Steve Messeh - BRAZIL
Posted on June 8th, 2007 by info
Being Barnabas
If you´re reading this hoping for the typical ordinary mission blog about preaching and singing, I would stop right now. For nothing about this trip to Brazil has been typical and I expect nothing about this mission to be ordinary. But that is the amazing part of this trip. God has not been limited to our worldy expectations and goals, but He has allowed us to dream heavenly expectations and glorious goals. And although it has only been a few days, I am beginning to see a piece of the glory of the work of God here in Brazil.
Everytime we go on these mission trips, we always prepare ourselves with gifts, and stories, and sermons, and lessons, and we expect to do a great work for the Lord from our abundance. And everytime, God humbles us over and over again by showing us how little we have to offer to Him and to His mission. This lesson could not be clearer than in Brazil. We arrived here with many gifts and toys and lessons, and we quickly found out they were useless. The style of mission here is completely different than we are used to in other parts of the world. And the language is a huge barrier, which allows us very minimal communication with the people. But quickly, we realized God had a greater calling for us. And His calling was for us to become a modern day Barnabas.
Here in Brazil, we have the blessing of serving with a great modern day missionary, His Grace Bishop Aghathon. His work here in Brazil cannot be overstated. His style of mission is one of love, and joy, and acceptance of the weakest of peoples. His spirit touches the hearts of the people, in a place only God can touch. His words are simple, but so full of love and compassion. And looking at him, we see a new St. Paul. And that is where we come in. God has made it abundantly clear that our knowledge and skills here are useless. But He has shown us that we can give to the service, by encouraging his servant, through prayers and support, and any help we can offer. At first, it seems like a disappointment. But when God opens your eyes, you see how amazing it is to share in His work and His mission. It will be our blessing and honor to serve here in Brazil and to witness firsthand the glory the Lord has prepared for His servants.
“And they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. 23 When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.“
2 quick stories about the mission here:
The first day we were here, we were having breakfast in our home very early in the morning when the doorbell rang unexpectedly. Then, a man and woman came in and began to talk with Sayedna. They began to speak for a long time and began to cry and pour out their hearts to him. I didn´t know it at the time, but Sayedna explained after that this couple had previously been in the Orthodox Church and even the man was preparing to go into the priesthood. But then, some church leaders kicked him out for not giving into the corruption of the church. And now, the man and his wife were lonely and praying with tears that God would send them back to His church. So they came and saw the cross on top of the coptic church and decided to ring the bell and see who was inside. We all rejoiced greatly. And Sayedna decided to accept them into the church and even will ordain the man a deacon very soon.
The next story happened on our way home one night. We were returing with Sayedna on a Friday night from the market as we walked up the street. We were all very exhausted and tired from a long day and we were very sleepy. Suddenly, we heard a noise coming from one of the houses and it sounded like singing. The closer we got, the louder and clearer the voice became. Surely enough, when we got to the house, we saw that there was a 16 year old Brazilian boy inside who was a member of the church, and he had gathered about 6 boys from the neighborhood and he was teaching them two hymns from the church, Agios and Alleluia Fai pe pi. After seeing this, we all become so happy and full of energy and we stayed with them and taught them together.
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Steve - The High School youth miss you so much and are very proud of you. God is truly being glorified all over the world and we’re so happy to see that He is using you to touch other people. What an awesome blessing! We’re all praying for you and we can’t wait to hear more about Brazil and your mission trip there. May God protect you and continue to use you for His glory.
Steve, I was so happy to hear about the mission. It is amazing to see God’s work from behind the scenes as opposed to the front row. It teaches us that God is amighty God and gracious when He allows us to partake in these great events. We will be praying for the Lord to be glorified in all that you do and we are praying for you as an individual.
Hey Steve, we really miss u soo much, and we can’t wait to hear from you about your mission trip! we are praying for you day and night. may God protect you and be with you!