ORLANDO (BP) – More than 35 Brazilian Baptists gathered for the Fellowship of Brazilian Baptist Churches in North America’s annual meeting at the Rosen Centre in Orlando on June 8 preceding the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).
The gathering, presented in Portuguese and formed by Brazilian pastors to foster connection, promoted church-planting projects and strengthened ties with the SBC and its mission agencies, made plans for its annual pastors’ retreat, learned of resources to help pastors and their families, heard from missionaries, and prayed over the U.S.’s immigration concerns.
The pastors, missionaries and wives present represented churches in Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Brazil and Ecuador.
Ebenezer Santos, executive director of the Brazilian Baptist Fellowship, encouraged the group with the goal of bringing unity to all the Brazilians in the U.S. Most Brazilians in the U.S. live on the East Coast, from Massachusetts to Florida, but they also spread across the nation as far west as California, he said.
Santos introduced Pastor Anderson Oliveira, who will host the Brazilian pastors and their wives at his church, Forest Hills Baptist Church in Raleigh, N.C., on July 29-August 1.
The leaders also learned about the TouchPeace app, which offers a free, individual, immediate, and confidential hotline, 24 hours a day via video call, for those experiencing emotional issues. The TouchPeace organization is seeking counselors to meet the growing demand for counseling.
Several current and former IMB missionaries (to Portugal, Spain and a protected nation) shared greetings and their prayer requests. One, whose name is not given to protect her identity, said, “Missions is not the final ultimate for Christians. The final objective is to worship God! We try to send missionaries to places where people who don’t know about God can learn to worship Him.”
She urged her listeners to pray for God to send more missionaries. “The youth in your church can be missionaries! Sometimes, parents don’t want to send their kids. You need to be prepared to send out your youth and teenagers!”
Ney Ladeia, president of the Brazilian Pastors Fellowship and pastor of First Brazilian Baptist Church of South Florida in Pompano Beach, gave updates on how he is teaching in seminaries and universities, sending and supporting missionaries from his church, and partnering with Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to provide a master’s degree in theological studies in Portuguese.
Charles Grant, associate vice president for convention partnerships with the SBC Executive Committee, visited the group to thank them for their ministry and to update them on recent events concerning ethnic ministries.
He reported that Jeff Iorg, CEO and president of the SBC Executive Committee, and Brandon Porter, editor of Baptist Press, hosted Brazilian Baptist leaders from Brazil on May 21. They were working on the partnership to plant churches and work in cooperation with the Brazilian Fellowship here in the U.S.
Grant said they were also focused on maintaining doctrinal integrity, serving churches and strengthening cooperation – goals that align with those of the SBC.
Grant also acknowledged that the immigration policies of the government “has caused some undue hardship on a lot of people.” He shared how many of the ethnic fellowships are coming together to cover concerns in an immigration resolution, which will be presented on the annual meeting floor on11:25 a.m. on Wednesday, June10. He urged the Brazilians to take advantage of the opportunity to raise questions or concerns and speak to the resolution.
Santos, knowing many in the gathering have moved to the U.S. to serve as missionaries, asked for prayer considering the recent immigration policies that have made their work difficult. Some families have been separated, and many fear what could happen to them. Accordingly, the group spent time in prayer, asking God to protect them and to provide ways they could continue to stay and reach those in America.
In his remarks, Santos pointed to Psalm 37:5, which encourages believers to surrender their life plans and worries to God. He shared three principles to follow.
One, accept the will of God that has been manifested to you, because “God’s mercies are eternal, and He offers the best to us.”
Two, fully depend on God, much like David did when facing Goliath. This is much more than physical or financial strength. “When I see the ministry in my church, and the need is more than what we have, God has the last word,” he said.
He related a story of when a general contractor building their church inadvertently built half of it on another person’s property.
That person brought along his lawyer and asked the church if he could buy their land. Santos wisely shared about the perils of being the neighbor of a church. Ultimately, the man backed down and sold the second land to the church.
Sharing that God gives “more than we can imagine,” Santos said, “Instead of one land, God gave us two lands!”
Three, wait for the timing of God. “God has his timing and nothing will realize until His time arrives,” he said. “When we wait for God’s time, everything works in our favor. If we don’t wait, we will be in big trouble.”
Speaking from experience, he urged, “Act in a way solely surrendered to His will, knowing He will act. He will do everything!”
Shannon Baker is director of communications for the Baptist Resource Network of Pennsylvania/South Jersey and editor of the Network’s weekly newsletter, BRN United.
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