The Real World: Brasil

This is the true story, of nine strangers, picked to go on a mission trip together, have their lives changed. Find out what happens when people stop being efficient, and start operating under Brasilian time. This is the Real World: Brazil. 

How did you end up on this trip?

The church I go to, Frontline, has a ministry called Global Impact. Global Impact sends 8-10 people on various mission trips throughout the world (Peru, Brazil, Tanzania, Ethiopia SE Asia, Guatemala, Burundi,)  in a given year. Anyone that wants to go on a mission trip has to apply online and go through an interview process. I know it sounds odd, why would I have to interview to volunteer, right? But it's done to ensure that people going are wanting to go for the right reasons (ex.get closer to God), and not just going as a way to have a cool vacation. Interviews are also conducted to communicate the level of commitment required for a trip (i.e. having to fund-raise a couple of Gs per trip, having 5+ four hour meetings months prior to prepare, etc)

For me, I had always wanted to go on a mission trip through Frontline, but  but due to logistical reasons (i.e. didn't have enough vacation at work, would have to miss two weeks of school etc) I was never able to go. However, this summer I noticed there was a trip heading to Brasil for 10 days, which would allow me to miss only one week of class! What's more , a good friend of mine was set to lead the trip which got me even more excited. So I prayed, then applied, had my interview, and voila! 

Where exactly were you?

Assis Brazil, a small city within the state of Sao Paulo. From what I experienced, Asiss is a very poor city, which has a ton of violence and almost everyone is a drug trafficker (even grandmas) as it is in the middle of the typical drug route (Bolivia/Columbia to Sao Paulo city). 

What did you do there?

LOTS OF STUFF! But this is what made it in the top 10

#10. Fed monkeys

 -we went to a random sugar cane farm that was conveniently beside some jungle like area, started doing typical calls to let the monkeys know we had arrived (ooo ooo ooo ah ah ah! ) , and then waited for 20 min. Soon enough about 100 came out of the jungle and we literally handed the monkeys bananas and papaya. 

#9. Ate tons of meat and drank amazing drinks of all shapes and sizes

- breakfast lunch and dinner. Chicken, Ham, and about 100 different variations of beef, even something which was allegedly better than filet mignon ! Oh and dinner is usually served between 10pm-12pm, obviously!  drinks were mainly fruit smoothies.... acerola & pineapple, acai & strawberry, and peach juice, guava juice, oh and coffee that was served in tiny cups that hold the equivalent of a shot.

#8 Worshiped with locals via Lucas playing acoustic guitar

- sang aloud to tons of familiar songs alternating between English and Portuguese. Songs included Mighty to Save, I Want to Know You More, Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord. 

#7 Starred as Eve in a no-words skit 

- our team performed this skit for kids at the Christmas party and for inmates in prison. The idea was to show using actions and background music, a simplified story of Christianity. As Eve, I had to   pretend to eat an apple, feel ashamed/naked, get caught up by the world/sin, and then finally meet  Jesus and have my relationship stored with the Father.

#6 Delivered free vegetables to impoverished families

- every Tuesday, Open Arms picks up free vegetables from a grocery store and delivers them to the families of the kids that come to Open Arms activities. some of the vegetables were starting to rot, but we were told this was better than nothing :( . Although some people weren't very receptive to Americans helping to deliver the veggies, Holly assured us that they would ask the following week where we were, which would then allow them to share why we came, talk about Jesus, etc.

#5 Hosted Christmas party for kids

- our team hosted various craft stations, one of which allowed us to take Polaroids of the kids and let them decorate a frame to keep (none of them ever had a picture of themselves). the site for the party also had a ginormous pool, which the kids loved even though most couldn't swim

#4 Asked to play Mighty to Save on the piano

- at church last minute without practice! Thankfully the guitar was super loud haha

#3 Shared my testimony at church in front of 50 people while Mike translated to Portuguese

#2 Built an entire playground

- made entirely out of tree trunks! 

#1 Visited a prison and played with inmates ( sans cuffs, chains or fiberglass)

- for the record I won one game of ping pong but got completely schooled in checkers

What did you learn?

Patience, humility, joyful service, and so much more! The next few posts I plan to dive into more about what I learned during fundraising, building the playground, and visiting the prison.

Oh, and in case your wondering, the copy in the picture translates to "Love that changes". Tutto bom!

DISCLAIMER: MTV Real World is not involved in this. The logo was used as a parody. sank you!