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BSU student Aden Snider serves lunch to homeless locals at Cristolandia.

 

Gabe Stark
Reporter

The Baptist Student Union mission team at North Central Missouri College spent spring break in São Paulo, Brazil, serving alongside campus and homeless outreach ministries in one of the world’s largest cities.

The six-member team, made up of three adults and three students, left March 13 and returned March 22 from a trip that included work with college students, homeless individuals and people struggling with drug addiction. The team worked with missionaries Peter and Tina Kim, who are based in São Paulo, and partnered with two ministries, Crew at the University of São Paulo; and Cristolandia, a Christian ministry serving homeless and drug-addicted individuals.

 

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BSU students put their hands at the geographical center of São Paulo, Brazil, praying for the city. 

 

Planning for the trip began more than a year earlier. BSU Director Christina Boatright traveled to Brazil the previous June for a vision trip after visa issues kept other team members from making the trip. During that visit, she was introduced to several ministry opportunities and later helped decide where the spring break team could serve most effectively.

Boatright said São Paulo was overwhelming in size and diversity, but she also saw a clear need.

“When I got there in June, what I observed the most is that there was a lot of religion, but not a lot of Jesus,” she said.

Worship & Testimonies

After the BSU group arrived this spring, the group met the Kims and began adjusting to the city, culture and ministry setting.

Their first days included cultural orientation and worship services. On Sunday, the team attended two churches in different parts of the city. One was Peter and Tina Kim’s home church in a more affluent area, while the other was in a poorer community.

At the churches, several team members shared testimonies with the help of interpreters. Andrea Jenkins said sharing her testimony was an important part of the trip and something she felt God had been preparing her to do.

“I knew that God was working in me throughout that year to share my full testimony,” she said.

 

Team members said speaking through interpreters required adjustment. They had to slow down, use shorter sentences and pause so their words could be translated into Portuguese.

Hannah Gryder said sharing her testimony in that setting was humbling.

“It is putting it back in God’s hands, what he did,” she said.

Campus Ministry

The BSU team spent part of the week working with Crew at the university, where they used coffee, snacks, English lessons, surveys, card games and conversations to connect with students. They also completed prayer walks on portions of the large campus and encouraged local Christian students to get involved in campus ministry.

Boatright said one of the most common questions the team received from university students was why they would spend their spring break serving in Brazil instead of vacationing.

That question, she said, opened the door for the team to talk about their faith.

The team also spent time at Cristolandia, a ministry that serves people experiencing homelessness and drug addiction. The ministry provides meals, showers, clothing, Bible studies and a pathway into a longer drug rehabilitation program.

Serving The Homeless

Boatright said the ministry works in an area connected to what has been known as “Crackland,” a portion of São Paulo associated with homelessness and drug use. Cristolandia’s mission house serves as a first step for those seeking help. From there, individuals may enter a rehabilitation program that can last about two years, including time at a farm where participants get clean, take classes, work and learn job skills.

Team members helped in several ways at Cristolandia, including serving food, helping in the kitchen, assisting with shower days, singing, sharing testimonies and inviting people to meals and Bible studies.

During one Bible study, Boatright said the team saw one person make a profession of faith and five men commit to entering drug rehabilitation.

“We had one salvation and then five men decided to go to drug rehab that day,” she said.

The team tracked ministry activity throughout the week to report back to the ministries they served. Boatright said the group recorded 153 gospel conversations, 223 testimony shares, 35 tracts handed out, 22 surveys and five rehab commitments during the week.

Jenkins said serving in both campus ministry and homeless outreach gave the team a fuller picture of the city.

“I felt like we got to do a lot more gospel sharing whenever we were on campus, but also we got to learn so much about the culture in Brazil from campus,” she said. “When we were doing homeless outreach, you’re serving. You’re also sharing the gospel, but you’re also serving.”

Experiencing Brazilian Culture

The trip also gave team members a chance to experience Brazilian culture. They ate traditional foods, visited malls, learned about local customs and spent part of one day seeing culturally significant sites. The team visited a museum and a historic Catholic cathedral connected to the city’s center.

Jenkins said Brazil felt very different from Japan, where some team members had previously served. She described Japan as quieter and more reserved, while Brazil was loud, colorful and full of activity.

“Brazil was a lot closer to our culture than Japan was,” she said.

Community Support & Future Plans

Boatright said the trip was made possible through months of fundraising and support from the local community. The group raised about $13,000.

Plans are already being made for another Brazil trip during spring break next year. Donations may be made to the Baptist Student Union, mailed or dropped off at 1108 Main St., or sent through Venmo at @NCFCBSU.

Boatright said she hopes the trip helps people in Trenton see that local support can have a global reach.

“We’re bigger than we think that we are,” she said. “We have more of a global impact than we know that we do.

“Every student we have here on campus is an opportunity to change the world,” she said.