A SHANTY town in Brazil will be the home for newly-graduated Sarah Jo Baldwin when she goes to work as a missionary for six months.

Sarah, 21, has just been awarded a first class honours degrees in mathematics from Swansea University after studying for three years.

But the miles between Wales and her home in Ightenhill Park Lane, Burnley, are nothing compared to the distance she will be travelling with the Baptist Missionary Society to help people in Sao Paulo.

"The thing I am going to miss most is chocolate because I am a chocoholic," said Sarah, who is excited at the prospect of working in Brazil.

"The longest time I have ever spent away from home was the 10-week terms at university and I rang home every week, but all that is going to change.

"I have known about the society for about five years and I have heard other missionaries tell of their experiences when they have visited my church, Brierfield Baptist. "This is probably the last chance I will have to do something like this and I know it is going to change me. It will give me more people skills and better communication skills. I am going to learn Portuguese and I think it will prepare me better for work."

Sarah has to raise £2,300 and is already half way thanks to the help of local churches. This week she played her flute and talked about her plans at a fund-raising coffee evening at Haggate Baptist Church.

A lunch is planned at Brierfield Baptist Church and Sarah's parents, Graham and Bernice, are holding an open house on August 31 before their daughter leaves on September 2.

Sarah and three others will attend a five-week training course in Colwyn Bay, Birmingham and Cambridge and will have a month in Brazil becoming accustomed to the country before going to work in the shanty towns

They will educate children, help with a clinic for expectant mothers and start a new Evangelist church.

After their six months the missionaries return to England and learn how to give presentations before they are given a car to travel round the country for two months telling about their experiences.

When she returns to Burnley, Sarah is hoping to become an accountant.

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