As another year closes and a new one begins, knowing that we serve a Lord that never changes is comforting. Just as He has delivered us from all our fears, He will continue to do so in this new year, for He stays the same. He will always be sovereign over every circumstance, working them to our welfare.

Recently, the president of Sunset International Bible Institute asked our mission team for a history of the Recife, Brazil mission work. Here is what I submitted.

Before you read it, I must express my gratitude to all those brothers and sisters in Christ who have faithfully supported this work with their prayers and funds throughout these many years. You are about to read what God has accomplished through our (yours and mine) joint effort in His sending.

History of the Recife, Brazil Mission Effort

A six-man mission team formed at the Sunset International Bible Institute in 1976, and arrived in Recife, Brazil, in August 1980. Brazil was chosen because demographic studies predicted it to be one of the most receptive countries. Recife was selected because it was the largest city (four million population), where no work from our fellowship was underway.

Within six months, the first converts came from among our new neighbors. Converts then came from among their friends and relatives in an ever-widening network. The team used numerous methods to make new contacts and expand the network. This included door-knocking, park/square preaching and singing, newspaper ads, radio spots, billboards, hospital and jail visitation, half-hour TV programs, Gospel meetings, and the School of the Bible.

The church began meeting in homes, and as its numbers grew, it would rent a school. Then, in 1982, the church purchased a building on the main avenue of downtown Recife. Today, it is known as the Boa Vista (downtown) congregation. In addition, it has spawned two dozen sister congregations in the suburbs and another two dozen congregations outside the greater Recife area.

School of the Bible

Taking advantage of the building’s strategic location, the School of the Bible began in 1982. The School offers knowledge of the Bible in a “neutral” environment (no denomination affiliation). This proves attractive for the growing population who know of the Bible, but do not understand God’s will for their lives.

The School has three main goals: (1) edification – teaching the Bible to the broader community in Recife and beyond; (2) training – providing theology training for local church members and ministers; and (3) evangelism – teaching English as a second language using the Bible. The latter became an effective evangelistic tool similar to the LST (Let’s Start Talking) ministry.

In 2024, 613 students enrolled in at least one of the 48 ten-week courses. About half of these are church members, and the rest are visitors from the community. These courses are on a book of the Bible, Theology, or English as a second language (using the Bible as our textbook).

These students came from Recife and the surrounding cities that comprise the greater metropolitan area. Some students commute over an hour to get to the school by public transportation. Many sign up for personal Bible studies. This year, 18 were baptized into Christ.

Serendipitously, The recent pandemic forced us to put our courses online, so now we offer Bible courses to the Portuguese-speaking world (Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Portugal, among others).

We draw on twenty Christian teachers from five different congregations throughout the city to teach at our centralized location downtown. We also host guest teachers from the USA who teach conversational English using the Bible.

Lar Mana

Lar Maná was founded in 2008 and welcomes children from newborn to 12 years old from one of the most violent areas in Brazil.

There are thirty foster children currently, but this number rises to forty as the need demands. Since the founding of Lar Maná, it has welcomed 400 children. Of these, one hundred were adopted, and three hundred were reintegrated into the extended family (uncles or grandparents) after monitoring and treatment by a team of psychologists, psych-pedagogues, and social workers.

Annual Assemblies of the Churches

The “Congresso” is a four-day event that draws brethren from all Northeast Brazil. Each year, a different congregation in the region hosts it. Hundreds come from all over Brazil to participate.

Likewise, the yearly Women’s Seminar brings together 300 sisters in Christ from all over the region for four days of fellowship and Bible study.

Finally, the Day of the Family of God is an annual Sunday worship assembly where 800 saints meet at a rented auditorium in downtown Recife instead of their church buildings.

On a personal note,

I want to thank God for a recent addition to the family. Thomas was born to Joshua and Livia on November 19. Aureni and I were blessed to be present to help them and celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with all three of our boys and their families. It was great to bond again with the grandchildren, who change so much between visits.