Brazil for Christ!

“That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.” —Psalm 67:2

Sebastian described himself as lost and aimless. The young Brazilian found nothing to give him purpose and a solid foundation on which to build a life. Then one day a stranger handed him a copy of How to Know God from World Missionary Press. Reading the Scripture portions, he found Someone to believe in and follow. He accepted Jesus as his Savior and his life changed forever. Eighteen years later, Sebastian saw the need to go beyond the walls of his church and out into the streets to share the gospel, just as someone had done for him many years before.

From the streets of Brazil’s large cities to its rural northeastern regions and on to Amazonia, World Missionary Press Scripture booklets are being shared one to one, leaving a silent but living witness to touch empty, aching hearts.

A doctor in São Paulo gave one of his patients a Help from Above Scripture booklet. Over the following weeks, she read and reread the booklet, soaking up the words of hope and redemption. When she returned for a medical follow-up three months later, she reported that she was now a Christian!

Marcos came to Jesus as a child after reading WMP Scripture booklets and tried to distribute booklets during his walks in the city. When he received another booklet in 2017, he again felt he should take the Word of God to those who need it. He admits he is “starting timidly,” as he works alone, but he looks for ways to distribute booklets on buses and in public squares, hoping that others will find the truth the same way he found it.

Hundreds of boxes of WMP literature in Portuguese have been sent to Brazil’s northeast states. Here, in areas often dominated by witchcraft, the Word of God has taken hold. In one city, the leader of a witchcraft center came to Christ and then led all those involved with the center to the Savior! In another city in that region, six new churches were opened, full of new believers who had come to Christ after reading the Scripture booklets.

WMP has several major distributors working throughout this vast nation of 211 million people. On Brazil’s Amazon border with Colombia, the Chowning family ministers to Brazilian pastors and churches on one side of the river and Colombian churches and villages on the other side of the river. Through the simple plan of sharing Scripture booklets in both Portuguese and Spanish, they have bridged differences and built a spirit of unity to reach people on both sides of the river.

“Every Christmas,” they write, “we give two packets to every military person stationed in Leticia, Colombia, to help them celebrate Christmas. One package is a care package with soap, toothpaste, etc. and another is filled with things to read—mostly Scripture booklets. It is interesting to me that what the soldiers remember the most are the Scripture booklets. The military officers here say this is the only place in Colombia where evangelism goes to the military. It means a lot to them. Thank you for your help with this. Only eternity will tell the huge change it has made.”

Like the Chownings—who have extended their reach beyond Brazil’s borders—others in Brazil are finding ways to take the gospel to those coming into Brazil from other countries. In late 2019, WMP received a request from Boa Vista, close to Brazil’s border with Venezuela. They had The Way to God booklets in Portuguese for the Brazilian population, but Venezuelan refugees were pouring over the border, needing that same booklet in Spanish.

“We are providing these booklets for everyone up here who is using them, we think,” wrote Jay E. “The MISSAO BRASIL VENEZUELA use what we provide, but they and almost everyone else are out. About 500 people per day walk into Brazil from Venezuela here on the northern border. That is a lot, but it is way down from a few months ago. They tend to come in waves. All of the booklets we distribute are used by those who hand them personally to recipients who want to receive one.”

Pleas for more booklets come from all over this nation.

A pastor wrote from southern Brazil, “I work in the area of evangelism and missions. I live in an area where drugs, idolatry, child prostitution, and other things prevail. We need thousands of booklets to evangelize in the streets, city center, and other places of booklet evangelism. It is a very needy place for the gospel. I need your help.”

To answer these pleas, WMP recently shipped seven million booklets on four containers to Brazil. These orders were placed more than a year ago. Seven million booklets will not last long with orders waiting and more believers discovering WMP Scripture booklets as a valuable tool in their personal lives and ministry.

Brazil is not the only nation, however, where distributors are pleading for more booklets and anxiously waiting for shipments. Opportunities abound. Workers are waiting for tools, and time is short. Souls are dying, having never heard that Jesus loves them and died to give them eternal life. WMP is wholly committed to providing God’s all-powerful, transforming Word for the people of the world while there is time.

[You can help provide God’s Word for Brazil and other nations of the world. Every donated dollar provides for producing 26 powerful Scripture booklets in the languages of the people. An investment of $100 will touch the lives of 2,600 people; $1,000 will impact 26,000 people who need to know God.]

 

 

Grateful Quotes

I feel totally revived!

“Lately I have been depressed, not feeling well-fed spiritually and not knowing what to do about it. I read my Bible faithfully, but somehow I didn’t feel fulfilled, even though a friend and I study Isaiah every week.

But this week we read your newsletter and prayed, as well as reading Isaiah 53 and 55. It did so much for me spiritually. I feel totally revived, and I love to share the gospel booklets you sent in the mail.

