Missionaries Brazil

Sharing the Good News in Brazil

In the mid 1950's pioneer missionary Thomas Willey visited Brazil. His findings prompted the Board of Foreign Missions to send missionaries to share the good news with Brazilians.

Dave Franks, the first Free Will Baptist to serve in Brazil, went to the field in 1957. The next year Ken and Marvis Eagleton joined him.

Initially, missionaries focused their efforts on the state of São Paulo, starting in the city of Campinas. Sam and June Wilkinson arrived on the scene in 1959. In 1961, they moved to Jaboticabal and pioneered the second work in Brazil.

Other works in São Paulo were soon begun in the cities of Araras, Ribeirão Preto, and Pirassununga. This gave Free Will Baptists churches in five Brazilian cities.

Today Free Will Baptists also minister in the state of Minas Gerais: Belo Horizonte, Barbacena, and Conselheiro Lafaiete in the eastern part, and Uberlandia in western Minas.

Training programs have been started in five areas, including a central Bible college, which is located in Ribeirão Preto. Several Brazilian leaders are now in charge of churches and congregations as the national church reaches toward maturity.

Geography and Climate

Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world. Its boundaries encompass almost half of the landmass of the continent of South America.

Brazil's weather is similar to that of the southeastern United States. However, when it is winter in Brazil, it is summer in the United States. and vice versa. Average temperatures in southern Brazil, where most of our missionaries live, range from 68 degrees in the winter to 78 degrees in the summer.

Population

Most of Brazil's 186.4 million people live near the Atlantic Ocean. Although jungle and farm areas are plentiful, approximately 78 percent of Brazil's citizens live in cities. Roughly 60 percent of Brazil's population is of European descent with the primary nationalities being Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and German.

About 25 percent of the population is of mixed origin while blacks make up 10 percent. Approximately one million Japanese live in Brazil, and the nation's full-blooded Indians (only two percent of the population) live in the Amazon basin.

History

A Spaniard named Vincente Pinson discovered Brazil in 1500. Pinson did not settle the region because Pope Alexander VI had already deeded it to Portugal.

Pedro Alvarez Cabral was traveling to the Far East when he claimed Brazil for Portugal. The Portuguese gave the nation its official language, predominant religion, and most of its customs.

The United States of Brazil was established in 1891, but over the years numerous revolutions and counterrevolutions have kept the country from attaining a stable democratic government.

Current Conditions

In 1964 the military prevented a communist takeover by assuming power. That military regime stabilized the country. But Brazil's economy has experienced rampant inflation and widespread poverty for years. Only in 1995 did the economy start stabilizing. Inflation dropped to two digit percentages. The annual per capita income is equivalent to 1,350 U.S. dollars.

Primary education for children ages 7-15 is free and compulsory. Approximately 85 percent of Brazil's population 15 years of age or older is literate.

Ninety percent of Brazil's population is Roman Catholic, at least in name. According to some estimates, as many as 60 million Catholics are also spiritists.

Religious liberty is guaranteed, and missionaries have found Brazilians to be open and receptive to the gospel. In 1900 only a handful of believers were to be found in the country. Today, one in nine Brazilians is a Protestant.

Free Will Baptist Ministries

Today 12 Free Will Baptist missionaries are striving to plant churches in Brazil. They have employed radio broadcasts, Christian films, cassette tapes, retreats and camps, telephone hotlines, soup kitchens, and literature distribution in their evangelism and training efforts. A special ministry to Brazil's street children is also proving to be fruitful in Araras, and the entire city is being impacted by the gospel.

Although the work is growing and 11 ordained Brazilians are pastoring churches, more national leaders are needed to take charge of existing churches. As national pastors assume leadership, missionaries are hoping to reach out to new areas with the gospel of Christ.

Statistics gathered from The World Factbook and Joshua Project.