June 25-July 4, 2010, I had the
privilege of leading 18 volunteers from Edmond’s First Baptist Church to
participate in an extremely well-organized and effective human needs/evangelism
strategy under the auspices of Pioneer Missions, a non-profit missionary
organization affiliated with Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. Our project was organized in cooperation with
Iregja Batista Nacional Betania in Vitoria da Conquista, a city of 300,000
people. Our specific object was to
facilitate a new church start in one of the city’s poorest and most
crime-infested communities.
Our team partnered with a team of eight
volunteers from Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, TN, a corps of committed
and gifted interpreters, and many local Christians. Our Brazilian coordinators were Pioneer
Missions missionaries, Rosanne and Eduardo Soares of Porto Seguro. They were accompanied by their daughters,
Jessica and Lorena. Our North American
coordinator was Gary Taylor, a founder and director of Pioneer Missions and a
veteran of countless missions throughout Brazil. His right-hand man was Dr. Phillip Jett,
pastor emeritus of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, MS. They were also engaged in the construction of
a church/community center/trade school in another poor neighborhood. Their dream is the transformation of entire
communities.
Our work was a component of a larger
strategy envisioned by Pioneer Missions missionary, Pastor Carlos. He sees Vitoria da Conquista as the base for
calling out, equipping and sending a multitude of national
missionaries/evangelists/church planters throughout the vast regions of
northeast Brazil, where there are hundreds of unreached towns without any
evangelical church. Pioneer Missions has
made a multi-year commitment to the city councils and Baptist churches of the
cities of Porto Seguro and Vitoria da Conquista. I have not observed a sounder and more
fruitful strategy anywhere in the world.
Ours was a diverse team. In ages, we ranged from 80 to 16. In experience, we ranged from seasoned
veterans of volunteer projects to those who were doing this for the first time. We were energized by our young people; three
high school students, two university students and a young married couple. They were led by our youth pastor, Jonathan
Pickett. They arrived in Brazil well
rehearsed and spiritually ready for their exhausting multiple performances of
the powerful evangelistic drama, The
Redeemer. Our coordinators commented
several times about their being the best prepared team with which they had
worked.
Travel wise, this was not an easy trip. Going down we had ample opportunities to see
each other in all the stages of exhilaration and exhaustion. Everyone stuck tight as a group, I kept our
yellow team T-shirts in sight and, in spite of close connections, we sped
through four airports and made it into Porto Seguro on schedule. After lunch and rest at a good hotel, we
hooked up with our Tennessee counterparts after their delayed flight and made
the six-hour bus trip to Vitoria da Conquista under a full moon. We arrived at our hotel at 2:30 AM, over 40
hours after taking off in Oklahoma City.
Everyone was in good spirits, but glad to hear that Sunday morning
breakfast would not be served until 10:30 AM.
Sunday: After
a late breakfast, we gathered with our coordinators and interpreters for a good
orientation session. Everyone
immediately sensed the passion of Gary Taylor as he welcomed and challenged us. We met our interpreters individually and
heard Pr. Carlos and local leaders talk about their burden and vision. From there, we were treated to a traditional
Brazilian feast at a local churrascaria, a meat lover’s dream come true. Before returning to our hotel, we visited the
neighborhood where we would be working Monday through Friday. The pastor of the new church start and Pr.
Carlos challenged us, and we formed a prayer circle on the street.
That night, our people got to experience
Sunday night worship at a Brazilian Baptist church. This is when the big crowds come out, and
1500 to 2000 people filled Igreja Batista Nacional Betania. The celebration worship might scare the
daylights out of a staid North American congregation, but our folks entered
into it with abandon. I had the joy of
doing my favorite thing in Brazil, preaching.
My interpreter, Guilherme de Paula, is a 26-year-old theological
student. We bonded immediately and I
felt complete liberty with him at my side.
It was a special delight to see people quickly responding when the
invitation was extended. The highlight
of the evening was a father shouting when his teenage daughter came to Christ.
