Over the last several years–six to be exact–lots of groups and individuals have come our way in order to experience something of life here in Brazil. We’ve received everything from local church youth groups, to seminary interns, to pilgrims on a journey to “holy sites” on the margins.

It’s interesting that almost all of these folks/groups share certain features, such as:

#1) They have a deep desire to connect with and serve others beyond the borders of the own country.
#2) They are committed to #1 because of their commitment to and relationship with Jesus.
#3) They understand #1 and #2 to be part and parcel of something called Christian mission.

#4) They have a sense that commitment to #3 (Christian mission) is part of what it means to be a faithful Christian, yet #3 involves a complex history that weaves faithfulness with much UNFAITHFULNESS.
#5) They want #1 without the problems of #4.

What we hear a lot goes something like this:

“People everywhere (and U.S. Christians, especially) are hungry to get to know their brothers and sisters in other places. We want to relate to Christians “across the borders” because we believe that we belong together. But here’s the thing: It has got to be more than a one-way, top-down, us-to-them attempt to share some of what we have, or to do something for them based on what we think their needs are.”

In a nutshell, what we hear from our friends who come to Brazil is that Christian mission has to be reimagined and performed differently that the (neo) colonial paradigm–even in its most benevolent forms. There’s a growing sense that it’s just not enough to want to be a “do-gooder”; we must somehow be together before we can do the good.

Our Brazilian friends tend to share certain things in common, as well:

#1) They have a deep desire to be with and serve others who come from beyond Brazilian borders.
#2) They are committed to #1 because of their commitment to and relationship with Jesus.
#3) They understand #1 and #2 to be part and parcel of something called Christian mission.
#4) They have a sense that commitment to #3 (Christian mission) is part of what it means to be a faithful Christian, yet #3 has a complex history of faithfulness and unfaithfulness.
#5) They, too, want #1 without the problems of #4.

What we hear from them goes something like this:

“OK. So, some friends of yours are coming to Brazil from the States. Great! We would love to meet them and spend time with them. But we’re not going to build or paint anything. They don’t need to spend $2,000 dollars a piece to come down here and take jobs away from the local economy. Tell them this: Come to be with us.”

One of our friends, who has hosted his fair share of groups from the States has actually proposed something that – as simple as it sounds – may actually be a creative way for both groups to have #5: that is, a way to be and even serve together without all the baggage can come with “traditional mission trips” when they are not organized relationally.

Check out this video to find out more: