JOSÉ CARLOS PEZINI – September 2023 UPDATE

Greetings to all of you in the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus. We would like to express our sincere gratitude for participating in ministry in Brazil. We appreciate your financial support and your prayers. Just like the apostle Paul's experience with the Philippians, the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil (IPIB), SARA, and I have also felt the bonding experience with you as our partners in the Kingdom of God: " And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19.

New Church Development in Brazil — April 2023 Update

Dear brothers and sisters, servants of Christ Jesus,

I greet you with the sweet peace that flows from the throne where Christ sits with the Father and intercedes for each one of us. I hope all of you, as well as your families, are doing well, enjoying health and fellowship with our good God. After two chaotic years of the pandemic, we are happy to be able to live life again.

José Carlos Pezini – October 2022 Update

Brothers and sisters, may the grace and power of God be upon each one of you. I praise God for your faithfulness and generosity and pray that God in His grace will bless you abundantly. Despite the effects of the pandemic, our ministry continues to grow because people like you continue to believe that God rules over everything and everyone.

New Church Development in Brazil — September 2022 Update

The Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil (IPIB), our partner in fulfilling the Great Commission of Jesus, has been striving to plant new churches, and The Outreach Foundation has been working to find partners to plant new churches. One of these new churches is located in the city of Valinhos, State of São Paulo. This is a city with enormous potential, but its inhabitants are very resistant to the Gospel message. Despite the resistance, the church has grown, as the organizing pastor discovered that he can best share the Gospel through interpersonal relationships with good results, thank God!

José Carlos Pezini - July 2022 Update

May the blessing of God the Almighty Father be upon each one of you. I praise God for the wonderful ways He has used each of you as instruments in His hands for the expansion of His Kingdom.

This year, despite the effects of the pandemic, God has been faithful to us, and everything seems to be returning to normal. Of course, we also realize that a great number of pastors still fear being exposed to the virus.

SARA ministry retreats are once more taking place. From April to June, we had 12 mentoring retreats with an average of 13 pastors per retreat for a total of 156 pastors.

José Carlos Pezini - May 2022 Update

May the grace and blessing of the good and mighty God be upon each one of you. I am thankful always for your faithfulness, generosity, and love towards us and our ministry.

Our lives have almost returned to normal from the pandemic. April was one of our busiest months. Mentoring retreats, church revitalization talks, and lay leadership training have resumed. This brings us great joy because we can be with the pastors again and help them in their ministerial journeys.

José Carlos Pezini - December 2021 Update

Dear sisters and brothers, partners in the work of expanding the Kingdom of God in this world!

May grace and peace from God our Father be poured out in abundance upon your lives. I am very happy, and I pray constantly for you, thanking God for your generosity and love for us. In this difficult time, His love is expressed through the efforts you make, sharing with us so that through you we can live with dignity and develop our mission.

The pandemic is still present in Brazil. But my perception, in general, is that we have learned to live with it and life here in Brazil is slowly returning to normal.

José Carlos Pezini - October 2021 Update

Dear brothers and sisters, servants of Christ Jesus and collaborators with him in the expansion of the Kingdom,

Grace and peace be with you all.

We've all experienced the difficulties of these past couple of years. But despite the struggles we have faced, battles were won, thus fulfilling the promise that in Christ Jesus we are more than conquerors.

Through your partnership, the gospel has been preached in many places here in Brazil. It has brought salvation to dozens of families in eight different cities, from the southern part of Brazil to the northeast. Here are reports from some of the new churches:

José Carlos Pezini - September 2021 Update

Dera brothers and sisters,

Greetings to all of you in the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus. Once again, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to you for participating in our ministry here in Brazil. We really appreciate your financial support and your prayers. Just like the apostle Paul's experience with the Philippians, Odete and I have also felt the bonding experience with you as our partners in the Kingdom of God: " And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19.

Despite living in a time of pandemic, our ministry must go on. In order to continue, we have been following the required sanitary protocols. Most of our meetings have been done through online services but whenever we find the opportunity to be among others, we gladly do it. In the city where we currently live, we have been going to a Presbyterian church and fellowshipping in person.

José Carlos Pezini - August 2021 Update

Please join us in praying for Pezini and Odete as Pezini undergoes shoulder surgery August 9

Dear brothers and sisters,

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:3-6

Brothers and sisters, may the blessings of God the Father be with you all for the expressions of affection and generosity that you have shown to us. As the Apostle Paul prayed for the Philippian brothers and sisters, Odete and I pray for you.

COVID-19 Appeal Brazil

We recently received the following letter from Reva. Ana Isaura Lima de Souza, National Secretary of Diaconal of the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil (IPIB):

MANÁ PROJECT

"I will rain down bread from heaven for you." Exodus 16:4

COVID-19 Appeal UpdatesThe Outreach FoundationApril 16, 2021COVID-19, COVID-19 Appeal, Brazil

COVID-19 Appeal Brazil

Here in Brazil, we are now totally isolated. Cities are closed, no one can enter or leave if they don’t live there. The government decreed a curfew. If someone is caught walking around the city at night, they will be arrested. Almost 3,000 deaths were recorded yesterday (March 18) from Covid 19. Hospitals are in precarious states. There are no more empty beds, there are not enough doctors to serve all those who need care, and there are no medications to treat those who are there. As if this were not enough, politicians do not understand each other and try to take political advantage of the situation. Many pastors are hospitalized and a few are intubated. Please pray for the Brazilian people,

José Carlos Pezini - March 2021 Update

Dear brothers and sisters,

The Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil, like any Christian denomination of historical tradition, has faced difficulties in its healthy growth in the fulfillment of the Great Commission. There are hundreds of stagnant local churches whose pastors and leaders are calling for a path of awakening and new life for these churches.

