Our just completed Brazil Mission trip was the sixth such trip and from the first trip on, our team has used the last three days of the two weeks in Brazil for rest, reflection and debriefing at a “hotel fazenda.” A hotel fazenda is a rural retreat on a working ranch that usually includes hotel-type rooms, a dining room that serves an abundance of traditional Brazilian food and a variety of recreational activities. Initially we thought of the fazenda experience as primarily for our team members – a transition time from the intensity of urban ministry to life back in Beaver. Five years ago, we included only team members and Pastor Robson and his family. Each year thereafter we have been able to add a few more Brazilians, key leaders in the church and our Vacation Bible School or other programs, to the list. The inclusion of the Brazilians has expanded our ministry as we have three more days to relate and share and to thank those who have worked so hard in our time together. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week 20 Brazilians, most of them from the favela, joined our 16 team members at the fazenda.

This year’s fazenda was new to us. Located an hour or so north of Belo Horizonte, Recanto das Cachoeiras – Quiet Place of the Water Falls – is situated on a cascading creek that even in the dry season sends its waters rushing through the narrow valley where the fazenda is located. Near the fazenda itself and also about 3 miles downstream, the waters of the creek fall over polished granite and through rocky clefts forming the waterfalls that give the fazenda its name. The boiling white water and the constant roar of the falls are in sharp contrast to the violence and noisy hopelessness of the favela. What a joy to share this place with our friends who see so little of nature’s beauty in their day to day lives.

For me, Recanto das Cachoeiras and its waterfalls were a reminder of what our partnership is all about. In John’s gospel, Jesus tells his followers and those who were muttering against him, “”If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, `Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’”

In ways that are very difficult to communicate, our partnership in Brazil is being used by God to quench thirst, water parched ground, and wash the wounds of despair and oppression. This amazing work is not confined to Mission Team members or our wonderful volunteer senders. It is God’s work through every single member of Park Presbyterian Church – Igreja do Parque, a name beloved by many in Favela da Ventosa.

As you see, hear, and read trip reports over the course of the next several weeks, I invite you to consider how the gospel of Christ is a river of living water in your life and the ways that your can share a cup of this precious water with the “least of those” who are His brothers and sisters.

It’s great to be home. See you Sunday!