Recife, Brazil Mission Effort by Churches of Christ
A six-man mission team formed at the Sunset International Bible Institute in 1976 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), and work from our fellowship was yet to be underway.
Within six months, the first converts came from among the team’s 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 rented schools. 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.
Last year, the school had over 463 students enrolled in at least one of the 48 ten-week courses. 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 take over an hour to get to the school by public transportation. Many sign up for personal Bible studies following class. The recent pandemic forced us to put our courses online, which now offers Bible courses to the Portuguese-speaking world.
We draw on twenty Christian teachers from five different congregations throughout the city to teach at our centralized location. We also host guest teachers from the USA who teach conversational English using the Bible.
The School of the Bible’s site offers more information and photos (https://www.escoladabiblia.com/bible-in-recife/).
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 our team of psychologists, psych-pedagogues, and social workers.
Visit Lar Mana´s site to learn more about this worthy ministry (www.larmana.org).
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.
Likewise, the yearly Women´s Seminar brings together 250-350 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.