Penial Church in Astoria, New York City welcomed ten women from the Gordon community with hugs around the necks and kisses on the cheeks from the evening we pulled up in one of the Gordon vans on March 15, until reluctantly saying goodbye on the morning of March 24. Spending Spring Break and Easter serving, as well as being served, by our Brazilian brothers and sisters in Christ abundantly exceeded any expectations we had of the first U.S. Exposure trip in which any of us had participated.
The team was made up of nine women who live together on Ferrin 3East, and their advisor, Olga Barchuk, who works for Physical Plant and had developed a relationship with some of the team members through cleaning Ferrin last year. The team included freshmen Liz Macdavitt, Ellen Ash, Nicole Naude, Bethany Walton, sophomores Jackie Kiefer, Ashley Pitkin, Bryden McGhee, and senior co-leaders Alyssa Holladay, and Bethany Stewart.
Our connection to Penial Church traces back to a mission trip to Brazil that Alyssa had the opportunity to experience in high school. The pastor and family Alyssa came to know in Brazil took a step of obedience about one year ago and are now faithfully pastoring Penial Church in NYC. The small Portuguese-speaking church has been through multiple splits in the past year and is currently in great need of support from the rest of the Body of Christ: financially, emotionally, and spiritually. There are leaks in the ceiling but insufficient funds to patch them; there is a paralyzing lack of personal dignity as the members hold low-income jobs where discrimination for speaking broken English is a daily trial; and there is a subtle corruption of spirituality
How can ten women from Gordon College even begin to dress these kinds of wounds? “Why are we really going there?” we asked ourselves the night before we left, packing duffel bags with the bare necessities for the unexpected. Less than 24 hours out of the exhaustion of finishing quad three, we entered this genuinely broken community feeling as though we had nothing good to offer. But in the midst of such apparent weakness in ourselves, we began to get a glimpse of the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of us. All
Our time at Penial was spent cleaning and organizing the church building, planning and participating in the week's many services, doing street evangelism, and spending as much time as possible with the youth group. Almost every woman on our team took the opportunity to proclaim the way God has manifested His truth in her personal life. Each boldly stood before the congregation and waited for her story to be translated into foreign Portuguese sentences. I doubt that any of us will ever forget the power we witnessed in simply being vulnerable about our struggles met by God’s comfort, specifically with the youth. The way God used those who were willing to be honest was just the beginning of the many truths we began to explore in Astoria and are continuing to unfold since our return to Wenham. Ten women signed up to give of their time and energy over Spring Break, but in that pursuit they were given so much more: exposure to the beauties of Brazilian culture, a deeper understanding of love and honesty in the community of the team, a powerful display of unity in the Body through our Brazilian brothers and sisters, and a stronger belief in the work of the Holy Spirit within those who believe.
