Closing out our trip to Brazil

Written by: Nathan Clark on June 22, 2010

In 5 hours we’ll be on a plane bound for the US. In the 10 days we’ve had here in the Amazon, we’ve played soccer a dozen times, attended 5 church services, watched two Brazil World Cup matches with locals and realized that ultimately this trip could never be about the numbers. We spent time with kids from Athletes in Christ who we played with last year as well. When we left for the Amazon two of the youth, Lucas and China (shee-na) came with us on the boat. Their coach, Alan, who trains the kids every day in Manaus came too. Though the three spoke almost no English, the three were grafted into our team incredibly well and they left the boat as friends.

This year our team was twice the size of last year’s. We could field a full team that way, and played much more complete soccer on the field. We ended up winning the tournament we hosted in the village, and played much more competitively everywhere we went. The biggest challenge with the larger group was finding a way with one translator to help everyone connect with locals despite the language barrier. Fortunately we discovered that Fabien was able to adjust his Spanish to the point that he was effectively able to serve as a second translator for much of the trip. That was especially helpful when one of our translators got ill and we had to spend the last day on the boat without any experienced English / Portuguese speaker. It was so encouraging to all of us and especially Fabien, to see how God would prepare him to be such a vital part of the team in a way none of us could have ever imagined.

We’re leaving today from a jungle lodge where we’ve been able to relax and recover from the bumps and bruises of the trip. Last year we limped home with four significantly injured players. I’ve prayed for months that God would keep our bodies whole and this year we’ll return with a few bruises, a minor ankle sprain and an odd collection of scrapes and blisters. God has been faithful and kept us from injury despite the rough fields and constant hard play. It’s out prayer now that he would continue to preserve the friends we have here. We hope that God would keep their bodies whole, that he would keep their spirits full of joy and that he would provide for the very real ongoing financial needs they have. It was humbling to hear Alan, the Manaus coach who traveled on the boat with us, speak of the impact the time in the villages had on him. He told us how God had opened his eyes to the need that the provisional villagers had, and that he was challenged to help provide for him.

Before we board our flight today we will gather to pray for the youth and the villages we played with. We’ll pray for wisdom on how to continue to serve them once we’ve left. Please join us in that prayer.