Today was a day full of preparation and rest. As we prepared the boat with medicine and picked our roles of where we are serving, I also prepared my own heart to be available to whatever God wants to do through me. I reminded myself that I am not the savior, I am simply only preparing the way for the Lord to do His work.

Today we stopped at our first village. I saw God in worship this morning when we did our devotional time all together in the morning. I am in awe of how beautiful worship is. Worship in praise and worship and in the way we live. I came knowing not one Portuguese word so I do not understand much, but what I do understand is that God knows it all. He knows every word we sing to him, He knows every word we speak to others, and He knows every word of our prayers. How amazing is it that we have a God who understands and a God who wants to hear our worship and prayers in every language

Today I saw God in the joy and smiles of the people here. I have heard it said repeatedly by other people who have gone on mission trips. Some would say this is the most basic answer to where you would see God, but you do not realize it until you are in the middle of it just how privileged and lucky we are. How lucky are we that we do not have to take nasty worm pills once a year because our food and water is not clean. How lucky are we that we do not have to bend down and scoop our hands into a nasty brown river just to get a drink of water. How lucky are we that we can get almost instant medical attention when ourselves or our kids need it. However, how lucky are we that we all have the same loving God that what we have and what we struggle with here on earth does not matter in the view of eternity. It convicted me to stop storing up treasures here on earth. So what am I gathering that I cannot take to heaven with me? Because the only thing I can take to heaven are people. I pray that I can let go of all the earthy treasures I have been gathering in my hands. I pray as I lay those down my hands will be open to do God’s work so that the joy that God gives me will be evident to those around me so that everyone I encounter can get a glimpse of the goodness of God.

Today my role was to play with the kids out in the village. It was a smaller village so there was not as many kids but that is why I loved it so much because I have to be intentional with the few I had. I was able to spend time with each one of them and learn each of their names. Before I came to Brazil, I have been making bracelets to give to the kids I meet. While making them, I prayed that every time they looked at it they would be reminded of love. I am not able to see God work through that here right now, but I pray that one day when they are old enough to fully understand whom God it is because they remembered the love I showed them. In addition, I am only able to show them that kind of love because God first loved me.

Today I saw God through the Sunday night church service we got to attend. I sat down by two goofy boys who in the middle of service decided to copy my every move. I crossed my legs, they did too. When I fixed my hair, they did too. When I folded my hair to pray, they did too. You do not often notice that people pay attention to what you do. Especially kids because they look up to you more than you know. It made me look at myself to make sure I’m living a life that glorifies God so when people look at my life they may also want to do the same. What I loved about the service was that the kids went up to lead worship. It reminded me of the story in the Bible where Jesus tells his disciples that the kingdom of heaven belongs to children such as these. We are called to have faith like a child. A child is dependent of their father to give them everything they need. I also loved that when the pastor was preaching I had no clue what he was saying, but I did know that he is so passionate about God and loves God so much that he wants to tell the church of his goodness. We may not speak the same language but one thing we do have in common is our love for God and his church.

Today was the day this boat and this place felt like home. Today there was so much pure joy in the village kids but also the team. We went to one of the bigger villages, so even though we were busy we found so much joy in serving. After our work was over, we went out and played volleyball with the kids while seeing our first sunset in Brazil. A rush of peace and stillness washed over me. I am forever in awe of God’s creation. However, I am also in awe that we are God’s favorite creation. No beautiful sunset, no amount of stars in the sky would ever come close to God’s love for His people. Being reminded of that compels me to love others close enough to the same way God loves me. After dinner we went to the top deck to do a spontaneous worship set. It was something that was not planned; we simply just wanted to continue to praise God. Everything about today was so pure and beautiful. Thank you God for giving me the eyes to see your creation. Thank you God for the hands and feet to do your work. Thank you God for giving me the heart to feel what you feel. Thank you for filling my mind with your beautiful thoughts today.

I felt very tired today and my eyes were red from exhaustion. As I am sitting here, watching the sun go down, I am trying to play back in my mind the places I saw God today. It was a slower day and the villages were very small so I did not encounter many people as if we have the past few days. I could say I did not see God today, but why would I say that when sometimes I cannot see what God is doing behind the scenes. Maybe I did not see God in some big extravagant way, but maybe someone I encountered saw God through me. On the other hand, saw God through someone else on our team. It was a reminder that I am not here on this mission trip to be filled; instead, I am here to pour out unto others. God I hand over to you any selfish desires I have in my heart. I would stay awake and work with my burning red eyes if that means one more person might just have a chance to get a taste of God’s love for the first time.

Today we stopped at our last village. I feel overwhelmed with feelings of sadness but also the call to go back home and continue to serve where I am. The same God that worked in my life and the lives of others in Brazil is the same God back home in Indiana. The mission does not stop here. Looking back on all the days, I am grateful for people we have to treat and give medicine for healing. Nevertheless, most importantly while the medicine heals for a moment, Jesus heals us for eternity.