Outback Vision

Although it is impossible to know what God can and will do in the Sertão, it is good to have a vision and goals. After reading the book Church Planting Movements by David Garrison, I would love for that to happen here, although some may say the conditions are not right for it. A church planting movement, however, will be the goal here.

We have been in Arcoverde since February 1, 2014. Arcoverde is a major city right outside the Outback. It is called the gateway to the Outback. There we have worked alongside missionaries Roger and Marcy Smith, from Koinonia Baptist Church in Recife as we have opened a resource center for area churches as well as start a church plant in a neighborhood and class that does not have a church. The church plant is up and running and doing well. 

As we have done this we have made contacts from other neighboring cities. One city, Tupanatinga is home to one of the first couples who were saved with us here. We have been doing a Bible study there since they moved back in 2016. We moved from houses to a location in 2019. Currently we are renting a building and raising money to have a more permanent location whether it be a longer term lease or purchase or building. 

As we do this we also are looking at another city called Pesqueira where we have also made contacts. We plan to start Bible studies just like we did in Tupanatinga that will one day turn into a church. 

As we spend more time here we continue to make more contacts. We would love for more couples to come alongside us as there are many more cities in our region to reach. 

Short term goals

1. Recruit 1 couple while we are on furlough. (We have recruited a single, Sarah Rogers who hopefully will make it here before 2021!)
2. Grow our church in Arcoverde 
3. Start having a location in Tupanatinga. (We got a location in 2019!)
4. Start Bible studies in Pesqueira. (Set to start in August 2020)

Long term goals

1. Start Koinonia of Arcoverde.
2. Start out of town Bible studies in the surrounding towns.
3. Have out of town Bible studies that can turn into churches. 
4. Have an unofficial seminary, whether it be through Sunday school or night classes or modular classes.
5. Use seminary students to start other Bible studies, in town or out of town. 
6. Send out missionaries from the Sertão to other parts of Brasil and the world. 
7. Have churches in all 17 towns of the Sertão. 
8. Start churches in other towns in the Northeast region.

Sometimes missionaries are expected to move from city to city. Once they plant a church they move on to another location, often times starting from scratch each time. While this is commendable, we do not feel led to this approach. Although we moved plenty our first few years, we now have a long term approach as we are in Arcoverde, Lord willing of course. Our contacts here in Arcoverde continue to grow and with that our influence grows. This influence reaches into other cities as well. When we start a church in another town we do not have to start from scratch. We start with relationships that have already been cultivated. In Tupanatinga we started with some of our best friends. In Pesqueira we are starting with friends that we have known for 3-4 years. 

At first I thought that this thinking was somewhat cavalier, but it isn't. It is exactly what churches have done with local churches that have multiplied around themselves. They have a main location and other locations around. People can serve in other locations nearby or by even moving churches for a year or so to help one start out. One main reason we got a car the size of ours (it is a small minivan that fits 7 people.... small to Americans but large to Brazilians) is so that we can take a good bit of people to these church services. Often we have all 7 seats filled headed to Tupanatinga and we have a blast. This of course is another good reason; the members of the mother or sister church can learn to serve and plant other churches at the same time as they themselves are still growing. 

We have four guys in our homiletics class learning how to preach. The goal is to get them in the rotation. So we are not planting this church around a personality, but rather planting it to have a plurality in leadership. As we grow here we are trying to lose any dependency the church may have on us. So in a few years it could be that I only preach once a month. This will allow me to focus on other church plants and more leadership training. 

This year we are teaching an online theology class that has students from several places in Brazil. The pandemic has taught us that virtual learning is possible. So we can train leaders from all over Brazil. Our partnership with Servant Leaders is making this online training an even greater possibility with more and more functionality. So I could possibly do a lot of training from wherever in the world. 

Positives:

Stability. The girls can grow up in one location and not have to keep moving and making new friends.

We have time to grow the Arcoverde church to maturity.

Our influence multiplies rather than just growing.

Sarah is counseling and in this region there is a big thought that the "professionals" should be the ones. Breaking that barrier takes time and the longer we are here the more influence she can have in that aspect. 

Negatives: 

Some people have a vision of missions as being get in and get out and we do not fit into that missionary type.