The ministry of BCM Worldwide (BCMW) in Brazil began in June 2018, through Tiago Wagner’s desire for more qualified biblical counselors, for Tiago saw his country’s desperate need for biblical counseling. Tiago, now a Coordinator for BCMW from Novo Hamburgo in South Brazil, was aware of biblical counseling conferences held in eastern Brazil, near São Paulo. However, Tiago saw that the need went beyond hosting of counseling conferences to development of competent biblical counselors in his country. The situation in southern Brazil was dire in that, biblical counseling conferences and resources were not easily accessible, or readily available, for southerners, which is understandable, considering that Brazil is recognized as the fifth largest country in the world. This urgent need for wise and seasoned counselors challenged Tiago to take action towards solving this Brazilian dilemma. Therefore, one of the first steps Tiago took toward this end was to seek to be personally equipped to be a biblical counselor and be an instrument in his Redeemer’s hand in southern Brazil.
But first, a brief history. . .
Over the years, Dr. Wayne Vanderwier, the founding Executive Director of BCMW, had often been given the privilege of speaking at the annual Biblical Counseling Training Conference in Lafayette, Indiana. At the 2017 conference, Tiago Wagner heard Wayne share his passion for biblical counseling training and BCMW’s work around the world. Following the session, Tiago approached Wayne with the burden in his heart about the great need in his country, and particularly the need in his region. Tiago proposed to Wayne a partnership with Tiago’s local church, United Bible Church, in Novo Hamburgo-RS, and a prospective translation of BCMW’s Church Leadership Training Program (CLT) modules into Portuguese. Interestingly, Portuguese ranks seventh in the top ten of the world’s most spoken languages.
According to Dr. Vanderwier, BCMW’s strategic objective is “assisting in the initial creation and/or continuing development of national, culture-specific, biblical counseling certifying organizations.” As hinted above, there were already established biblical counseling ministries in eastern Brazil near São Paulo. These existing and well-developed biblical counseling ministries were the result of the work of Word of Life and Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries, in Lafayette, IN. Therefore, Wayne initially thought BCMW would not be needed in Brazil, because these biblical counseling organizations have been present in eastern Brazil for decades under the ministry effort of faithful and trusted men. Wayne was also hesitant to accept Tiago’s proposal, because he did not desire to unintentionally pose any ostensible competition to already established counseling organizations as BCMW is committed to collaborating with churches, schools, and organizations.
However, Tiago told Wayne of a prior conversation he had with Sacha Mendez – one of the leaders of the biblical counseling movement in eastern Brazil and a mutual friend of Wayne and Tiago – concerning the need for competent biblical counselors in Southern Brazil. Tiago was intentional to ask Sacha about the existing Brazilian organizations’ plans for Southern Brazil, if they had any. Sacha responded that southern Brazil was not on their radar of engagement, at least not at that moment or in the foreseeable future. So, Sacha’s response reinforced the urgency for a solution to the biblical counseling need in southern Brazil. However, in order to prevent any unhealthy friction or distrust, Wayne prudently sought to connect with Sacha regarding his potential acceptance of Tiago’s proposal, and asked for Sacha’s blessing. Upon hearing of the proposal, Sacha delightedly affirmed Wayne and Tiago’s desire for biblical counseling training in the four provinces of the southern region. The purposeful dialogue among the men removed any hint of competition with the other ministries and set a precedent for a co-operative relational effort that would ensure the success of biblical counseling across Brazil.
Upon the clarification and approval of this co-laboring relationship, and the prayerful seeking of God’s will, Wayne officially accepted Tiago’s proposal. Then, in June 2018, Wayne and his wife, Susie, traveled to Novo Hamburgo to conduct a one-day Introduction to Biblical Counseling seminar. As this seminar was the very first of its kind in Southern Brazil, Wayne and Tiago were expecting maybe a couple of dozen people to attend. However, to the glory of God, nearly one hundred people attended the event. Wayne and Susie concluded that the success of this first training session was a confirmation that the connection in and to southern Brazil was God-ordained. Therefore, they were encouraged to accept Tiago’s invitation to return to the region in March 2019.
BCMW’s Work in Brazil So Far
BCMW’s primary vision – to train trainers of biblical counselors – led to many opportunities for training in Southern Brazil and other regions of Brazil in the relatively short period since the agreement between Wayne and Tiago. In addition to its objective, BCMW’s ministry exclusively partners with churches and schools, not individuals, because of the ministry’s goal to train trainers for the building up of the local church.
