Chyler Hughes had never seen a Black missionary. At church, she learned to minister in her local community, but no one ever talked about international missions.
The concept entered her world when she left Kentucky and enrolled at Lincoln University, a historically Black university in Jefferson City, Missouri. She learned about international missions by attending Rooted, a collegiate ministry, and Soma Community Church. They partnered with an International Mission Board missionary team in Brazil and sent their first short-term team of students to work with them.
It was on this trip to São Paulo, Brazil, where Hughes met her first IMB missionaries, Eric and Ramona Reese, and saw firsthand how they share the good news of Jesus Christ in the favelas, low-income settlements.
“It was really inspiring to see Eric and Miss Ramona in a place like Brazil,” Hughes said, speaking of the diversity of the community. She witnessed people with different ethnic backgrounds and of different color spreading the gospel and sharing their testimonies. “Seeing that representation shows you missions is for everybody.”
‘Bigger than me’
Jon Nelson, pastor of Soma Community Church, nodded his head. This is exactly what he prayed for his young team to learn on this missions experience for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) students. The pastor pointed out statistically about 8.4% of all missionaries in any denomination are African American or of African descent. He noticed this low engagement among his students who typically don’t think of leaving their own communities for missions. For most, this trip to São Paulo was their first international trip.
“Some fruit from this trip is just in the way they [will] see the world now. My students were able to see people that look like them,” Nelson said, referring not only to the Reeses but the diverse Brazilian population. “That takes the racial aspect out of missions and better allows them to think about what it looks like to serve God in another country. They see it’s about being obedient to God.”
Brian Kinney kept reminding himself that the whole experience was “bigger than me.” With tasting new foods and experiencing a new culture, he didn’t want to get wrapped up in the new and miss what God wanted him to see. He found he was able to spread God’s Word, no matter the language barrier, through smiles, play, hugs, feeding the homeless and of course, translators. The experience now has him thinking about full-time missions, something that wasn’t even on his radar before the trip.
The same happened with Hughes as she saw many challenges and hardships in the people’s lives she met. She held babies in the favela and played games with the smiling children. She talked with a man in a little town square where people with addiction hung out and learned his struggles. She listened to national believers tell their testimonies of coming to faith in Jesus.
Through all the new experiences, Hughes felt her eyes and heart opening. She went from thinking somebody else can do missions to “why not me?”
“There are so many people out here in São Paulo and all over the world that are struggling with things similar to how all of us are struggling. They just need Jesus in their lives,” Hughes said. “We need more people out there spreading the gospel.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Alex Smith and Sue Sprenkle and originally published by the International Mission Board.
