Enough!
James ForlinesI could not speak Portuguese; he could not speak English. About the same age, we stood there nervously, looking at each other, trying to find a way to communicate. Eventually, one of our former missionaries to Brazil came close. Finally. A translator.
With eyes moist he spoke earnestly to the missionary. He was obviously intent on communicating something. I knew he was saying something more than, “How do you like Brazil?” Or, “Hello, my name is....” I waited for him to finish so the translator could satisfy my curiosity.
Terry Eagleton, a former MK and missionary to Brazil, shared what this man desired to communicate. “Thank you for sending missionaries to Brazil. If you had not sent missionaries, I would not know Jesus.”
As the man left, Terry told me “the rest of the story.” When a small boy, the man’s parent’s had separated. The family situation was horrible. In total despair this boy’s mother searched for answers and found them in a small Free Will Baptist church. Through God’s miraculous intervention, the family was restored and this young boy grew up with a rich, personal relationship with Jesus.
So, here I was, in Campinas, Brazil, at the 50th anniversary of Free Will Baptist work’s beginning in this country. “If I experience nothing else from my visit to Brazil,” I said to Terry, “this is enough.”
That is what pioneer church planting missions work is all about.
“If you had not sent missionaries, I would not know Jesus.” Praise the Lord!
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