renata rodrigues oliveira
Sent by God
When Renata was eighteen, she left her family’s home on the southern coast of Brazil to serve as a missionary in nearby Curitiba. Although she knew God had called her to share the gospel, Renata had no idea what obeying Him would mean.
For three years, Renata supported other Christians at a local Youth With a Mission base in Brazil. She was happy there, content to do what God wanted while deepening her own spiritual life. But in the summer of 2001, Renata heard about a group of Brazilian missionaries in Moscow who were seriously injured in a car accident.
Renata prayed for the health of the missionaries, who had once worked at the Curitiba base, and for the survival of their program. Russia had outlawed Christianity for decades under Communism, and Renata knew there weren’t many mature Christians left in the country to help build local churches and train Russian Christian leaders. She was troubled to hear that the Discipleship Training School (DTS) where the Brazilian missionaries worked was so understaffed that it might have to close. Her own mission in Brazil was overstaffed. “It did not make sense to close something for lack of people to help if in another part [of the world] we had people in excess,” she explains.
Like the prophet Isaiah, Renata heard God asking, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” (6:8). She began to pray about moving to Russia to serve with the mission team. It was a frightening idea—it would cost thousands of dollars. Renata had never left Brazil, much less traveled to the opposite side of the globe. She would have to adjust to a new climate and language, and the monthly support required to live in a European country was five times what she needed in Brazil. Renata struggled, but after careful prayer and study, she knew it was what God wanted her to do. She was content to serve Him in Brazil, but she found she was passionate about serving Him in Russia. She was excited to answer His call: “Here I am, Lord, send me.”
Her departure for Russia was truly a miracle itself. In only twenty-three days, she raised the money she needed to make the trip. Her paperwork came through, and a plane ticket was arranged.
When Renata arrived in Moscow, the overworked mission staff received her gratefully. She settled into her new routine, soon realizing how difficult the language barrier could be in her ministry. Renata knew no Russian, and none of the Russian students in the program knew Portuguese. Yet almost 80 percent of Renata’s work required her to communicate with the students. While other missionaries were sometimes available to act as translators, Renata and her students often resorted to a paper and pencil, drawing cartoon-like sketches to illustrate ideas.
After six months in the Moscow base, the Discipleship Training School students prepared for two months of evangelism work across Russia. Renata watched and helped them get ready, but she was content to stay behind. Her Russian language skills were still rough, and she didn’t know nearly enough to get by in the country.
God is not limited by language, though, and once again, He called Renata to be more than just content. The Brazilian girl was shocked when her DTS director asked her not only to attend the evangelism program, but to lead a team of students going to southern Russia.
For the first time since she had answered the call to missions, Renata wanted to turn down an assignment. She asked the director for time to pray about the opportunity, and then went to God to explain why she was not qualified for this. “I am limited, Lord,” she told Him. “I can only go so far, and beyond that it’s not possible. I need to recognize my limits.”
As soon as she heard her own excuses, though, Renata knew God’s answer. “It is true. You are really a limited person. You have a great barrier in your way. But Renata, do not make your limits My limits, because I don’t have them. For Me, there are no barriers.”
Renata knew she was called to lead the Russian students, and despite her own fears, she chose to obey God. As she boarded a train, exchanging nervous smiles with her five Russian-speaking charges, Renata’s fright almost made her turn back.
But she didn’t, and the girls on her team were patient and eager to help her learn. After a few weeks, Renata began to feel she could share the gospel with Russians.
On a bitterly cold autumn day, Renata and her team were hanging out near a train station, hoping to witness to people as they passed by. Unfortunately, it was so cold that almost no one was on the street that day. When the six girls saw an older man walking a few yards away from them, they all ran toward him, eager for someone to whom they might talk.
The man was homeless; he clutched his belongings in a plastic bag and looked silently at each girl as she spoke. When he looked at Renata, his eyes were kind, and for the first time she felt confident in her ability to speak Russian. Renata used every word she knew to tell him about Jesus. The old man never furrowed his brow or looked confused, the way many Russians did when they didn’t understand Renata. Instead, he watched her attentively and expressed approval with his eyes. This is it, she thought. She was getting through!
Renata’s confidence was short-lived. After a few moments, the man interrupted with a gesture and began apologetically pointing to his ears. He was deaf. He hadn’t understood a single thing Renata said.
Disappointed, the girls pantomimed their message—that Jesus loved the man and wanted to help him—and gave him a copy of the New Testament with their church information in the back. The gentle beggar bowed his head and touched his heart to show his gratitude. But for Renata, as she walked away, the encounter was a failure. Once again, she had not been able to tell a person about the message of salvation. Renata felt empty and useless. There she was, halfway around the world, and she had nothing to offer.
That week, Renata and her team spoke to many people on the streets of the small city. Many of them seemed to understand Renata’s Russian and expressed interest in her message; she began to feel confident in her calling again.
In church that Sunday, Renata looked around to see if anyone she spoke to the week before had come. To her shock, she recognized only the deaf beggar. Why was he there, if he had not understood what the girls told him? And where was everyone else from the week? Where were the people who had heard her words?
Renata felt God speaking to her heart once again. “The difference between the homeless man and the people who did not come is not in what you have done. I am the one who makes the difference. You trust more in yourself and in what you can do than in My power. I just need you to be willing.”
That time, the message clicked. God called Renata to be willing to go to Russia, but He made it happen. He called her to be willing to travel to southern Russia to evangelize, but He brought the people to her. And He called her to be willing to talk to a cold, homeless, deaf man, but He made the beggar understand. It wasn’t about her abilities; it was about her willingness to obey.
Despite the discomfort of a foreign country and language, Renata Rodrigues Oliveira let God work through her to accomplish His purposes; her obedience, rather than her talents, continues to change the lives of many Christians in Russia today.
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
(Colossians 4:5-6)