Caleb Mission Training

“Your talk will be in the afternoon. You will have 30 minutes.”

I was shocked when the Youth Pastor told me this on Sabbath morning. I was going to give a palestra on being a missionary in different countries (This is my first official missionary place. People usually do not understand when I say I went to Thailand but not as a missionary). I had never given a talk on that, and to make it more shocking, I was going to do it in Portuguese! It was for a youth-evangelistic training (700 people), Treinamento Missão Calebe 5.0, on Sabbath November 27th at the Central Pernambuco Mission (MPeC), which is part of the Northeast Brazilian Union Mission (UNeB), where I serve as a volunteer for this year. Playing viola and singing was definitely OK for me, but talking!?!?

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Treinamento Misssão Calebe - MPeC

I was a little scared and had no idea what to say or where to start. I prayed and asked for guidance because I knew God had planned something for me that day. I knew I was there for a special reason. After praying, ideas came to my mind on what to say. God put the words in my mouth to talk to all those young people. And, what about my Portuguese? God can make us fluent in a language when it is used for His purpose! And as the Brazilians often tell me: da para entender.

With Pr. Andre Lima (MPeC Youth Director) and his son, Andres.
The little boy is so cute! The pastor would say "I am.." and he would complete the sentence "Caleb!"

I know it was not me but God who talked that day, and I pray that the impact in them was not of a ‘traveler’ or a great girl who has lived in other countries, but of a servant who, just like them, loves God and wants to share that love to others through missionary work.

*Missão Calebe is a youth evangelism project by the South American Division (SAD). It started five years ago and  thousands and thousands of young people in all the countries of the SAD spend their summer holidays (January) doing missionary work, giving Bible studies and having evangelistic meetings. According to the Division, Missão Calebe is one of the biggest, best and most important projects in Youth Ministry in recent years. In the Northeast Brazilian Union Mission, 12500 young people will participate in this project in January 2011.