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Thank you!

Learning to 'Become'

Jevon makes a trip to the village before move-in day.

“We’ve spent the last year and a half intentionally becoming something more like Brazilians than we were before,” wrote missionary Danica Rich. “‘Becoming’ has become a very significant word in our vocabulary. And it can mean anything from changing the clothes we choose to wear, to what we consider ‘clean’ or not clean, to the manner in which we demonstrate ‘welcome’ to a friend at our own table.”

A Tad Apprehensive

As Jevon and Danica moved into a village, Danica found herself feeling a little apprehensive of what “becoming” would look like in an indigenous context. An afternoon of mixing dough for cheese bread rolls with her Brazilian co-worker, Cris, was just what she needed.

Danica listened as Cris shared some of her own cultural mishaps, as well as the parts she had grown to appreciate. But the timing was a God-send.

Cris spoke of her love of rain and how she couldn’t understand the villagers’ distaste for it. Presuming it had to do with a fear of the spirits, Cris played in the rain with the indigenous children. She wanted the people to grasp that there was nothing to fear. But as time passed, she realized that the rain with its overcast sky reminded them of loved ones who had died. “I still like rain,” Cris told her, “but I try not to have a big party in front of them.”

Loving and Liking

As Cris shared, the indigenous women came to life before Danica’s eyes. “She told me about the way the women teach their daughters how to sit and how to reach for their food. ‘It’s not just any old way you sit and grab food,’ she explained. ‘There is a way that you are supposed to do it.’ And the way Cris talked, I perceived that she finds these women gracious and feminine in their cultural way.”

It became evident that her co-worker didn’t just love the indigenous people; she liked them, too. And there’s a big difference.

It was also clear that her co-worker understood what it meant to “become.” And that was just what Danica wanted to do. “This becoming is about finding out what matters to them, and what makes them feel at home with you, and what makes them know that you like them. It’s about capitalizing on the things that you like and appreciate in their culture,” Danica wrote.

“It’s not just about being friends. It’s about becoming meaningful in their lives. So that in time, we can become instruments of peace and hope in their lives.”

'Becoming' with a Purpose

“I am glad to have a co-worker who is becoming. And who has a heart to become. … She also has a true desire to see a mature church grow up among this precious people. That is our desire also. We are here because we believe that that is, first of all, God’s desire. And, with the existing team that is here, we are following His heart into the midst of a people that were not our own, to become theirs.”

Pray for Jevon and Danica Rich as they’ve stepped out of their comfort zone and stand ready to bond with a people group far removed from their own way of life. Their heart’s desire is to see God made real to these people.

Tags: Brazil, Latin America, Mission News, Prayer
POSTED ON Aug 10, 2014 by Rosie Cochran