Some of you may have received an email from me less than 6 months ago describing something that happened as a result of my trip to Brazil in 2001.
(See emails below)
"Hello All,
Will you pass this along to anyone who supported me in prayer and financially during my missions trips (if you have their emails) - I thought it might be an encouragement and a testament to God's sovereignty and mighty power to work through us even when we undermine how great of a God we serve.
Several years ago, as many of you know, I went on two consecutive missions trips to Brazil. I learned so much and felt that we were able to be vessels for God those weeks. Frequently I thought that I might have gotten more out of the trips than the people we witnessed to. After arriving home from my missions trips, I frequently struggled with the idea that we went to the people of Brazil for a brief time, very quickly told them about a Jesus we knew well about, and then left them without many resources to be discipled. I felt like I had done a hit and run and that if I were ever to do missions again, I would want to spend more time investing in relationships and discipleship. At times, I felt that I had done them a disservice. I knew that these thoughts were not true and that God sent us there for a very specific reason and that he would determine the rest. However, I was very humbled this afternoon and taken by surprise.
I received a facebook message from a man named Filipe Niel in Brazil. But you have to remember, I wasn't really thinking about my missions trips when I received this friend request and message, so I was imagining that this was some random man who liked my picture and wanted to be my friend- haha- some pride I have. I initially ignored his friend request and then felt bad, so I confirmed him as a friend and was able to see his message. The message was as follows:
"I am sorry to disturb you. But I am trying to find someone whom I was friend of. Her name was Whitney and she gave me a Bible in Brazil which had a phone number from the family Gropp, it was almost 10 years a go. I am just wondering if it was you. Have you ever been in Brazil? Word of life? well sorry again, and thank you for taking the time to read this.
Filipe Niel"
I couldn't believe my eyes! So many years later someone remembering the Bible I gave to them and wanting to talk with me. It turns out, Filipe graduated from seminary in 2006 and is now a senior pastor at a church (Igreja Batista de Caldas) in Brazil. I remember hesitating to give him my Bible because, well, it was mine and his English wasn't very good so he couldn't possibly read it! It is truly amazing the ways in which God works- whether through young people, proud people, selfish people, or any other kind.
Proverbs 19:21 says, "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."
I want to thank you all for your support financially and in prayer during those trips that I took. I'm sure we can all look at missions trips that are going on, people serving in the ministry, or various other things going on in churches that we might not agree with, but this simple message has reminded me that we are all broken vessels and God will use the things we do for selfish gain or with proud hearts for good always and in his time.
I hope this message brings you the encouragement it brought me that we serve a God who is strong when we are weak, capable of the seemingly impossible, and mighty to save.
In Christ,
Whitney Gropp"
and a followup response to this one:
A second response from Filipe:
"I can't believe I've finally found you. I am doing great, right now I am planting a church in mid-west Brazil. I went to live in US in 2006, and I tried to find you through the clues I had in the NIV you gave me, but I couldn't. I am glad to have found you, and I want to say that the Bible you gave me was always a huge encouragement for me to study and learn the English language. What are you doing? Add me as a friend in this Facebook. In Christ,
Filipe"
Since receiving these e-mails Filipe and I keep in touch from time to time and he sends prayer letters with prayer requests for his church plant. I received a letter from him today and it made me curious to see if I could find any pictures of him in my albums from my trips (when he contacted me all of my stuff was packed in boxes prior to our wedding). Sure enough, I found a picture of him and it was a fun trip down memory lane. See below for pictures of my trips :)
Filipe on the far right- those three guys used to call me Penelope because of my pink scarf (some T.V. show in Brazil had a character named Penelope who always wore pink)
Our group and some campers
A 70-year-old man with Down Syndrome and I in a more rural village (1 day boat trip to get there). I remember giving him hand sanitizer in his hand and he licked it! (who knows why I did that)
Andes Mountains in Chile (from the plane- although we did do a day hike in these mountains :))
Trip to the Amazon in 2002 on a house boat- we slept in hammocks....and got sick 3 days later as many of you may recall. I'll spare you the details :)
The houseboat.
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