José Carlos Pezini (Outreach) - December 2016 Update
Portuguese-Language Ministries Coordinator
Dear brothers and sisters,
Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was a very busy and stressful year of my ministry here in Brazil. SARA Ministries is growing so fast that it is almost impossible to respond to all the demands. The number of pastors who are being mentored is growing day by day. This year I have trained more pastors to be mentors, bringing the total to thirty-eight. Each one of these new pastor-mentors serves an average of five pastors.
The demand is so great, however, that if we had fifty more mentors, we still would not be able to serve all who are asking for spiritual and personal mentoring. Let me give you an example of the critical need we are trying to address here in Brazil. Just this year three Lutheran pastors, one Presbyterian pastor and three Roman Catholic priests committed suicide. These numbers reveal a crisis among Brazilian pastors in terms of their spiritual, emotional, and psychological health.
Because of this great need, we have increased the number of retreats we are offering along with our mentoring. This year there were fourteen different retreats for our seven core groups around Brazil. Next year five new core groups will be formed. With each group of “mentees” attending two retreats per year, we will be adding another 10 retreats in 2017, bringing the total to 24.
In addition to individual mentoring and group retreats, SARA Ministries now offers a Master’s degree in Spiritual Formation. It is a modular course with eight encounters over two years.
Finally, through SARA ministries I serve as a consultant for church revitalization for various denominations. Altogether SARA Ministries is serving eight different denominations.
Apart from my primary work as Director of SARA Ministries, I continue to serve as adjunct staff of the non-denominational Center for Training Church Planters speaking at its annual conference and at special meetings throughout the year. I also serve the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil as liaison between the IPIB and The Outreach Foundation as well as by teaching in their Missionary Training Centers. I am grateful for their faithful support of my ministry in Brazil.
I would like to conclude this update with the testimony of a pastor from Rio de Janeiro who has been part of our mentoring and retreat ministry since SARA began.
To the Lord all the glory for he has done tremendous things!
In Christ,
J.C.Pezini
Curitiba, Brazil
Read more about Pezini's ministry by clicking HERE.
THE NEED
Outreach is seeking gifts totaling $95,000 for support and ministry funds for Pezini and $5,000 to defray costs of attending SARA retreats for those who cannot afford them.