Missionaries ignite the faith in Brazil

By RENEE WEBB
Content and Design Coordinator

A priest and three young adults from the Diocese of Sioux City recently evangelized in remote Catholic communities of the rainforest and had their own hearts touched by the Lord during Mission Brazil.

Organized through FOCUS Missions, two-year FOCUS missionary Abby Landwehr from Fort Dodge had reached out to Father Pat Behm to serve as the spiritual director to the group of 20 trip participants from around the country. Besides Landwehr, two other trip participants were Will Sanders and Dayna Toft who are both graduates of Kuemper High School in Carroll. All three were former students of Father Behm.

Evangelize
“Our primary mission was evangelization and catechesis so we mostly went to these places and tried to ignite their faith and participate in what they already had going on,” said Father Behm, who is pastor of St. John Paul II Parish in Carroll. “Our primary work was sharing our own faith and our own testimony to how the Lord has worked in our own lives and how he wants to work in the lives of the people there.”

The homebase for the trip was Maués, Brazil, in the state of Amazonas.

Visiting with resident.Landwehr pointed out that one of the goals of a mission trip for both the missionaries and the people they minister to is building up relationships with the Lord.

Working with six Brazilian translators fluent in both English and Portuguese, much of their ministry was home visits. As they went out to the communities, she explained they would clap and yell something in Portuguese. Then people would come outside and invite the missionaries into their homes.

“We would start talking about their lives, their families and we incorporate the faith,” said Landwehr. “Many of them were Catholic and they looked to us as an inspiration – if we can be missionaries so can they.”

The missionaries prayed with those they visited and offered special intentions focused on the needs of the people, often prayers of healing.

“I was surprised by the total faith these people had in them being healed. Probably about 50% of the people we ran into had some sort of miracle in their life,” said Landwehr, who noted that faith was not just something they could opt to do but was an essential part of their lives.

Sanders, a recent Kuemper graduate and parishioner of St. John Paul II, said he went on the trip after Father Behm invited him.

“The trip went phenomenally, we were accepted with open arms by each community,” he said. “Every family was grateful for us to stop and converse with them. Many offered gifts and all wanted us to pray with them.”

Toft, who teaches religion at Storm Lake St. Mary’s Schools, said she had felt called to do some mission work when Father Behm saw her at a Seek Conference and extended an invitation to participate in the trip.

She saw the group’s mission as one of being a joyful presence to the people of Brazil, adding that while “we are from America and they are from Brazil, we are unified in our belief in Christ and this church.”

Father Behm pointed out that in this part of Brazil, there are only five priests to serve about 130 communities. During the trip, he concelebrated Mass that was offered in Portuguese.

“Some of these areas were only available to be reached by boat because there are no roads. Somebody comes and meets you at the dock and takes you where you need to go,” he said.

While Father Behm participated in the sacramental ministry, the lay participants witnessed to the truth of the Gospel in their own lives and offered a joyful presence as they shared in the lives of the people through not only worship but in sharing a meal or playing a game of soccer.

Welcomed
One of the highlights of the trip for Sanders was how open everyone was to have the missionaries there.

“I really thought we would be rejected from homes more but we were not,” he said. “Everyone understood that we traveled thousands of miles to get there and they were grateful for us to be there.”

While the missionaries were to provide a joyful presence, it surprised Toft how joyful the people of Brazil were and how much they relied on their faith.

“They give everything to God and it’s just beautiful,” she said.

In many areas, Father Behm said the faith was strong, but he noted, “I think they are sufferingSome locations required boat travel. from not having the sacraments readily available. In some of these places, they may only have Mass once every six months.”Toft felt the Brazilians craved the sacraments and attended when services were available.

“Each night when we had Mass the church was pretty much packed,” she said. “Their daily 
prayer life is pretty strong; many pray a daily rosary if not multiple and they find time for God each day even if they cannot actually receive the sacraments.”

During the trip, Father Behm noted, they did not encounter permanent deacons so much it is his belief that the spiritual activities of these remote communities are lay led.

“We didn’t really get a glimpse of that because we had priests with us,” said Father Behm. “We had Mass every day at each place that we went to and for a lot of these places, that may have been the first time they had Mass in quite a while.”

During Masses, on thing that stood out for Sanders was that while there were many differences during the liturgy such as the priest sitting in a different location, the language was different and the songs were different, in the end he always knew where they were at in Mass.

Availability of sacraments
Concerning accessibility of the sacraments, Father Behm reflected upon what a gift it is for parishioners in the United States to not only have availability of weekly Mass but also daily and that is not the case in many parts of the world.

“We can kind of take the sacraments for granted,” added Toft. “We know it’s always there for us so we might not take advantage of it as much as we should, where they see a chance to go to the sacraments and they make sure to get there – even if it’s more difficult to get there.”

A defining moment of not only the trip, but also of Father Behm’s priesthood came during another time of sacramental ministry.

“I was able to give the last rites to a woman who otherwise probably would not have received them,” said Father Behm. “That was very beautiful to be able to celebrate that with those individuals. It’s the sacraments that are the surest channels of God’s grace that we have and the surest means of salvation that we have.”

In addition to seeing a lack of sacramental ministry, most parts of Brazil they visited had at least some degree of material poverty.

“When we visited their homes, it wasn’t to the level of absolute destitution that I saw in Honduras, but many people we encountered had crude wiring in their homes, did not have appliances we have, air conditioning was a luxury – it wasn’t everywhere. Most things were old and dirty. Homes were small by our standards,” described Father Behm.

While their homes may have lacked some of the common amenities of homes here, Toft said most homes she saw had a prayer corner. Faith was a visible presence in their homes and lives.

Father Behm pointed out that the young adults on the trip were a diverse group of individuals at various stages of the faith. By the end of the trip, he saw a lot of growth in them.

Many remote church communities.Witnessing the faith of the healing power of God in the people of Brazil, is something that Landwehr aspires.Having a strong belief in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, she said, “I want to dive into spiritual gifts and the gifts of healing.”

If anyone ever has a chance to go on a mission trip, Sanders suggested they go.

“This was definitely beneficial to my faith,” he said. “Seeing all these college kids that were very alive in their faith was incredible, even the people we were serving were very strong in their faith. To be surrounded by all these people makes you want to strengthen my own faith life.”

In this Jubilee Year of Hope, Toft said the trip offered a sign of hope in that people with so little were so joyful and willing to give of what little they have.
 
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