My Trip to Sao Paola – Mast For Missions

If I had to pick a moment of my life that had the greatest impact on me outside of when I was saved, I would have to say that it was the time I traveled to Sao Paulo, Brazil on a missions trip. During this time, I was an awkward kid trying to find his place in life. I didn’t have many close friends. I suffered from anxiety and depression. I didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself. One thing that I did have, though, was a love for God. God was my best friend who was with me no matter what. He saved me from my sins. He gave me a loving family and Church. God had given me many blessings, so I wanted to give back to him.

At the start of my Freshman year, my Youth Pastor told us about a trip to Brazil to help out one of our missionaries with their Church Plants and an English Camp. When I heard this, I immediately signed up. My sister had gone years before and told me amazing stories about her time there! In order for me to go, however, I needed to fulfill some requirements. Memorize and recite 60 verses back to back, raise $2500 before the time of the trip, etc. In the process of meeting these requirements, I learned several valuable lessons that created the foundation of who I am today. The first was that God is faithful in all things. The second was that the Bible has the power to change people. The third was that I need to have a good work ethic. The fourth is that we are not alone in our journey.

Looking back at the end of the school year, I can see God’s hand upon my life slowly molding me into becoming a preacher. Right before my trip, our youth group had a youth take over of the main service. Three guys were chosen to each preach a ten minute message. I was one of them. I don’t remember what I preached on, but I do know that God’s Spirit was on all three of us. We never shared what our topic would be on with anyone. Never even hinted on it. All of us just preached what the Holy Spirit led us to prepare for the service. The amazing thing is that all three of us had the exact same topic but focusing on a different aspect of it! Each message complimented the other and worked together to make one clear point. This moment changed my life and set me on a course towards service in ministry. I had overcome my fear of public speaking and had seen God working in a clear way through it!

Finally, the time had come for us to leave for Brazil! We had anticipated this moment for months, and it was finally here. The flight was long, and I remember being amazed by the beauty of the sea of clouds and the glow of the lights below! When we arrived in Sao Paulo, we were exhausted, but exited. I will never forget cramming all of our luggage into the back of the van and then stuffing all eleven of us into the space left. Let me tell you, the hour driving afterwards definitely had us all prayed up for the week ahead! The road was packed with cars, people were driving crazily, and the roads were awful. Thankfully, the scenery was breathtaking when we got to the outskirts of the city.

Over the next two weeks, we were able to run the English week at the camp and help out with two VBS. I was also able to preach for 10 minutes with the missionary translating me. I didn’t find out until last year, but someone ended up being saved after hearing that message.

Looking back, this trip is where God really started working in my life to become involved in Missions. I spent a lot of time with the people from Brazil, and I loved every moment of it. There is nothing like the feeling of experiencing a different culture! They had a different culture than me, but they still loved and served the same God as me!!! However, when the team and I passed out invitations for the VBS, my eyes were opened to the need of other countries to have someone bring the Gospel to them. When I got home, my life was changed. I became involved in my home Church. I started preaching at a homeless shelter. And I just couldn’t get the feeling that I need to share my faith with others out of my head. It became part of who I am. Jesus had saved me and allowed me to see how blessed I was, so I wanted to give my life back to Jesus as a living sacrifice. I have struggled through many hardships since, but God has been faithful to carry me through!

Author’s note: This is my first article. It was supposed to be a test article, but God dealt with my heart to keep it up. As time passes, I will work on fleshing out the story since it is lacking many details. I pray that God will use this story to touch your heart and bring change to your life.