Loretta Young
Physical Education Teacher and Coach
Brazil

Can God really use a physical education teacher and coach on the mission field? When I first started thinking about becoming a missionary in Brazil, that question ran through my mind a lot.

In May of 1999 I went to Rio de Janeiro with a volunteer team and God radically changed the direction of my retirement plans! Within seven months I had retired from teaching, sold 85 percent of my furniture and personal belongings and was headed for five weeks of orientation at the Missionary Learning Center in Virginia.

Movement, Music and Reading

After two months of language school in Campinas, Brazil, I moved to Florianopolis in July of 2000 and within two weeks was headed for a large day care/orphanage to teach my first classes. I was thrilled to have God confirm that my background--using creative movement to develop motor skills integral to reading--was going to very valuable in my work with the children.

Music is a major part of my movement program, and I was excited to find a Portuguese compact disc with very upbeat music for the children, especially since the lyrics were all Scripture verses. Even though I spoke limited Portuguese, the children were hearing and learning God’s Word through the music we used every week for the motor skill activities.

Sports open doors

Sports open doors in Brazil. Because I have had the opportunity over my career to coach and teach many different sports, God was able to present opportunities for me to introduce American baseball at a drug rehab center and at the public school across the road from the center.

This sports ministry led to opportunities to present the gospel using the wordless book bracelets, teach English and other sports to the boys at the rehab center, and start a woman’s Bible study in the community. This ministry in a community with no Baptist church is now being supported by another local Baptist congregation and hopefully will soon become a new church start!

Learning to lean

All God needs from us is our availability. The toughest lesson I had to learn on the field was that everything I do must be in God’s strength, not mine.

I came thinking that I could depend on my organizational and teaching skills to do God’s work here. He quickly showed me that I must depend on Him only – not on my skills or talents.

When we make ourselves available for His service, He puts us in places where our experiences and gifts can be used--and He stretches us into places where we have no experience. In both, God expects us to trust in Him 100 percent.

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