When I was younge I used to be cynical about short-term missions. I felt like it was a lot of time and resources given when we could just send those resources to the missionaries and people who are working in those countries. Now, after being a missionary on the field for over 7 years, I see what a value it is to have people and teams come to visit us. It brings fresh life and fresh encouragement, and it's such a blessing for those who come to receive from us as well.
This past week, we had the honor of hosting a team from Jesus Copy School in Brazil. They were here for 9 days and loved and served alongside us. It wasn't all easy having three cultures and languages together, but it was so good and we learned a lot from them.
There is one particular testimony I wanted to share from their time here. One of the days, the team went out to visit an indigenous tribal community. As they were there, they were able to pray for a little girl who had not been able to walk for several weeks due to parasites. After they prayed healing for her, she was up and walking around.
This is a community that we have been reaching out to for almost two years and at times it's hard to see the progress, BUT GOD always has a plan. After this visit and what happened with the little girl, one of the leaders reached out personally to our team and thanked us for coming. This is a huge step for us in earning their trust.
It was a last-minute change going to the community. It wasn't necessarily in our plans, but God knows exactly what He is doing. What a blessing it was to host this team, and we are looking forward to the next team coming in March from the States. We need each other, we learn and grow from each other, and Jesus is in it all. He is worthy.