What a Difference a Week Makes

If you’re a pastor or a leader at a church (who’s responsible for missions) and you've ever wondered if short-term mission trips really make a difference- well, let me tell you a little about the latest trip that we just hosted here in Brazil and it may help answer that question.

We just finished-up a mission trip with a team of 30 people from Graystone Church (from Grayson/Loganvillle, GA- USA) and even though they were only here for a week, so much was accomplished. 

Here's a picture of the team on the first night they were here.

Typically I would’ve blogged about this during the week of the trip but with commuting back-and-forth to the mountain each night (I didn’t feel comfortable leaving MJ or the kids out in the jungle alone over night) there wasn’t any time. So here’s a quick look at what happened.

If you remember a blog we posted last December, we delivered shoeboxes filled with gifts to Lar Herminia (one of the orphanages we minister at in Colombo). These shoeboxes were provided by Graystone Church and the kids loved them! Well, one of the cool things about this mission trip is that people from the church actually got to meet the kids that they had given the gifts to. It was an amazing time for the kids and for the team.

We were able to minister at the orphanage for 3 days during the trip. We had a great time with the children as we put on a ‘VBS style’ sports camp and as we held church services for them with worship and with testimonies from the team. 

No Heath... this is how you do it: )

The kids anxiously awaiting game night

Pizza! And yes, he's putting mayonnaise on it. It's a Brazil thing: )

One of the students giving his testimony to the kids

As we’ve mentioned before, we’re hoping to get a new program off the ground with The Hope Epidemic where we can get these kids sponsored monthly and to also launch a hosting program that will allow each child to visit the US (in hopes that they can become adopted) for a month during the Christmas break or during the Summer. And the connections that were made between Graystone and the kids were just another step in this direction.

Another thing that we did at Lar Herminia was minister to the house moms. Their jobs are extremely difficult and, because of the tremendous stress that comes with their positions, most house mothers only last about 12 months. So, for us, it’s imperative that we try and minister to them, as well as the kids, each time we visit. The women from the team did an amazing job showing love to these women. They gave them manicure/pedicures, messages and gift bags that the people from Graystone had sent. The house moms loved it! And at the end of their time together a short Gospel-centered message of encouragement was given to the moms (in Portuguese- thanks Monica!). I was in the room and noticed that one of the mother’s in particular was crying. Later we found out that this house mother was going to put in her resignation that weekend, but after the ministry that had taken place, she felt that God was giving her what she needed to continue doing what she was doing. Praise God!

One of the house moms getting a manicure from one of the team members

Washing one of the house moms feet before the pedicure: )

Villa Zumbi is a village of about 10,000 people. Approximately 4,000 of which are children. Zumbi is also one of the poorest and most dangerous favelas in this part of the country. Zumbi literally means zombi or walking dead. It gets it’s name because ‘supposedly' this is the village of the walking dead… people without hope. 

Behind this iron gate is a typical home in Villa Zumbi

We were able to go into a preschool that was planted there (and that’s supported) by German missionaries. It’s right in the middle of Zumbi and has approximately 200 preschool ages children who attend daily. We were able to minister to around 130 of the children in 2 sessions (one in the morning and one in the afternoon). Even though these kids live in conditions that are heartbreaking to us as Americans, to look at them, you’d never know it. They’re beautiful. To be able to play, sing, dance and share the Gospel with these kids was an honor. 

We were able to give away (by drawing ping pong balls) 25 jackets that were donated to us by NASA

Here's a couple of the winners

Presenting the Gospel in one of the classrooms

The kids praying after one of the bible teaching sessions

And, of course, no mission trip would be complete without salvation bracelets: )

Wednesday Night the team was able to minister at a church that was planted in Zumbi about 10 years ago by IBB (Igreja Batista do Bacacheri). We were able to worship in English and in Portuguese. Then, after the team gave testimonies and Heath ministered, something amazing happened… the pastor got up at the end and told us that everything that we had just talked about (ministering to children and to orphans in particular) was a confirmation to him about what God had been dealing with his heart about and that it’s the direction that he feels like the church needs to go: ) 

Heath ministering to the church about how ministering to the orphan is important to God

One of the team members giving their testimony

Being able to worship in English and Portuguese was definitely one of the highlights of the day

We also ministered at Encontro com Deus (Encounter with God, aka- Patrick’s Place ) in Cajuru for 2 days. Encontro com Deus is a church that has a day program for the kids from the neighborhood (a neighborhood that's extremely impoverished and crime ridden). We were able to minister to the kids through the same ‘VBS style’ program that we used at Lar Herminia and at the school in Zumbi.

Here are some of the older girls from the program

Part of the team (most of the guys) didn’t stay at the church while the kids were being ministered to. They went to do something that most people will never see. You see, another thing that Patrick and the ministry here at Encontro com Deus does is rescue battered and abused women and their children. Most of them are teenage mothers who desperately need help. Over the past 17 years they’ve had over 600 women come through their doors. They have 2 homes. One home is at the church and one home (that’s about 5 minutes away from the church) is where they house the mothers that are in hiding (because they are in danger). And that house needs a lot of work. So, some of the guys from the team went over to try and start cleaning-up and repairing some of the things that needed attention. It was back-breaking work but they were able to prep an area in the front of the house for cement, paint the front of the property and they were able to clean-up an area inside the property where the kids play.

Here's a picture of what it looked like as they began the project.
We'll post after pictures once the cement is finished next week

On Thursday Night we were able to hang-out and minister to all the mother’s and their children from both homes at Encontro com Deus. It was a great time of ministry for these women who aren’t use to people loving them and giving them attention for no reason other than the fact that Jesus loves them and so do we.

Here are some of the mothers and their children from the program

So back to my initial question- “do short term mission trips really make a difference?” Well I guess you’d have to ask all the orphans, or the house moms (especially the one who was literally days away from quitting), or the battered women and their kids, or the hundreds of kids from Zumbi and from Cajuru, or the Pastor and the congregation from Zumbi, or Renan (the director of Lar Herminia), or Patrick at Encontro com Deus. But I'm pretty sure I know what their response would be and I'll go ahead and give you the answer… “Yes, they absolutely make a difference!”

So thank you Graystone Church for making an eternal impact  here in Brazil. And a HUGE thank you to all of our supporters who allow us to be here doing what we do. This is all possible because of you. We love you guys!

Passionately Following Jesus,

Jim, MJ and all the Dunn Kids