Rio De Janerio, this city now has a special place in my heart. I was blessed enough to take a short term trip to Rio in Brazil with Adventures in Missions. Being a first time missionary I was new to the entire “adventures and travels” concept, and of course, I loved it! Seeing the contrast of American culture to Brazilian culture was beautiful. This trip really got me out from what I’m used to seeing everyday and most importantly it showed me how God is moving through people all around the world. I hope to continue in my travels and see how God is moving in other places around the world as well.
Prepping for this trip was excitement mixed with doubt, I had up and downs about whether this trip was going to happen or not. I had no idea how I was going to raise money or get necessary documents for travel, natural reaction to being completely new to travel! All I knew was that God had called me to do this, to go out, to adventure, to minister, and to love on people. This thought was immensely encouraging when I had times of doubt about going on this trip.
Leaving to go to Rio, I was so pumped up! All I wanted to do was close my eyes and automatically be in the city. I got off the plane and soon after that I met my team, the people that would be sharing the same adventure as me. I have to say also, getting to know my team was not hard at all; everyone was so cool and passionate about missions. Also, everyday getting to minister, pray and build each other up within the team, really strengthened my walk with God. Making friends out of strangers was a huge part of this trip, within the team and outside the team.
The ministry we did in Rio was very fulfilling, I’m glad that we left our mark in the city as a group. We had days where we felt that we had a big impact on only a few citizens in Rio, and other days where all we wanted to do was more. For instance, we went to a dump where people live illegally, and all we could do was love on the people and hand out some basic hygiene products. This being my first trip, I already had the feeling that I wanted to do more. This feeling increased even more when I got home, pretty powerful.
If I could wrap up everything that happened in this trip in a phrase, it would be, “worth it”. Taking the leap and going to foreign country with people I didn’t know from all around the U.S was liberating and exciting. Besides meeting on Facebook, I had never met anyone on my team before and by the end of the trip, we had come together as great friends. Just cause a trip is short term, that doesn’t mean it can’t be long term in the future. Who knows maybe I’ll go back to Rio to do more for the city than I can imagine, the possibilities are endless but taking this trip was a big step and of course, worth it.
Hi Zach! I am going this year! Can you maybe fill me in on what I should expect? How was your flights organized? Did you travel a day before and come home a day after?