Monday
– Thursday: We were up at 5:00 every morning, to breakfast by 6:00
and on the bus at 7:00. We arrived at our
work site at 7:30 and found a long line of men, women and children waiting for
us to receive them. Because the city’s
public schools were closed for the winter break, we were able to use the Escola
Muncipal Ramundo da Nova, just two blocks for where the new church had been
able to secure a small building. After
gathering for a devotional and prayer, we went quickly to work.
People were registered at the church
site, giving them an immediate tie to the new work. They were admitted through the gate in groups
of 40. This group saw the drama
performed by our young people. From
there they made their way to get shoes, have teeth cleaned or get reading
glasses.
Children’s families had been given
appointment cards for shoes. When a
child arrived, shoes in his or her size were waiting. Each child had his/her feet washed and lotion
applied. Then, they were fitted with new
socks and shoes. All the while, they
were hearing the good news about Jesus shared with tenderness and love. It was not uncommon for a child and/or mother
to pray, receiving Christ before they left the shoe room.
After the shoes, each child was enticed
by the promise of a bear or HotWheel car to have their teeth cleaned. Rhonda Ford, a charming dental hygienist from
Jackson, Tennessee, trained our team members in cleaning teeth and lovingly
sharing with children. Before the
cleaning, Rhonda talked to groups of about 30 children about good dental habits
and presented the gospel. After the
cleaning, each child received a Beanie Baby Bear or a HotWheel car, tooth paste
and a tooth brush.
As all of this was happening, the
reading glasses room was a busy place as people of all ages came to get visual
help. Throughout the day, this room was
packed. There was little doubt that the
1,000 pairs of glasses were going to all find needful owners.
Each person receiving any human needs
ministry was asked if they had a special prayer need or if they would like to
talk to someone about the good news they had been hearing. These were directed to our prayer room where
four teams of prayer warriors/soul winners were waiting. From morning until quitting time this sharing
went on without interruption. Over and
over, people could be heard submitting to Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Most days, we would close down at 4:00
and board our bus by 4:30. It is winter
in Brazil, and we arrived back at our hotel as the sun was setting. By the time we went down to dinner at 6:00,
it was already dark. Dinner was followed
on Monday and Wednesday nights by Bible study.
I had the joy of sharing during these times.
Violent
Streets: We were working in two extremely poor and violent
neighborhoods. One week before we
arrived, a teenage boy was shot and killed across the street from the school where
we were working. Over and over, in the
prayer room, we heard the stories of abused wives and children, murdered
husbands and sons, fear and desperation.
On Wednesday afternoon, one block from the construction site where the
community center is being built, over 40 shots rang out. The police had staged a surprise drug
raid. The ring leader escaped, but two
16-year-old boys were shot down in the street.
One died and the other was left in critical condition. The dead boy was living with a 15-year-old
girl who has a three-month old baby. Pr.
Carlos conducted the funeral service on Friday.
Twice, Guilherme, Jonathan Pickett and I went out onto the streets and
shared with tough young men. We saw
seven of these them submit to Jesus as Lord.
Four of them came to our Friday night celebration, made their public
professions of faith and were counseled by members of the new church. The young people of these neighborhoods are
without jobs, have dropped out of school, are being sexually exploited and are enslaved
by drugs. They are finding their
“families” through gang membership.
However, without exception, I found them to be open and responsive. They were the reason we were there.
Construction: Four
of our men, Chase Simmonson, Nathan Worthley, Jerry Foster, Jr. and Zach
Snider, got in on the construction of the new community center. When this is completed, it will house a
meeting place for a new church, will be large enough for indoor soccer, will be
a community event center, and will house a trade school. It will be the center of community
transformation.
