Article February 6, 2012 Issue

Brotherly love in Brazil

By Garrett Bourcier

Courtesy photo

Early in 2011, I had the chance to travel through Brazil for several months as part of a college study-abroad program. More than anything, this trip helped me realize that God allows us to grow in ways that we couldn’t come close to predicting. It was an opportunity for me to work on being more conscious of how I am perceiving other people, and trying consistently to view them as perfect and complete, in the way that God sees them. This includes everyone from my fellow travelers to my new Brazilian friends to the strangers on the streets of the cities I visited.

Early in the trip, we took Portuguese classes in Salvador, a city in the northeast of Brazil with comparatively limited resources. It certainly wasn’t an unsafe area, but the people there were generally less well-off than I was used to. Staying there was an unfamiliar experience for me, and rather than dwelling on the city’s difficulties, I turned to God to give me the right ideas about how to perceive the area and the people. Each day I would go out, determined not to let a picture of need overwhelm me; instead, I would strive to recognize the good qualities already present all around. Science and Health states that “divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need” (p. 494), and throughout my life, as I’ve learned to turn immediately to God, I’ve found a growing confidence that He always meets everyone’s needs. I prayed about our stay in Salvador, cherishing the joy and soul that I saw all around, and I found small ways to help contribute to the community—including doing volunteer work at a local orphanage.

I was able to separate the apparent act of thoughtlessness from the person, recognizing the man's spiritual identity.