Beth Marshall is currently on a Stride placement in Brazil and tells us about the impact of the support she has received both at home and abroad.

I was already in touch with two of the Brazil team members and had visited my potential project before officially being accepted onto my Stride placement. As someone who has a lot of questions, the support I received from the outset from both the UK and the
Brazil team was amazing. Latin Link have been with me every step of the way and continue to be so now that I am in country.

I serve at a residential children’s home in Anápolis, central Brazil. My main role is to support and mentor the teenage girls, which involves helping with homework, cooking, craft activities and everything in between. I also run dance classes with the younger girls and teach English at a Christian pre-school.

PART OF A TEAM

Brazil is huge, which means the team can’t meet up in person regularly. However, we do have video calls to share news and pray for one another. Online orientation meetings with different members of the team were another great way to get to know individuals better as they shared their wisdom on cross-cultural mission and prepared me for things I might experience. Not everyone is miles away though, my supervisor and mentor live five minutes’ walk away and have been integral to me feeling settled here. Meeting regularly with my mentor enables me to debrief from the week, receive advice and deepen my own relationship with God. I have also been able to serve and bless other team members which, for me, is crucial to being part of a team.

The support I have received from my church in the UK has been phenomenal. Not only have they supported me financially, but I have also had many members encourage me and let me know they are praying for me. Support from my wider community has also
been incredible as friends from the UK, Brazil and beyond have been in touch through emails, WhatsApp messages and greetings passed on through my mum!

INTERTWINED ROOTS

The work I am doing in Anápolis has its roots intertwined with the roots of Latin Link itself. I have met people, including pastors, whose parents or grandparents became Christians because of missionaries from the Evangelical Union of South America (which later merged with another organisation to become Latin Link). I feel honoured to be part of the work started here over 100 years ago and to be part of God’s wider plans for Brazil.