Hi Everyone :)

So we are now at just over 2 weeks until our departure date, May 11! We are all very excited for the work that we will be doing in Salvador and I pray that through this work that God will be glorified and the people we meet may come to a relationship with our Saviour. It has really hit me in recent months just how important this type of mission is. We are holding onto the words of life, words that redeem and save words that give life. Not just a life for here and now but one for an eternity. How can we, how can I, just hold onto these words and not share them with others, how can I not help but tell people about our God and what He has done for all of us. This definitely means that I will have to get out of my comfort zone – and that is a good thing. It means that I will have to trust and rely on God more fully in every area of my life - which is a great thing. It means that I must find my strength and courage in God – which is a wonderful thing. I am thankful for this opportunity to work in Salvador and I pray that I will continue to learn and grow and that sharing Jesus will become as natural as it should be in my life both on a mission trip and right here at home.

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life...” Phil. 2:14-16

Love, Sarah

Kresten's First Post

Hey everybody,

This is Kresten, and I'm just writing this to say that I'm excited for this mission trip. Our team is great; we have many talents, and we are all eager to go. Going to Salvador is special for me because I was there three summers ago on a LST mission with my family, Christie Sanders, and Candace Lamb. Then, it was a great time of spiritual growth for me, so going back and being with some of the people I studied with will be nice for me. Much change happens in three years, and so it will be interesting to see where the church in Salvador has grown as well. Our team will grow from this experience, and the people we read with are going to see the relationships that come from being a Christian; relationships with people, and more importantly, relationship with our God. So often, God is just an idea in my head, or I make him into a set of morals, but He's the I Am. I don't really know what that means, but missions provide a time where God shows me how small my thinking is. Throughout history, God has been involved in our world and He is involved now. This is a chance where we get to experience this in a very concentrated form.

A repeating thought I been having lately is: if the Bible is true (which I believe it is), then we were created by God. We have sinned. Jesus was a real man and God's son who chose to come to Earth and lived a perfect life. He died and rose so we could be forgiven. The ONLY way to be saved is through relationship with him. These ARE true. These are very elementary, but we often lose the great significance of truth. There is an urgency to let others know about this. The stakes are high. True life begins when One submits to our Creator, Leader, God of all people, the only God, the I Am.

God, let us be earnest in sharing You with others, and showing You through our lives. Keep molding us. Give us a proper view of life. Guide us with your Spirit. Let us not rely on ourselves. Let us live in such a way that people can't help but be attracted to the Light. This is a fulfilled life.

Team Mission Statement

Brazil Team 2009

Justin Gauthier, Ryan Husband, Kresten Krogsgaard and Sarah McGeachy

We as a team want to be genuine and patient

as we share Jesus with others,

becoming more comfortable talking about our faith

with strangers and friends.

We want our relationship with God

and our faith in Him to grow and be

strengthened through prayer

as we shape our world view

and that of our readers.

We want to be an encouragement to

the missionaries and Christians

in Salvador as we live in the Spirit.

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?

And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?

And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

And how can they preach unless they are sent?

As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

– Romans 10:14-15

Our New Blog

Hey Everybody

Welcome to our blog. It is 32 days until we leave for Salvador Brazil. So if you were wondering what our title means, because we knew you were, except Pamela. In english Celebrar O Salvador means Celebrate the Saviour but if you were to take the O in the middle out, it would become Celebrate Salvador. Celebrate has been a team slogan for us because we need to recognize and celebrate all the blessings God has given us. We had a very hard time coming up with that last sentence. Basically anytime something usually good happens to us then we need to celebrate. For example, kresten finished fundraising therefore we celebrated. Or Ryan finished classes today which is a marvelous reason to celebrate. Better yet Justin quit his job so we celebrated for him. Sarah celebrated when we finished our teams mission statement, which will be posted very quickly. We have decided to celebrate everything and be grateful to God for all we have.

We will try to keep our blog as updated as possible so that everyone can see how our training is going and then eventually how things are in Salvador with Travis, Alicia and the rest team there. Their blog is brazilianbeanbrewed.blogspot.com

In God's Loving Care

SARAH, KRESTEN, JUSTIN AND RYAN