Vision of Brazil
Almost 5 years ago, a young pastor named Lucas Santana contacted me at our Vision office in Ramona, CA. A Brazilian native, Pastor Lucas was living in Texas with his wife Janniny, and their infant daughter, Esther. They had relocated to the US while Lucas completed his degree at Christ for the Nations. He needed work to cover the expenses of his growing family while he completed his education. He offered to help us with website development and social media. It is hard to believe that it has been almost five years ago. In retrospect, I realize this was truly a divine appointment.
Lucas’s heart for Vision and for the mission to take the “Whole word to the whole world” has been evident in all that he has done and continues to do for Vision. Pastor Lucas works to develop his numerous skills to meet the needs of Vision International. His responsibilities with this ministry continue to expand. He does much of our video editing, social media management, as well as assisting with some of our websites.
Since our initial contact, Pastor Lucas completed his degree and he and his family have returned to Feira de Santana, Brazil. There they work alongside his parents, Apostle José Ribeiro Santana and Pastor Edna Sena Santana to pastor their growing church and their church plants.
The home church was established by Apostle José and Pastor Edna Santana 30 years ago. Since then it has continued to grow. They have trained and equipped pastors for 13 church plants so far. These pastors and leaders continue to meet with Apostle Jose and Pastors Edna and Lucas weekly. They discuss specific concerns and needs; and they continue providing training and support to the leaders of these outlying churches.
In addition, Pastor Lucas accepted responsibility for our Brazilian World Zone in 2018. As the Brazilian zone leader he opened the first school of ministry in their church in February of 2019. Recently, Pastor Lucas reported:
“Right now, we have more than 40 students and 13 churches affected by Vision. Our church is growing and developing the fivefold ministry after we start to develop Vision teaching here.”
The vision for Brazil in 2020 is to:
- Develop and equip local leadership through the Vision curriculum in schools of ministry.
- Prepare students to reach more people in the outlying poor areas and plant more churches.
- Plant more schools of ministry in outlying localities. These schools will teach the Word of God and facilitate community outreach to include creating feeding programs and giving away clothing to those in need. They will minister to those in retirement homes, hospitals, and orphanages.
- The Santana family would like to extend to you an invitation. They are open to receiving people from Vision to do ministry or to participate in a Mission Trip for local ministry.
I had the honor of traveling to Brazil for the opening of our Vision School of Ministry in March 2019. The Santana’s and their church family are the most gracious hosts one could hope to meet. The hearts of the Brazilian people are open and hungry for the word of God. God is truly up to something good in the country of Brazil.
Dr. Kathy Smith
Director Curriculum Development and Communications – Vision International
