A Missions Report from Katelyn Farris

What does missions really look like?

We often picture the extraordinary moments: miracles, packed church services, people receiving the Holy Ghost, and lives transformed in an instant. And those moments happen. But after spending nearly six months serving in Brazil, Katelyn Farris discovered that much of the work of God happens in moments that seem much more ordinary.

It happens around dinner tables. It happens while teaching children Scripture, opening a home, serving a meal, teaching an English class, or simply stopping long enough to pray with someone who needs hope.

Sharing her Brazil missions report with North Cities, Katelyn told story after story of God changing lives. But woven through all of them was one powerful lesson: you don’t have to travel across the world to live on mission.

Brazil belongs to Jesus—and so does Dallas.

Missions Happens in the Everyday Moments

Katelyn arrived in Brazil with some of the same expectations many of us might have about missions. You imagine dramatic miracles and unmistakable supernatural moments.

She certainly witnessed those. But God also showed her something deeper.

Much of missions looked like cooking. Cleaning. Going to the market. Teaching classes. Spending time with people. Showing up again tomorrow and doing the same thing.

At times, she wondered whether those small things were really making a difference.

They were.

Relationships with vendors at a local market eventually created opportunities to connect them with the church. A Pilates instructor became willing to distribute church invitations because a relationship had already been established. Families opened their homes, meals became opportunities for fellowship, and everyday conversations opened doors for ministry.

Katelyn said it simply: Jesus sees every small step and every small act of devotion. And other people see them too.

That truth doesn’t only apply to missionaries in Brazil.

It applies to followers of Jesus in Garland, Murphy, Plano, Richardson, Rowlett, Wylie, and throughout Dallas County, Collin County, and Rockwall County. Our mission field includes the places we already go—the neighborhood, the office, the classroom, the restaurant, the coffee shop, and the grocery store.

Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is simply be faithful enough to keep showing up.

Hiding the Word of God in the Next Generation

One of the ministries Katelyn helped establish during her time in Brazil was Bible quizzing.

The children had never participated in Bible quizzing before. They had only a few months to learn the program and memorize approximately 100 verses, yet seven children stayed with it through the entire program.

One young man would arrive at the church around 6:00 in the morning on practice days—even though practice didn’t begin until hours later—so he could walk back and forth quoting Scripture and preparing.

Another boy was only six years old and couldn’t yet read. So his mother learned the verses with him. Together, they committed the Word of God to memory.

Never Underestimate a Young Person

That same theme appeared repeatedly throughout Katelyn’s time in Brazil: young people aren’t waiting to become part of the Kingdom of God. They are part of it right now.

She shared the story of one family whose oldest son was the first to be baptized. His brother followed. Eventually, the entire family came to church, was baptized in Jesus’ name, received the Holy Ghost, and became a faithful part of the church.

It began with a child.

Young people invited friends to fellowship nights. An English student began serving alongside his parents, helping with Sunday school, greeting people at the door, and assisting with offering.

To every student and young adult at North Cities, the message is clear: don’t underestimate what God can do through your invitation, your testimony, your service, or your willingness to say yes.

When the Word of God Comes Alive

Brazil also became a place where God taught Katelyn to stand firmly on His Word.

Hebrews tells us that the Word of God is living and powerful. Katelyn discovered that what we allow our minds to dwell on can affect the way we approach Scripture. If we continually live in condemnation, regret, and fear, we can begin reading everything through those lenses.

But when we believe God truly is who He says He is—that He loves us, redeems us, transforms us, and remains with us—Scripture begins speaking into those fears.

Psalm 139 became especially meaningful to her. Across another continent, separated from family and navigating grief, Katelyn returned repeatedly to the truth that there is nowhere we can go beyond God’s presence.

He knows us.

He sees us.

He is with us.

And nothing can separate us from His love.

Bible Studies Are Changing Lives in Brazil

Some of the most powerful stories Katelyn shared happened not inside a large church service, but inside people’s homes.

Home Bible studies became an important part of the work in Brazil.

One woman, Marcia, had been largely bedridden because of severe problems with her back. Because attending church was extraordinarily difficult, people brought the Word of God to her.

They kept coming.

