with some Americans from Florida, so pray also that they have safe travel.
In the end, just pray that God would be glorified and that we would be His faithful servants.
I most likely will not have internet until I return in March, so thanks for the prayers, I'll definitely be needing them.
