Our new country:

Brazil stretches 2,500 miles from east to west and 2,700 miles from north to south and is the world's largest tropical country (larger than the continental US). It has more than 170 million people who are spread unevenly over the country, making it the fifth most populous country in the world. More than two-thirds of Brazil's people live in cities and towns, and more than 29 percent of them are in the ten cities with more than a million inhabitants each.

The people of Brazil can be characterized as open-minded and very religious. Though it is the world's largest Roman Catholic country, Brazil has many other beliefs as well. You can find everything from spiritism to buddhism.

Our new home city:

Porto Alegre or "Happy Harbor" is the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. Our city has approximately three million people and is roughly the size of Chicago. Porto Alegre is a growing metropolitan area with numerous ethnic races. European influence is especially prominent due to the large number of immigrants who came from Germany and Italy. Gauchos, the cowboys of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, have a very unique way of life that originated on the large plains of the south. Porto Alegre is home to many distinguishing characteristics such as the gauchos' dress, dance and churrasco style of barbecue. Chimarrao is a strong green tea that was introduced by gauchos and is enjoyed by many southerners. Many people have asked about the weather here in Porto Alegre. So far we have had cool days, some really hot days and lots of rain. We are in the middle of winter here and it seems really mild compared to winters in the US. Brazilians here think it is rough because they are used to the tropical climate of the rest of the country of Brazil. We hear that it gets really hot in the summer. We'll let you know!

The goal of the work in our new city:

Our group has committed to using our God-given spiritual gifts in our commitment to encourage, cooperate with, and accept one another in our work toward one main goal: the establishment of a New Testament church family as described in Ephesians 4:4-7, 11-16. This goal specifically involves:

  • Bringing the lost of all socio-economic classes to faith in Jesus Christ
  • Incorporating believers into one dynamic family
  • Equipping each member to discover and utilize their spiritual gifts for works of service to develop the body of Christ
  • Raising up a leadership composed of Brazilian elders, deacons, evangelists and teachers

From these new brothers and sisters in Christ, Brazilian Christians will continue to evangelize and establish other congregations throughout the city, state, nation and world.