Have you ever studied an entire semester’s worth of material in one week? Students at JAMI, the cross cultural mission training center of our partner Baptist convention here in Brazil, do exactly that nearly every week for 16 months - and serve in a local church on the weekends! We recently returned from 2 weeks at JAMI, where we had the privilege of teaching two different modules to 8 extraordinary new candidates for missionary service.

Wisdom for the Journey

How do you make sense of life? How is God shaping you into the person you are meant to be? Who has God placed in your circle of friends, and where are you heading? These are some of the questions our students wrestled with in the section on Spiritual Journeys during our “Missionary Life” course. What a privilege to be on the journey together with them! One student wrote: “I learned about spiritual journeys, life themes, sexual purity, culture shock, how to write a ministry letter, internet security, how to deal with conflict and stress, how to nurture friendships and work in a team … . I loved the whole module and believe it will be an excellent tool for life!”

Sowing hope

An effective cross-cultural worker begins with a deep love for the people among whom she or he serves. Love is expressed in compassion for people and a genuine desire to listen and learn from them, working together to restore hope and transform lives so that they may enjoy the “abundant life” promised by Jesus (see John10:10). The Integral Mission module we teach covers a wide range of topics these future missionaries need, including: why the church exists, what is the “good news” of the kingdom of God, asset-based community development, appropriate technology, small scale economic development, community-based health care, and how to write a one-page project plan. One student reflecting on the class told us: “This module is of paramount importance in my ministry. Understanding missionary work in a different light, that integral mission is ‘The whole Gospel for the whole person for all people,’ made me think a lot. I need to know the needs of the place and the people that I will work with. The solar oven, the composting latrine and the mini company are important things that I want to use according to the needs of the place where I’ll be serving.”

Pray with us

• Praise God for this dedicated group of young women and men who are preparing for cross-cultural service here in Brazil and in West Africa. They graduate from their training program in December, and will do a 3-month internship in Guinea Bissau starting next February.
  
  
• We have a big event coming up in November! Please pray with us for the first national "Consulta de Missão Integral" (Integral Mission Consultation) that we are organizing for the National Baptist Churches of Brazil. During the period 14-17 November, participants from all over the country will be here in Brasília to be informed, challenged and equipped to "be" Jesus in their communities. We have chosen the theme "Integral mission: from theology to practice" to guide this historic event. It's a huge undertaking, but one that we hope God will use to mobilize National Baptist churches all over the country to make God's love in Jesus real in their communities. 
  

Thanks for your prayer and financial support that makes all this possible!

Confiando no amor de Deus (trusting in God’s love),

Ann and Bruce