Tuesday
Night: We closed a bit early on Tuesday afternoon. That evening, we were back at Betania and
were greeted by another large crowd. Our
bus driver, Paulo, had come under deep conviction on Sunday evening. He had told Guilherme that he wanted to come
to Christ on his birthday, which was on Tuesday. When I extended the invitation that night,
everyone rejoiced when he stepped out immediately. Two birthdays in one day!
Thursday
Night: Eduardo exchanged money for everyone, and we boarded
the bus after dinner on Thursday for an evening of shopping at a local
mall. A sporting goods store proved the
most popular place for our guys.
Everyone came home with at least one Brazil football (soccer)
shirt. Brazilian chocolate also proved
to be a best seller.
Friday: On
Friday, everything stopped in time for us to join our Brazilian friends over
lunch and before a TV at the school to watch Brazil play the Netherlands in
World Cup competition. That ended on a
sad note with Brazil losing. However,
spirits were more than lifted as we boarded our bus for a trip to an orphanage
supported by Igreja Batista Nacional Betania.
Our young people engaged the boys in a soccer game. Our drama team performed. Every boy got new shoes, a bear and a
HotWheel. There were lots of hugs and
expressions of love.
The best was still to come. We wanted to do something to tie the new
church start even closer to the surrounding neighborhood. We talked about having a big celebration at
the little meeting place on Friday night, but we knew that it would be too
small. However, all week, we told people
that there was going to be a celebration at that site, and word spread like
wildfire. There was nothing to do but go
out onto the street. When we arrived at
6:00, a flatbed truck had been parked in front of the bar across the street
from the church, a band from Betania was ready to play and a big crowd was
gathering. At exactly the right time,
the Lord opened the door for me to preach.
Over 40 people stepped out of the
crowd in response to the invitation.
While the counseling was underway inside
the church building, the band struck up traditional Bahian music and folks
started dancing in the street. Soon,
most of the members of our team were joining them. Chase Simmonson and Nathan Worthley were
dancing with children straddling their necks.
Jonathan Pickett had a little girl by both hands and was hustling to
keep in step with her. Then, Guilherme told
me that the street boys we had led to the Lord wanted me to dance with
them. I was not about to say “no” to
those guys, so…
When we finally boarded our bus, the
whole crowd was waving and shouting to us.
Tears flowed and over and over I heard members of our team saying, “I
coming for two weeks next year.”
WOW!
What a way to end a great week of work!
Back at the hotel, a late dinner on
Friday night was followed by a brief devotional time, lots of “thank you” and
“we love you.” Gifts were presented to
the Soares family and our interpreters.
There was even a birthday cake to be shared. Amazingly, we were able to do all of that and
still get to our rooms at 10:30 to pack and prepare for the long trip home.
At 7:00 on Saturday morning, baggage was
loaded and we were on our bus. At 7:15,
tears flowed again as we waived “goodbye” to our beloved interpreters, Gary,
Dr. Jett and the remaining Tennessee team.
They did come for two weeks.
Paulo took us on a beautiful but daring trip
down out of the mountains. We back in
Porto Seguro in time for lunch and our check-in at the airport. It was déjà vu in reverse as we again dashed
through airports en route home. A brief
hold because of a thunder storm over the OKC airport was our only delay.
Statistics fail to tell the story. We do know that our drama team performed an
average of 14 times each day, before a total of over 3,200 people. We did put shoes on 300 children. 1,000 pairs of reading glasses are being worn
by needy people. All of the dental supplies
are in the hands of children with clean teeth.
A local dentist has volunteered his time, without charge, fill any
cavities that were discovered. Any
leftover bears or HotWheels will be ready for the children who line up at the
next project. Pioneer Missions has
promised a detailed report, telling us how many people prayed to receive
Christ. Only eternity will reveal the
fullness of what happened in Vitoria da Conquista. Looking back, we can all say, “God did
it. To Him be the glory!”
In Brazil, we plugged into a strategy
that really is transforming communities, having an impact on a state and that
has the potential to have an impact on the third giant of the Western
World. We did something that can and
should be repeated.
July
12, 2010