And Marcia kept asking for more.

When a Bible study ended, she would ask them to simply keep reading Scripture. When they finished one chapter, she wanted another.

Over time, Katelyn watched as Marcia gradually became able to get up and walk more. Even more importantly, she became increasingly hungry for biblical truth and began considering baptism in Jesus’ name.

Then Marcia did something else.

She made a list of people she wanted the church to pray for.

The woman being ministered to was beginning to think about who else needed Jesus.

That’s discipleship.

Baptism in Jesus’ Name, the Holy Ghost, and Changed Lives

Another woman had once been connected to a satanic temple. After coming into a church service where her daughter received the Holy Ghost, she eventually chose to be baptized in Jesus’ name. Katelyn described a dramatic transformation that followed, and the woman’s home was later opened for Bible studies.

Another woman—also named Marcia—had severe mobility problems. After repeated visits and Bible studies in her home, she decided she wanted to be baptized in Jesus’ name.

Simply getting her to the church required careful planning and a wheelchair.

But she came.

She was baptized.

And when she came out of the water, something remarkable happened.

The woman who struggled to walk began to dance.

Her brother watched and said he had never seen her dance before.

Later, her home became a gathering place for ministry in her community. On one occasion, approximately two dozen people crowded into the small space. People prayed, worshiped, heard the Word of God, and received the Holy Ghost.

What began with faithfully visiting one woman became an open door to reach an entire community.

God Can Use What You Already Have

During a visit to Brazil, Katelyn’s mother shared another lesson God impressed upon her: childlike faith.

She compared it to bringing Jesus the five loaves and two fish.

We tend to focus on what we don’t have. We don’t have enough resources. We don’t know enough. We aren’t prepared enough. We can’t see how our contribution could possibly make a difference.

God isn’t asking us to know the ending.

He’s asking us to put what we have into His hands.

Something as simple as making keychains became a connection point that brought someone to church. Teaching free English classes gave the church another opportunity to build relationships in its community. Delivering blankets to someone whose home was cold became an expression of the love of Jesus.

The Kingdom Is Built Through Faithfulness

There are spectacular moments in missions.

But there are also airport drives.

There is laundry.

There are meals.

There are blankets delivered to cold homes.

There are people welcomed around tables.

There are conversations that take longer than expected.

There are prayers offered in grocery stores.

There is a beautiful picture of the church in all of this: ministry isn’t merely something we do inside a church building. Following Jesus becomes the way we live.

Your City Is a Mission Field

Toward the end of the message, Katelyn shared something that had become meaningful during her time in Brazil.

At the conclusion of services, the church would declare:

São Paulo belongs to Jesus.

It wasn’t merely a slogan. It was a declaration of faith that the people of that city mattered to God.

Then Katelyn brought that declaration home.

Dallas belongs to Jesus.

The same God moving in Brazil is moving here.

You don’t have to cross an ocean to become a missionary. There are people throughout Garland, TX and the surrounding Dallas-Fort Worth communities who need hope. There are families in Murphy, Plano, Richardson, Rowlett, and Wylie who need the Gospel. There are people throughout Collin County, Dallas County, and Rockwall County who need someone willing to notice them, love them, pray with them, open Scripture with them, and invite them into a relationship with Jesus.

Your mission field may be sitting in the cubicle beside you.

It may be living three houses away.

It may be the person who makes your coffee every morning.

It may be the student who sits beside you at school.

It may even be someone you’ve seen a hundred times but never really noticed.

From Generation to Generation

Katelyn closed with an appeal not only to young people, but also to the older generation.

Young people need the testimonies of those who came before them.

They need to hear stories of prayers God answered, doors God opened, trials God carried people through, and moments when God’s faithfulness became undeniable.

The church needs every generation.

We need young people willing to go. We need parents willing to send. We need elders willing to tell their stories. And we need a church willing to pass truth faithfully from one generation to the next.

Romans 8 reminds us that neither death nor life, the present nor the future, height nor depth—nothing in all creation—can separate us from the love of God.

That truth crosses every border.

Brazil belongs to Jesus.

Dallas belongs to Jesus.

And wherever God has placed you, there is someone there who needs to encounter His love through you.