These ministry strategies enable BCMW to take biblical counseling training to the very doorsteps of Brazilians, rather than interested people having to travel long distances for training, because BCMW is committed to partnering with local churches, Christian schools, and similar organizations in local communities. The two-year CLT modular system also requires an intensive commitment by each participant so they can become competent biblical counselors, as well as trainers of new biblical counselors.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the BCMW Brazil Team had worked hard to teach through Module 1 of the CLT program in several locations in at least four regions of Brazil. Sadly, the novel Covid-19 has claimed over 300,000 souls in Brazil and has affected the way ministry is done in Brazil. Nevertheless, Tiago and the BCMW team are not demoralized by the pandemic. To the glory of God, CLT training is presently underway in four of the five regions of Brazil.
In the South, the sub-tropical region of Brazil, BCMW has three partners and three training centers in two states, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina. BCMW partners with Seminário Bíblico do Sul (Biblical Seminary of the South). With Modules 1 and 2 having been completed, Tiago is taking sixty attendees through Module 3 in this location. Tiago is also teaching Module 1 at the Teach Beyond Gramado Seminary in Rio Grande do Sul, and Module 2 at Igreja Batista Redenção (Redemption Baptist Church) in Santa Catarina with thirty prospective counselors and trainers in attendance.
In the Midwest, the agricultural region of Brazil, a newly elected BCMW Brazil coordinator, Dennis Pires is teaching Module 2 at Igreja Cristã Evangélica (Evangelical Christian Church) in Goiás. In São Paulo, the major commercial center of Brazil located in the Southeastern region, Tiago is taking fifty trainees through Module 1 at Igreja Batista do Itaim (Itaim Baptist Church). And, in this same region, at Espirito Santo, thirty candidates are going through Module 2 at Igreja Batista em Paul (Paul’s Baptist Church).
Furthermore, BCMW has two training centers in the Roraima and Amazonas states of the northern region of Brazil under the supervision of Jenuan Lira, a newly appointed BCMW Brazil Coordinator. Jenuan is teaching Module 2 at Igreja Bíblica Batista de Roraima (Biblical Baptist Church of Roraima) and taking thirty candidates through Module 1 at Seminário Batista Regular da Amazônia (Regular Baptist Seminary of the Amazon).
By God’s grace, in April 2021 a major event will take place in São Luiz in Maranhão in the arid northeastern region of Brazil. BCMW Brazil is partnering with Seminário Cristão Evangélico do Norte – SCEN (Northern Evangelical Christian Seminary). BCMW and her partners pray that this event, at which Wayne Vanderwier will be speaking, will create more opportunities for new training centers in the northeastern region of Brazil. In addition, there are potential opportunities for the Brazil team in other South American countries, because they have been receiving invitations from neighboring countries. The team is trusting the Lord’s will to this end.
This brief account is a marvelous testimony to the faithfulness of the Lord in increasing and blessing the work of the BCMW team in Brazil since 2019. As a result of our gracious Lord blessing the efforts of faithful men in Brazil, Jenuan Lira and Dennis Pires, along with Roberto Amorim, were appointed as three new BCMW coordinators in October 2020 to work with Tiago Wagner. Tiago and Jenuan have testified to the fruitfulness and importance of the work BCMW is doing in Brazil. They praise God for the fact that Christian pastors, missionaries, and lay people are benefiting tremendously from the CLT modular training. And these people are receiving gladly the challenge to apply the practical truths they have been taught through the intensive sessions in their ministries, churches and lives. For detailed accounts of their stories, see recent articles about Tiago Wagner and Jenuan Lira.
While the Covid-19 pandemic has somewhat restricted the development of training in Brazil, it is an amazing fact that God’s work is pressing on through the efforts of faithful and trustworthy leaders in that amazing country. They are doing their best to be devoted to presenting the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ to hopeless people in the midst of a worldwide, unprecedented pandemic of our time. There is no doubt that the country of Brazil is fertile soil for reaching out to desperate souls, so the team is trusting the Lord for more of his grace in the near and more distant future.
Finally, BCMW’s leadership is strategically partnering with theological institutions across Brazil and trusting the Lord to help establish one or two Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling degrees by the end of next year. And, as establishment of a national, culture-specific certifying organization is helpful to a local biblical counseling movement, the Brazil team, along with BCMW’s leadership, have started taking steps towards establishing a government-approved certifying organization in country.
Therefore, while a lot has been achieved over the span of two years in Brazil, there is much more the entire BCMW family is trusting the Lord for in Brazil. So, we would encourage you to connect with BCMW regarding how you can pray for their team and training in Brazil as well as other ways you can support and serve their ministry in the region as well as to Portuguese-speaking peoples everywhere.
Cited Resource: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/27/world/americas/virus-brazil-bolsonaro.html
Featured image by sergio souza on Unsplash
SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST:
