When my wife, Rachel, dropped me off at the airport in Montgomery my wheels began to spin about the trip. As I walked in our little airport, my mind was flooded with memories of walking up to the Delta counter with my Dad as a child and how many countless bags had been sent to Brazil through this airport alone. As much as I tried, I could not get my head around the fact so many teams and so many people had gone to Brazil with CMU. It is amazing. Our team met in Atlanta - a mix of great friends, longtime CMU veterans and some new faces. We set out for a little town south of Terisina called Hugo Napoleoa.
As the week unfolded, I continued thinking of what a privilege it is to be a part of CMU. No lightning bolts but little things – the fellowship with the team- the relationships we built with the pastor’s family and the folks that came from Teresina, which is the mother church. The joy we had in making new friends and playing with the children in town would remind me of stories from other trips. Even our bus driver touched my heart – he had driven for one of our teams earlier and said they treated him with "dignity". A reminder of opportunities to plant seeds - you just never know how many divine appointments are on the journey. The crazy thing is, all these things have been a part of every trip that took place before ours.
For more pictures of the 300th church click here.
I was blown away when I thought about the number 300. Not 300 buildings but 300 trips. It is beyond me that on 300 occasions there were 10 to 20 people or more who answered the call to go – 300 times a pastor and his family were encouraged or a masa man’s life was touched from the kindness of a volunteer. 300 times there were miracles that took place for volunteers to have the funds to get to Brazil. The miracle of the funds for the buildings themselves is more than I can comprehend. All of these thoughts brought one thing to mind very clearly – God Is Faithful! Faithful so many times, in so many ways. Faithful to those who have gone- faithful to the congregations who in some cases prayed for years for a building – I could go on and on and on. God has been so faithful – praise His name! It leaves me in wonder and I pray that all of our CMU family will for a moment stop and say, "thank you Jesus!" 