| Hello,
Happy August from the Xingu Mission! This monthly Field Report highlights new missionary life with our new missionaries hitting the field in Macapa. May it inspire you!
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On July 14th Derek and Amanda Blaylock and their 4 children Selah, Amaris, Josiah and Adalee joined our mission on the field. They are starting out in the city of Macapa, Amapa alongside missionaries Christopher and Denise Meyer and Bob Lesher.
Accepting the call of God to become a full-time missionary is not an easy decision. Leaving the conveniences of life in your home country, leaving family and friends, uprooting your whole family and moving to an entirely different country with its different culture and different language has it is tests and trials. So what truly sustains a missionary in long term field work is not abilities or a desire to do good, but rather holding strong to obeying the call of God on their lives and understanding God’s heart for the nations.
The absolute trust, belief and dependence on God based from an intimate relationship with Him leads us to be obedient to His call and is what sustains a missionary through culture shock; being stripped of everything you know like how to make people laugh, how to bank, and what is the name of that fruit. Although you want to jump in and make a difference as fast as you can, you become very toddler like as you learn language and culture and make lots of faux pas and stumbles along the way.
Learning your host country’s language is foundational for obvious reasons. If you can’t speak the language, you’ll have a hard time sharing the Gospel. It needs to be looked at as the beginning of ministry. By pressing hard into language study, you can rebuild these skills and prepare yourself for deeper, more effective ministry in the future.
One also needs in the words and perspective of Derek: Humility – We are guests here. There is a lot of cultural knowledge that comes from tough lessons and many generations of experimentation. Lean into the Brazilian way of doing things and let a more complete understanding come later. Be teachable – Every encounter, every conversation, and yes – even every long line you stand in waiting to get something signed or approved is an opportunity to learn something about your new neighbors, practice the language, or notice the Holy Spirit in action. Anticipation – Anticipate that God is going to do some extraordinary things with you and on your behalf.
It was said once that “Your goal for the first term is to survive and want to come back.” Although that wording seems harsh, there is a bit of truth to it. As for the Blaylocks, their first term goal is “To work on transitioning our family to our new home in a healthy and life-giving way, continuing to learn a beautiful new language, spending lots of time getting to know Brazilians as a people, and building relationships with new friends and family in the community.”
As for how the Blaylocks are doing since landing on the field, they find it surreal after the time spent building up to coming. They feel warmly welcomed and are glad to be here.
Please pray for the Blaylocks and their transition as new missionaries. Thank you and God bless you!
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