I had the privilege of spending the month of March in Brazil both observing and participating in the work of evangelism and biblical training. Brazil has one of the fastest growing economies in the world and one of the fastest growing evangelical populations. One of the ways that God is building his church there is through Christian training centers like the Seminaro Batista do Cariri. This school is located in the city of Crato in the state of Ceara in Northeast Brazil. I was introduced to this school through Bill Kettlewell who has been working in Ceara with his wife, Dorothy, for 36 years. A couple years ago Bill asked if I would help get one of their seminary professors to the states so he could earn his PhD at Central Baptist Theological Seminary. At that time Roque Albuquerque was just the name of a Brazilian man who desired to further his education. When I picked him up at the airport on his first trip to the states, he was still just a Brazilian man pursuing an advanced degree. But very quickly, Roque became a dear friend, a respected colleague, and a reflection of the caliber of men God is using in Brazil.
When Roque told me of his plans to go back to Crato and teach a block course in March of 2009, I suggested that I might go along and see the school as part of a wider mission trip. Before I knew it he had me lined up to teach a block course on Jonathan Edwards’ “Religious Affections” and preach an evening Bible conference at the same time. It was an enormous stretch for me to do either of those but what I came to discover is that stretching is what they do down there. This is not a school where average is normal but where excellence is the standard. The professors are well trained, sharp in their discicplines, more than willing to go beyond what is typical. Each of the national professors is teaching a daunting class load and pastoring a local church with all of the attendant responsibilities. These churches are not just growing, but planting other churches and then partnering with their church plants to plant still more. When all was said and done, I didn’t really end up teaching as much as learning again what NT ministry looks like–preaching, teaching, building disciples, doing the work of an evangelist, and always looking for the next venue for indiginous church planting.
NOTE: You may not be able to take a weekend trip to Crato, but you might want to follow this link, CRATO and enjoy a bit of amatuer video shot during the time Roque and I were there. The chapel scenes are both the morning seminar on Religious Affections and the evening Bible Conferences. The church scenes were taken at Zion Baptist Church where Pastor Albuquerque is the shepherd. In his absence, American missionary and seminary professor, Mark Willson, is acting as interim pastor. Mark also translated my teaching sylabus into Portuguese and did almost of the the translating for my sessions. Jeff Scott, chairman of our diaconate at PLBC, traveled with us and is seen preaching at Zion Baptist and presenting the Lamplighter ministry during the Bible Conference hour. If you are not familiar with Lamplighters International as ministry dedicated to helping local churches make disciples through training modules, seminars, and published inductive Bible studies, click here.
