We are only weeks away from the mission trip to Brazil and I am getting excited.  I did not get to Peru last summer and have been itching to go on a mission trip since.  This will be my sixth mission trip and I think I am just as excited as the first time I went.  This is probably because I will never get bored with sharing Jesus with other people.  It doesn’t get much better than to be able to spend two weeks in another country telling people who Jesus is and what He did for them.

This will be my first trip to a non-Spanish speaking country.  Just when I was learning enough Spanish to get by, I am going to a country that speaks Portuguese.  I had a best friend in middle school whose family was from Brazil.  I guess I should have got his mom to teach me.  I have heard that Spanish and Portuguese are similar, so maybe I will pick up on some things quickly.  But it always is fun learning how to communicate with people who don’t speak the same language you do.

I have bought a soccer jersey as a souvenir from each country I have been to on a mission trip.  Since soccer is huge in Brazil and the Olympics will be going on while we are there, I think I should easily be able to continue this tradition.  Hopefully I’ll be able to find a jersey with an Olympics patch on it that will only be available this year.

I am also looking forward to what we will do on our free days.  On Maximum Missions trips we have a motto: Pray hard, play hard.  We have always found some amazing things to do on our free days.  I’ve hiked up a dormant volcano and then trayboarded down (see TVOL season 2 for footage).  I’ve also got to snorkel in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, sandboard on dunes in a desert, cliff jump into a lake with an Indian tribe, and see one of the largest waterfalls in Ecuador.  I’m not sure what I will get to do in Brazil, but I know it will be a lot of fun.

Each mission trip I have gone on, I get to the country and think the two weeks is going to last forever.  By the time day fourteen gets there I am wondering where all the time went.  I know it is going to be an incredible trip where God uses our team to change lives.  I know the team will come back with all kinds of stories of the things God did.  We will be able to share stories of people who gave their life to Jesus, of people that were set free by God, of people that God healed, and so much more.  So far my favorite trip has been my second trip to Ecuador.  I am anxiously waiting to see if this year’s trip to Brazil can beat it.