The coronavirus pandemic that has persisted for more than a year has only made the struggles and difficulties of the survival of these local churches even more evident.

Since 2013 the SARA Institute has supported pastors and churches of various denominations both in church planting and church revitalization. SARA has now partnered with IPI do Brazil's theological seminary and they are offering a master's degree in Church Revitalization. The program aims to be a promoter of ideas and also offer strategies and tools to students to cooperate with their local churches in strategic actions of revitalization.

COVID-19 Appeal - February 2021 Update

Your gifts to the COVID-19 Emergency Appeal are making a difference...all over the world

When we launched this Appeal almost a year ago, none of us could have grasped what the devasting effects upon the global community would be with almost two million dead and economies devastated. Vaccines provide a glimmer of hope, but we know it will be a long time before large parts of the world can access them.

The Outreach Foundation is grateful for your faithful generosity over these past months as your gifts of over $277,000 have allowed us to respond to urgent needs in 23 countries: Iraq, Syria, Ghana, Rwanda, China, Cuba, Venezuela and so many more. These gifts have provided food relief, tuition help for seminarians so that their studies could continue, salary support for pastors in impoverished villages, and refugee relief for those whose lives were already being lived on the edge of calamity. The Global Church has used these gifts to shine the Light of Christ upon those who might not yet know of him and to encourage the faithful to “hold on.”

José Carlos Pezini - January 2021 Update

Dear brothers and sisters,

Grace and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. I hope that this year, we will find more peace and freedom to carry out the work for which we were called to do. We mourn with those who lost their loved ones to COVID-19. We pray that with the arrival of the vaccine, life will get better.

Many pastors in Brazil were infected with the virus. Some recovered and others succumbed to COVID-19. Many churches are suffering financially and cannot pay their pastors. But, we must continue doing our ministry. That is why we need you, faithful ministry partners, to continue to pray for us.

Even during the pandemic, our ministry continues, training leaders and pastors for revitalizing and planting new churches. We had to adapt and readjust our courses, which are now offered virtually, but we obtained good results. Here is testimony from Rev. Marcio Tenponi about a church that I helped to revitalize:

COVID-19 Appeal Brazil

The Outreach Foundation is in regular contact with partners around the world, many of whom are sharing with us the upheaval that they are experiencing as the COVID-19 virus and the response to it burdens their ministries of medical outreach and compassionate service. We recently received the following COVID Appeal update from our partners in Brazil:

Friends and partners, I hope that everyone is well in the midst of the pandemic year. This year was a year of great challenges around the world. It was no different in Brazil. Since the end of March, when COVID-19 started killing people everywhere, churches have interrupted their face-to-face services, avoiding crowds and by order of the government maintaining social distance. Here in Brazil, many local communities have not yet returned with their regular face-to-face services. And others who have returned are suffering from low attendance because many are afraid of being infected. Sadly, the number of people infected with COVID-19 here in Brazil has increased again and people are in a panic. This situation causes uncertainty, and many pastors have no idea what the situation will be like for their churches next year.

COVID-19 Appeal Updates, Latin America, Partnership, ProjectsThe Outreach FoundationNovember 24, 2020COVID-19 Appeal, Brazil, COVID-19

New Church Development in Brazil - October Update

We recently received the following letter from Outreach partner the Independent Church of Brazil (IPIB):

Dear Outreach Foundation friends,

The mission ministry is pleased to inform you of some of the actions carried out by the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil during the pandemic period.

With the support of the Central Office (represented by its President Rev. João Luiz Furtado), the local church councils, partnership with The Outreach Foundation, and members of the IPIB, the denomination was able to provide significant help to people who were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The IPIB developed a project entitled "All Together in Mission" which has helped pastors, missionaries, and seminarians in communities impacted financially by the pandemic.

José Carlos Pezini - April 2020 Update

Portuguese-language Ministries Coordinator Rev. José Carlos Pezini sent the following update on Brazilian ministries’ COVID-19 response:

Greetings to you all with the sweet peace of our Lord Jesus Christ,

I think this is a good time to share with you what is happening in our ministry in the midst of the pandemic. I know that we are living in an unprecedented time in history. I don't remember experiencing anything like this in my lifetime. But we know that it is in times like this that we learn new things and new ways of living. This crisis has forced us to learn new ways to develop the ministry that the Lord has entrusted to us.

Partner Updates

Please join us in praying for Pezini and Odete as Pezini undergoes shoulder surgery August 9

Portuguese-language Ministries Coordinator Rev. José Carlos Pezini sent the following update on Brazilian ministries’ COVID-19 response: