Publisher's Synopsis
What would you do if in the later years of your life you felt God calling you to mission work? How would you respond? How would you prepare? Missionary Messages from a Call to Brazil is the account of a middle-aged nurse who accepted the call to minister in Brazil, a country that was at the time in a state of great economic instability. Florence prepared by attending seminary. Yet her seminary training and years of being a Believer could not have adequately prepared Florence for the realities of life in the mission field in Brazil. Many books on the market exploit the riches and attractions of Brazil - her beaches, fashions, music, and the extravagance of Carnaval, but few books look deeper. Brazil, the tenth largest economy in the world also has the largest population of wretchedly poor people living within its borders. Florence struggled, practically alone, to help the poorest of the poor, experiencing poverty and hardships herself. Like many who have tried to improve the desperate conditions of the poor in Brazil, Florence found there was often little she could do. Yet she gained valuable insight regarding the cultures of both the affluent and the poor, insight that is recorded in the missionary letters that she sent out. Her frank letters touch on many troubling issues that will resonate with anyone who has attempted intercultural ministry. Who should read this book? 1. People in congregations that support missionaries: heads of missions task forces, women's groups, pastors, and church school leaders. If you hold such a position, this book will provide an eye-opening look at the needs of missionaries on the field. 2. People in congregations that do not yet support missionaries. If you are a leader and your church does not yet support a missionary, this book will encourage you to consider more fully the role your congregation may have in the Great Commission. Conditions in Brazil have improved dramatically over the last decade as far as economic stability, making opportunities to help Brazil easier to sustain. 3. Individuals who are hearing God's call. Is God calling you to be a missionary? Before entering the mission field, it is wise to know the Good News and the Bad News - the many trials that surely await - and to take a season to prepare. Florence's letters reflect the many unexpected twists and turns of living in an unfamiliar culture. 4. Individuals who are asking God's direction in their lives. Could it be that God is calling you to support another on the mission field with your letters, prayers, and material resources? This book informs you of the desperate needs that missionaries on the field face and provides clues as to how you, personally, can be used by God to help a missionary. 5. Mission Agency Board Members. You stand in the gap between the support agency, congregations, individual supporters, and missionaries. Your agencies enable missions larger than any individual congregation could grow. As a Board Member, you prayerfully consider how resources can do the most good. This book presents one answer: where the rubber meets the road-in the hands of the missionary that God has called. 6. Missionaries. This book simply affirms you and says, loudly, "You are not alone. You are not forgotten. Despite the circumstances, your work is not in vain." Through the trials that you and your family face, know that God sees, hears, and upholds. Know that He speaks to His people. And know that faithful Believers are reading this book, listening to God's voice, and responding to Him. While Florence does not pretend to have answers to the many dilemmas she faced; her book provides a clear stimulus to fresh, new dialogue on what it means to follow the Great Commission. Florence also calls us to think with compassion and affection of our neighbors in the largest country in South America, the people of Brazil.
