March 2002
Campinas

Feet-on-the-Ground Missiology

Dear Partners in God’s Mission,

Maternity and Mission

My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.
Galatians 4:19

Ten years ago I had the privilege of preaching at the commencement of the Londrina Theological Seminary of the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil (IPI) after having taught there for four years. The title of my sermon was "Paul’s Maternity," and the text was Galatians 4:12-20. Since then I have taught four and a half years in the seminary in Campinas and five years at Austin Seminary.

Back in Brazil, I participated this month as a leader in a 10-day seminar with eight PC(USA) pastors, one seminary professor, and his wife who grew up in Brazil. It was part of the Millard Scholars Program of Union Seminary/PSCE in Richmond and was done in partnership with the Outreach Foundation, Alamance Presbyterian Church, and the IPI.

The objective of the Millard Scholars was to listen, observe, dialogue, reflect, and learn about evangelism from our partner church in Brazil. The greatest "maternal" joy of this single mission worker was that six of the Brazilian presenters were my former students either in Londrina or in the masters program in missiology in the seminary in Fortaleza. Let me proudly tell you about them.

My roommate in São Paulo was the Rev. Niura Silva do Amaral, the first female solo pastor in the IPI. She made a Powerpoint presentation to the group showing how Christmas cantatas in the street, popular folk festivals and bazaars organized by the local community, and dinners in the church for neighborhood families, have turned the dying Coloninha IPI Church in Florianópolis into a vibrant growing faith community.

The Rev. Valdinei Ferreira told of outreach to the homeless by the congregation he served in Jabaquara, a low-income suburb of São Paulo. Now he is one of the associate pastors at the First IPI, known as the "Cathedral." After lunch, he took us to visit the "Cathedral" in the heart of São Paulo and then to the Protestant cemetery where Ashbel Green Simonton, the first Presbyterian missionary to Brazil, is buried.

On Saturday morning, we visited the Vida Nova (New Life) IPI church in the upper-class Brooklyn suburb of São Paulo where the Rev. Wanderley de Mattos is pastor. We participated in their creative ministry with around 70 children from a nearby slum, which includes breakfast, lively singing, and a Bible class. In his lecture to us, he stated their goals to evangelize where the church is, where the church is not, and where the members are.

On Sunday we flew over 1500 miles to the northeast city of Natal, home of some of Brazil’s loveliest beaches. I had the joy of preaching that evening in the First IPI church at the invitation of the Rev. Kleber Queiroz. He was delighted to tell me that three of their six elders are women and that 60 percent of the congregation are youths. In the animated service it was obvious that the young adult praise band and large liturgical dance group help keep the youth connected.

The next day we were exposed to music, drama, dance, video, slides, and reports by the members of an IPI national mission project in the semi-arid sertão region of northeastern Brazil. It is amazing how Sandra Pelegrino, a social worker who took my course in Fortaleza, has managed to find open doors in the schools to give talks about family, dating, sex, drugs, and studying in an effort to build bridges and offer hope to the hopeless.

We visited the Center for Missionary Training. The director, the Rev. Hermany Vieira, presented the curriculum, which includes one year of resident study in Natal and three years of supervised field work, with two-week intensive courses in Natal each semester. Graduates and students testified to how they are engaged in evangelism, compassionate service, and social action throughout this dry and poor region of Brazil.

Money and Mission

Asking that by God’s will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you (Romans 1:10).

After studying Spanish in January and February, I am ready to move out beyond Brazil with "fear and trembling" to initiate my assignment as theological education consultant for South America. As Paul longed to visit the church in Rome, so I long to visit the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Chile. I am in correspondence with the Rev. Jorge Cardenas Brito, the stated clerk and dean of the Evangelical Theological Community of Chile (CTE). I’ll be teaching there from April 27 to May 17, at the CTE.

In my role as missiological consultant for Worldwide Ministries Division, I am wrestling with the issues of "mission and money" from a missiological perspective. I will be in Louisville during June, July, and August to lead studies at the sharing conference and the orientation for young adult volunteers.

Join me in praying daily for the PC(USA), for the General Assembly Council, and for the Worldwide Ministries Division as we face hard decisions, determine priorities, and seek to follow God’s call to mission in these difficult days.

Your partner in God’s mission,

Sherron George

P.S. I am ready to face the exciting challenge of Spanish, but now another greater mission challenge is before me and the PC(USA). With the budget shortage of the Worldwide Ministries Division, I cannot go to Chile unless funds come in through the Extra Commitment Opportunities project "Consultant for Latin American Seminaries." I believe that God uses human agents to open doors in mission, so I invite you to partner with me and the church to make this visit possible. If God so leads, you can send checks to: Central Receiving Service, Section 300, Louisville, KY 40289. Write ECO #051807: Consultant for Latin American Seminaries on the title line. Put this on your cover letter, too, and send a copy of that to Global Education Office, 100 Witherspoon St., Louisville, KY 40202-1396.