My friend and I have changed the way we do our Bible study, [now] including your newsletter. It has given new life to our meetings, and I felt led to send a cheque and a request for more booklets. I’m asking for more of the booklets God loves You and more [copies] of your newsletter on a regular basis. It is so good to hear what you are doing in Haiti and around the world. Keep up the good work and God bless you as He has me through you.”

—Neil O, Canada

 

 

Meet the Team

Twilight D.

Volunteer

I heard about World Missionary Press when my family attended the same Goshen, Indiana, church as Jay and Vicky Benson. Jay and Vicky were leaders of the small group my sister and I were a part of, so we heard a lot about WMP and decided to volunteer there. We prayed for many things—printers, paper, funds, etc.—and would volunteer there in the evening with our small group if needed.

I had been an ICU nurse for 35 years at Goshen Hospital, but when I had to retire in 2012 because of MS, Jay asked if I would help with the WMP mailings once a month, and eventually I started helping on the bindery on Monday afternoons as well.

My favorite part of volunteering at WMP is working with people who help pack God’s Word to send out for others to receive, use, and believe.

When I’m not volunteering, I enjoy doing word puzzles, crocheting, and playing games on my computer. My sister, Dawn, who works at Interra Credit Union in Goshen, also volunteers at WMP, helping with the monthly mailings. We live in New Paris, next door to my parents, who are also retired; we are all active in our church and looking forward to moving to Greencroft, a residential community for seniors in Goshen. My mother was a piano teacher and did a lot of sewing. My sister and I have been helping her use up the last of her supply of material by knotting comforter tops for quilts which are donated to the Salvation Army.

 

 

WMP Partners Around the World

Don and Ellen F.

East Coast USA and Beyond

Volunteers are at the very heart of World Missionary Press, helping keep costs low at our production facility in Indiana. Volunteer national coordinators and major distributors in more than 80 countries receive and process large shipments of Scripture booklets for churches and ministries in their nations. Volunteers all over the world take the booklets into villages, cities, mountains, and deserts. WMP is blessed to have these shoulders to help carry the load of fulfilling the vision to give God’s Word to the world.

WMP: Don, please describe your background and current ministry.

Don: Ellen and I are retired business owners, celebrating 53 years of marriage. We dedicated our lives to serving the Lord in 1974. After retiring, and in full-time ministry since 2009, we share the good news on the streets and highways along the US East Coast from Florida to Maine, where there are more than 100 million people of all nations. We are also large-volume distributors of gospel materials to businesses, churches, and organizations.

WMP: How did your association with WMP begin?

Don: Our introduction to World Missionary Press was through a direct intervention from God. Early in the ministry, we purchased a case of Spanish New Testaments from another source. With all the other expenses at the time, a decision was made one night to no longer provide Spanish. The very next morning, a man drove up to our ministry vehicle and asked if we could use 1,000 Spanish New Testaments! These originally came from WMP, and a new connection was made.

Our purpose is to educate, encourage, and energize the body of Christ and those now seeking God, to help make disciples of all nations. World Missionary Press prints the exact type of products we need for this type of ministry. Our first motive in ministry is to reach out with the compassion and love of Christ. The topical Scripture booklets accomplish exactly that without condemnation.

WMP: How has WMP literature helped churches and ministries reach their communities and beyond?

Don: The Bible study books and Scripture booklets can be used by churches and ministries for outreach. Making connections with missionaries is a priority, as many cannot get material in the languages they need for their countries. In every church we visit, we put out a table at service times with all of the products for the members there. This gives them the opportunity to have good free materials for their own use and personal outreach.

The US East Coast is our launching point from which to reach the world. The I-95 corridor connects with hundreds of exits, with crowds of people traveling the interstate. The time to spread the gospel is now, and only through Christ is real life found. We have materials in stock in many languages, and more readily available thanks to WMP. This has also enabled us to reach into some 30 countries. The adventure begins all over again every day, as Florida is one of the greatest mission fields in the world.

WMP: How do you reach into other nations?

Don: As an example, in the Florida Keys early this year, we discovered a need through the church that had sent us out in ministry eleven years ago. Two boats were being loaded with needed equipment and supplies for the northern Bahama Islands devastated by the hurricane last year. Cases of WMP material (25 boxes in four languages) were put on board. After spending three weeks restocking locations throughout the Upper Keys, we traveled on to Key West. Outreach from our church partner there and throughout the city continues to grow. New connections with pastors and businesses were made. Boxes of booklets go out from here to the Bahamas, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Cuba.

WMP: How do the Scripture booklets work in conjunction with other material to reach hearts?

Don: The new booklet Who Do You Say That I Am? has been perfect to put with the Jesus film DVDs. Watch the film and then read in depth who Jesus is to establish a solid foundation. Ellen and I firmly believe in establishing converts in the Word of God to become lasting disciples of Christ. The materials do exactly that.

We would like to thank WMP for supplying quality products in many languages since the beginning of this ministry. The connection with WMP was made by the Holy Spirit and is an amazing story in itself. We have found many new locations, and the volume of booklets going out is ever increasing. We see limitless potential for further distribution of the gospel.