Brazil Camp - Unity by Courtney Horvath

Unity, Unidade

    It has now been just over a month since the recent United Youth Camp in Brazil came to an end and all of the campers and staff members returned to their daily lives, spiritually recharged from an uplifting week in the Zone. This first-ever camp in Brazil was filled with innumerable unforgettable memories. However, there is one in particular that strikes me as my fondest memory from the week every time I think about my experience at camp. This memory is of singing hymns with several of the younger girl campers one night while swinging in our hammocks strung from the rafters of the church hall. If I had to describe this moment in one word, it would be unity, or unidade in Portuguese.

    While sitting there in my hammock, three little girls in the hammock in front of me, and Stella in the hammock behind me, all of us singing hymns from our hymnal a capella, sometimes in English and sometimes in Portuguese, I was overwhelmed at the beauty of what was happening. The campers all had such a passion for singing the hymns from our hymnal, and it was not uncommon throughout camp to hear groups of the young people singing some of their favorites during their free time. It was always inspiring to see and hear the joy with which these campers would sing praises to our God. This night in our hammocks, however, struck me as an especially tender and emotional moment of song. We had all just showered and were preparing to go to bed, but not before lifting up our voices to our Father the girls had decided. These young ladies then sang with such purity and genuineness, sincerely meaning every word they sang. None of them over ten years old, they all knew the melodies by heart of all the hymns that we sang that night, as well as many of the lyrics. Then all of us in the girls’ cabin went to sleep with the messages of hymns, like When Christ Shall Come, freshly in our minds.

    There is a power in the hymns that we sing as a Church all across the world to praise and glorify our same heavenly Father and Brother. The lyrics, based on scripture, are very meaningful and have the same significance in all languages. It is beautiful and powerful that brethren many thousands of miles away that live incredibly remotely and speak a completely different language, like our brethren in Brazil, sing these same songs of praise. It was so moving for me to sing along with these little girls who were singing so enthusiastically. This precious moment shared in song with these little campers helped me to feel the unity of our brethren now and also gave me longing to see the day when all brethren will truly be united together to work, serve, and teach alongside Christ.

    After reflecting back on this moment, I also began to think about the eventual unity that is to come between all mankind and our Father and Savior. As the Firstfruits, we are very blessed to know God’s Truth and have a special relationship with Him and Christ now. But most of mankind does not have this opportunity yet. Thinking of that moment swinging there singing hymns in the hammocks, I am grateful for the unity that we experience now as spiritual brothers and sisters and I am excited for the time when all humanity will have the opportunity to be a part of this same spiritual family. To all of my spiritual brothers and sisters from Brazil and the world over…

God be with you till we meet again.
Deus esteja contigo até nos encontrarmos novamente.

(Or maybe, till we meet for the first time.)