What an awesome life-giving experience!  About a week ago I returned home from a life-changing vision mission adventure in Manaus, Brazil.  I participated with a group of seven other people who were linked together through RCA Global Mission.  Brazil has the largest economy in South America and the land mass is equivalent to the continental United States.  The Amazon region of Brazil is larger than the state of Texas and is still inhabited by many unreached tribal people groups.  Because of the dense rain forest the best way to reach these people is by boat or air travel. 

Early Saturday morning our group landed in Manaus and after a few hours of sleep we were introduced to some of the pastoral staff and leaders of the Igreja Presbiteriana de Manaus (IPM) which translates to the First Presbyterian Church of Manaus.  IPM is a large church of about 10,000 attendees whose passion for outreach includes medical boats for medical and dental care to the small river villages in different tributaries along the Amazon River, church planting and leadership training in outlying areas of the city of Manaus, children’s ministry, sports ministry, a homeless ministry, a refugee ministry and many other forms of evangelism.  We arrived at the church just in time to see the final and eighth presentation of their Easter musical – “Passion for Life” – a musical about the life of Christ involving about 1,100 church members.  During the eight-day presentation of this musical approximately 14,000 people came to watch, many invited by their Christian friends.  After each presentation there is an invitation for people to decide to commit their lives to Jesus.  This year 2,513 people decided to commit their lives to follow Christ, be reconciled with Him, or study the Bible with one of the church’s disciple-makers.  Even though the musical was in Portuguese, it was a fantastic moving experience.

IPM’s vision as a church focuses around four seasons based on the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13.  The first season is Sowing.  This season goes from February to April in the life of the church where everyone and everything in the church focuses on reaching lives for Jesus.  The Passion for Life musical is one of the main events during this season.  The second season is Cultivation or Nurturing (May to July) which is a time for caring for new believers.  It’s a time for discipleship and spiritual growing involving studies like:  Knowing Jesus, Knowing Your New Life, and Knowing Your Faith which centers on understanding God, mankind, sin, salvation, the church, etc.  Only after 8 months of this type of study and training are people invited to be baptized.  Integration is an important part of this discipleship period as people are paired up one on one to be disciple makers.  The third season is Harvest (August to October) which emphasizes the building of relationships as new members come into the church body.  In this season the entire church invests in community building and building relationships in small groups and the family of God.  The fourth season is called First Fruits (November to January) where the focus is on giving thanks to the Lord for the fruits harvested.  It’s a season where people celebrate the victories and blessings of God.  They celebrate by working on community projects or ministries involving praise, worship and social action.  The overall key word to the vision of the church is INTENTIONALITY.  90% of the people involved in IPM are a part of a small group.  Our American churches could learn a great deal from our Brazilian brothers and sisters.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, our group had the opportunity to board one of IPM’s medical boats to reach out to the people living in some of the remote tributaries of the Amazon River.  One of the staff mission pastors, Djard Cadais deMoraes, joined us in this river ministry.  A medical doctor, a dentist, a dentist assistant and some nurses were a part of the crew on the boat.  Each IPM boat is equipped with a doctor’s office, a dentist’s office, a surgery room, and a pharmacy well stocked with medicine and equipment.  As we docked in various villages, we had the opportunity to sit down and hear the stories of these loving people through a translator.  We had the opportunity to pray for people and celebrate what they were doing in their families and community.  There was an opportunity to distribute clothing, medical supplies, dental needs, hats, and of course soccer balls.  Each night we were able to assist in a two-hour worship service, celebrating communion together with such diverse native people who God allowed us to connect with in a personal way.  What an unforgettable blessing!

I could share so much more about a visit to the “Potter’s House”, a rehabilitation facility being build for homeless and drug-addicted people living on the streets of Manaus.  I could share more about visiting IPM’s training center where they are training indigenous people to be sent back as missionaries to their indigenous tribes.  Brazil has over 340 indigenous ethnic groups, in which 150 of them have the presence of indigenous churches.  Approximately 121 indigenous ethnic groups have never been evangelized and 147 ethnicities have no missionary workers.  I could share about our visit to one of eight houses that are home to Venezuelan refugees: 60 moms, dads, small children and babies live there and are fleeing from the terrible conditions in Venezuela (over 800 miles away).  IPM is passionately feeding, caring and loving these refugees and helping them find work and get re-established in Manaus or other places in Brazil.  To hear the story of these people is heartbreaking.

After returning home from this mission experience, I have renewed hope for the church of Jesus Christ and renewed passion for the power of the Gospel and its impact to transform people’s lives and permeate the diversity of cultures – “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son…”  If you would be interested in pursuing a personal Brazilian Mission Trip or if you’re interested in having a group from your church experience and serve in missions in Brazil, please contact me and I will connect you with the RCA Brazil Mission staff.

— Wayne Van Regenmorter