God is a Bridge by Megan Lamoureux

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God is a Bridge

On December 16th 2014 Nick and I left our home to begin our travels to Brazil to work on an agricultural project. This is the first time either of us has left our country (except for the occasional trip to Canada). Any time we do something for the first time it is always accompanied by excitement, anxiousness, and a little bit of fear of the unknown. All of these feelings resided with me as we boarded our plane from Miami to Manaus, Brazil. We landed in Manaus around 2:30 am and were taken by taxi to the hotel where we stayed for the duration of our layover. When we arrived at the hotel it was not what I was expecting. It felt as if I was in a complete different world and I asked myself “what have I gotten myself into?” Immediately after that question I prayed to God asking Him to allow me to have an open mind and a malleable heart. In doing so I saw God in a way that I have never seen before.  God is a bridge between all things.

God revealed Himself to me in three different situations:

1.)    God is a bridge between worlds.
The tiny village of Moscou Brazil is the opposite of my home in Vermont. It was 95°f in Brazil and I was coming from 9°f and 1 foot of snow in Vermont. I was living out of a tent for ten days sleeping on the hard ground after enjoying the warm comforts of my bed back home. I was eating foods that I had never eaten before and could barely pronounce the names of. Needless to say, I was far out of my comfort zone. God, being the great comforter and a loving father expanded my comfort zone. I was very comfortable in my tent, sleeping on the ground. I enjoyed almost all of the new foods I tried. They were delicious and colorful! The sun took its toll on me for the first two days but when I asked God for relief He provided cloud cover and a nice breeze. God guided me across that bridge with comfort and ease.

2.)    God is a bridge from a problem to a solution.
One of our tasks while we were in Brazil was to run an irrigation system from the newly dug well to the garden. When we examined the piping we realized we needed more parts to accomplish our goal. This meant an hour and a half drive to Boa Vista one way. This took up half a day. After all of the parts arrived, we put together the part of the pipes closest to the well, it went smoothly. We then realized that we needed more parts to finish the lower half of the system. This meant another trip to town. When the parts had arrived the irrigation system was then pieced together and seemed to be finished. We then opened the well to test it out and realized that there was not enough pressure to run 6 sprinklers at one time. Someone came up with the idea that we could put shut offs in and only run 3 sprinklers at a time. Now we were one part short to accomplish this and it had all been a little frustrating because this meant another trip to town. At this point it had been revealed to us all that we had been relying on our own ideas without asking God for a solution. We all took the night to pray about it. In the morning during our debriefing meeting someone found the exact part we needed to finish the task. God provided the solution to the problem and saved us another trip to town.

3.)    God is the bridge between people.
I arrived in this village a stranger only knowing how to say hello, thank you, and you’re welcome in Portuguese. I left this village part of a family with the ability to laugh and play with everyone as if I had known them for years. My heart was filled with so much love. God provided ways for us to bridge our language gap through card games and picture taking. We all got together and played volleyball as if it was a big family reunion. I played the card game UNO with a lot of the children. This game helped me learn some colors in Portuguese, Vermelho (red) Verde (green) Amarillo (yellow) and Azul (blue). God bridged our differences with our love for Him and love for one another.

    This entire experience was over all absolutely amazing. I have learned to trust, enjoy life more, simplify, and how to love. This is one of the best opportunities that I have ever been given and the glory goes to God!