Although most mission efforts consist of a large group of people, the team that traveled to Florian6polis, Brazil, for six weeks faced the challenges of a summer campaign with only three students. Sophomore Anne Marie Gomez and seniors Joanna Blake and Bradley Furlong were accompanied by Ken Graves, director of Global Outreach and Missions Experience, and his wife Terri to minister to the Brazilians by using conversational English lessons as the primary form of outreach. Ken and Terri had been missionaries in Brazil for 18 years, 12 of which had been in the Florian6polis area. They went with the students to encourage the church and to help the students get settled. Gomez said that when they first arrived, the members of the church did not speak directly to her, Blake or Furlong. Instead of practicing English by talking to the students, the church members spoke Portuguese to the Graves, who then translated it for students. When the Graves left, however, the members were forced to use English to communicate with the students. Despite the initial inability to communicate, the team members developed strong relationships with their Brazilian hosts. "The interactions with the church members were a blessing," Blake said. "They hosted us with such love and kindness. It did not take very long to feel such a close bond with the members." The team went into the trip with the intention of reinvigorating the congregation to move forward and of helping them reach out to the community despite the church's problems. The church in Florian6polis had no full-time workers, and there was talk of a needing to close the doors because of a drop in church attendance. "God used this team in a way that just helped [the congregation] turn a corner to decide, yes, we are going to be here and we're excelling with small numbers going to stick it out, we're going to keep fighting," Ken said. The campaign team helped reach out to the community by using the Let's Start Talking method of instruction. The students taught the Brazilians English using the Gospel of Luke. Most of the students from the community were college-aged and had learned basic Englis'h in school, but they were never given the opportunity to practice speaking conversationally. The technique helped natives and students to learn and grow together. Gomez said each lesson consisted of reading part of Luke with her students, then facilitating discussion on the reading to engage in conversation. Most Brazilians considered themselves to be Catholic, so the students knew the general content of the reading material. The LST method was an effective approach to teach the Brazilians English, but the success of the trip went beyond learning another language. "We had about 25 regularly-attending readers who got much better at their English and learned a lot about the Bible through not just reading the books and talking but by our actions," Blake said. Gomez said she and her teammates spent a significant amount of time with the members of the church and their students. The Brazilian students invited the team members to go around town and introduced them to some Brazilian traditions and foods. In another country where these three students did not speak the language and did not know the customs or ways to dress, they were still part of a family. In Florian6polis, the campaign team came together with fellow Christians, taking a break from the world to unite in worship to God whose glory transcended the differences between nationalities. Savannah Lee "/ was very excited to be a part of the first mission trip to Florian6polis, Brazil. /loved teaching English using the 'Let's Start Talking' program because you really got to talk to the Brazilians and get to know them," sophomore Anne Marie Gomez said. Summer Campaigns 117
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