To the Ends of the Earth!

Missions in Portugal and at the ends of the earth!

Thinking of Acts 1:8 where Christ gives an order to his disciples to be witnesses both in Jerusalem and in Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
We understand that this was a simultaneous order, we understand that the Lord enables his church to fulfill this ORDER globally.

The question is how to reach other locations? Whether cities, countries, or further places at the same time? Is it possible to do this at the same time?
Of course yes! We can obey this ordinance simultaneously. Through our intercession, our offerings and the preparation and sending of new vocations to the mission field. The church must be involved and committed to this biblical ordinance.

Since my youth I felt unease when evangelizing the city where I lived and where my church was located. We always went out to the streets to evangelize using art as a tool, sometimes we also carried out movements in favor of the development of the people of our city. What we were doing was good, it was excellent work, but I felt that we should do more. It was then that the Lord awakened me to prepare myself, to study about what Missions really was and that it was much more than evangelizing around me, I understood that doing missions involves a global plan of salvation.
I spent a few months in training at our Cross-Cultural Mission Training Center of the Church of God (in São Paulo) https://ctmsp.org/ . Time that was essential for my missiological preparation and conviction of what the Lord called me to do.

After training and carrying out some missionary trips within Brazil and in countries of South America, we started a missionary mobilization project in the local church. The project consisted of:
– bringing information from our missionaries in the field;
– to become aware of the situation of world evangelization;
– to carry out constant movements of prayer for our missionaries, for the unreached or less reached peoples of Brazil and the World;
– raise monthly financial resources for missionary needs

This project took on great proportions and was adopted by other churches.

Today, my husband André and I are missionaries in Portugal. We believe that the Lord sent us here to continue what we were already doing in Brazil: helping the Church to advance the Gospel here in this country in Europe.
I was recently appointed as Director of National Missions. The challenges are immense, there is a lot of work to be done. Portugal needs a revival and a spiritual awakening.
In Portugal, the rate of Protestant Christians is around 4%, according to the PEW Research Center (2017) There are 44 cities, 21 cities and more than 3000 neighborhoods without an evangelical presence, listed as:
❖ 5th most pessimistic country in the world
❖ 4th country with more domestic violence in the European Union
❖ 3rd country with the highest suicide rate in the European Union
❖ 6th country with the highest rate of depression

Our challenge is to awaken the church to these needs in Portugal and also to bring the church’s gaze to global needs. Our God loves and wants to reach all of Portugal and the whole world and he counts on us for that, he counts on our movement, our awareness, our prayers and contributions.

Today we work with the motto “My daily sacrifice for missions”, we want to lead the church of God in Portugal to pray every day for missions, contribute monthly to projects, in this way develop a true missionary awareness.

For the second half of 2022 Portugal hopes to support two Missionary Projects, Project Angola and Project Southeast Asia on a monthly basis and continue with an Annual offering to Project Kenya www.Freedomhmin.com
One of our main projects is also to send a candidate to our MTC in São Paulo next year, to contribute to the training of workers so that the missionary work continues.

We also contribute to the production and management of content aimed at missions on social networks and the AEMI application, the Missionary Sending Agency of the Church of God in Brazil. To access the content, download from the PlayStore or AppleStore https://shre.ink/mSU4

Let’s together obey the Call of the Lord here and at the ends of the Earth.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

THE AUTHOR

Mel Bezerra

My name is Mel Bezerra. I serve as a Pastor in Portugal. My husband (Andre) and I are excited to be missionaries in Portugal with God’s purpose. The harvest is great and we are thankful to be Used of the Lord to help the Church of God in Portugal .