Beyond the Classroom: APU Students Experience Mission in Brazil
CMF was founded by a group of college students with a passion to impact the world through creating dynamic Christ-centered communities. A heart for the next generation continues today as CMF remains committed to providing meaningful missions experiences through short-term trips, internships, and residency opportunities for young adults around the globe. One of the ways we pursue this mission is through strategic partnerships with universities that share a passion for equipping and sending students into impactful cross-cultural service.
Through a partnership with Azusa Pacific University (APU), 11 students and one staff member from APU’s Office of Service and Discipleship recently spent 10 days in May serving alongside CMF missionaries, Jordan and Jaime Shelton, in Piancó, Brazil. Throughout their time in Brazil, the APU team engaged in a variety of ministry opportunities centered on relationship-building and community engagement. Their primary areas of service included sports outreach, teaching English, serving in local schools, worship ministry, and community service projects. During sports outreach activities, the team used soccer and handball as tools for connecting with boys involved in CMF’s local soccer ministry. Through games, conversations, devotionals, and prayer, meaningful relationships were formed that extended beyond the field.
The team also participated in English-language outreach through ESL classes at Missão Ágape, a local community center serving children and teens ages 5–17, as well as through classes at SIBAPI, a local partner church serving adults ages 18 and older. APU students led interactive games in English, answered questions about language and culture, and shared about their personal lives and faith journeys. These moments created authentic connections and lasting memories with the communities they served.
In addition to outreach ministries, the team helped lead worship during a young adult gathering and a local church service. They also participated in a hands-on service project by painting the walls of the first floor of the SIBAPI gym, which is currently being developed into a Community Sports Center. This project helped move the facility one step closer to welcoming children from Missão Ágape into a safe and engaging environment for sports ministry and discipleship.
Partnerships like the one between CMF and APU reflect the shared desire to mobilize the next generation through transformative missional experiences. As students step into cross-cultural ministry opportunities, they not only serve communities around the world but also grow in their understanding of God’s global mission and their place within it.
CMF teams across the globe remain committed to facilitating impactful opportunities for universities, churches, and young adults who desire to learn, serve, and participate in God’s work among the nations. We are grateful for APU’s partnership and for the ways these students served faithfully in Brazil.