When considering the Britain Brasil Bridge, one name you cannot hide away from is Sarah de Carvalho. Born Sarah Jarman, this English lady, in 1992 at the age of 30, gave everything up to follow God’s lead in working with street children in Brazil. Without wanting to sound like a cliché, her achievements are truly remarkable. Her book, ‘The Street Children of Brazil’ reads well but what keeps you turning the pages is the story. In fact, so much so, that when you get to the end of the last chapter you are left with the question, ‘So, what happens next?’, – a question of frustration which demonstrates the books gripping appeal. Thankfully, I had her second book ‘A Survival Guide to Frontier Living’ at hand so I started quickly reading that. It is less autobiographical (but does answer some of the questions I was left with) and more practical in that it gives general guidelines on how to live your life more effectively for God. That is, how to know your calling and how to answer it daily with the many challenges that come your way. You can’t help but be inspired as she brings out personal stories to illustrate the points she wants to make. Both books are a good Christmas present for those interested or involved in the Britain Brasil Bridge.
Happy Child, the organisation that she and her Brazilian husband Joao Bosco started in 1995, have a very good website (apparently run by their son). They are still very active in ministering to street children in Belo Horizonte, where the ministry started, and in Recife.
For me, Sarah and Joao’s story is more than a good missionary tale. It personifies what I believe God has been doing in bringing together these two nations and their people. As a Brazilian, I grew up with street kids all around me, and to be brutally honest, these young people became a part of the scenery at some sad point in my own history. We need people from the outside, like Sarah, to wake us up from the injustice before our eyes and to invest their unique skills in bringing about a solution. As has already been said elsewhere on this blog, British people have a lot of gifts that Brazilians lack. In Sarah’s case, perseverance was key as she faced some pretty hairy moments. On the other hand, the Brazilians’ openness to a spiritual dimension taught her a few lessons about spiritual warfare. One revelation Sarah shared in her book which is very informative to the Bridge is that in a small way, the problem of street kids in Brazil was caused by the British push on slavery many, many years back. The lady in London who shared this with Sarah was pointing out that God was bringing restoration to the country from the very people who had caused the problem. Isn’t that often the way with God? He brings resurrection and hope from the most unlikely of places. Just like Jesus, the Messiah, being born in a manger.
BRitain BRasil Bridge 