Third wave

Last week I had the opportunity to go to Mato Grosso for a huge conference of indigenous Christian leaders from all across the Amazon region. A couple thousand people packed into the campus and nearby town, filling all available spaces with hammocks and tents. I went to get to know the place, because it's where I'll be living next year after I finish language school. So it was a great introduction to the area (which is amazingly beautiful), the missionaries I'll be working with and the indigenous culture.

I got to spend some time with my bosses who were down from Florida, and I had the privilege of helping the huge crew of volunteers a little bit with trash runs and food service. I'm not sure how, but the multitudes were fed, and there was always rice to spare. I attended most of the meetings and understood most of the Portuguese, which was really exciting.

My favorite part was seeing all the various tribes worshiping God with their own music and dances. Which I think proves that Christianity doesn't have to kill culture; God can be glorified through culture. Also it was really inspiring to see how the indigenous people are stepping up to become the "third wave" of missionaries to their own people. The first wave was the foreign missionaries, then the Brazilians, but neither group has been allowed back into the protected indigenous areas for some time now.

Overall it was an awesome feather-filled experience. I'm excited to go back there and motivated to finish off this year of studies strong.

[Click here for more pictures!]