HITTING THE BOOKS IN BRAZIL
F BY: FRITZ MOGA
or three weeks last May, I had the privilege of taking 12 students from William Jessup University to study and serve in Sao Paulo, Brazil. We were engaged in an academic class designed specifically to combine missions and academics titled “Global Youth Ministry”. The goals of the course are to broaden the student’s perspective on global youth ministry allowing
the student to use skills learned through lectures, books, on-site visitations and projects by participating and leading ministry in a foreign country. Our team partnered with Restoration Ministries in Sao Paulo.
While we lived on site, in the middle of a city of 20 million people, we read books, wrote research papers and listened to lectures prepared by the Restoration Ministries staff. However, our “education” didn’t stop there. We spent time working in the nearby “favales” (or slums) sharing the gospel message to many kids who live in the area. We also had the privilege of creating and running a camp for 50 of those kids at a beautiful camp owned by the ministry. Our theme was “The Great Adventure” and included games, crafts and of course powerful Bible lessons and applications to life. One student summed up our trip this way; “This trip taught me
more about hands-on ministry than I could have learned in one semester sitting in a classroom. We were completely immersed into a fully functioning ministry. Our group had the privilege of being educated by the leaders of the different programs within the ministry. They explained to us in detail what they do, and how it works. Not only that, but we also got to be a part of those programs later in our trip, and see practically how they functioned.” Another student put it this way; “We laughed endlessly, loved
wholeheartedly, cried in brokenness, and shared Jesus with communities.” I anticipate participating in more of these trips in the future,
perhaps back in Brazil or wherever God may call us to go. Our learning was invaluable on this course and for all of life but it’s the life-changing moments that make it all worth it. As one student concluded; “This trip helped to affirm the call I have felt for a long time to long-term missions. I feel more confident in what God may have for my life, and I am so excited!”
JESSUP MAGAZINE 19
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