We are finishing our first cycle as missionaries in Guinea-Bissau, and we praise God for the many blessings achieved by His power. We arrived here in May 2021 at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were many restrictions, and the possibilities for action were very limited. We took advantage of this period to study and understand more about the country and culture. We determined that we would serve the people on the education and health fronts, as we had on our team Gláucia dos Santos Batista, a short-term missionary with extensive experience in the educational sector and my wife Elisabete with a degree in nursing.
We visited patients’ homes weekly, offering health guidance, medicine and prayers and establishing relationships with animists, Muslims and people from other Christian groups. We also started a Bible class at our house on Fridays for young people and adults and on Saturday afternoons for children. In August of the same year, we created a Portuguese course with eight students, and the number has increased with each new class.
In April 2022, we opened the Casa Novo Tempo influence center, serving more than 60 Portuguese language students and offering health guidance and minor assistance to patients. We also started church services on Sabbaths with around 20 people. That first month, we carried out the first three baptisms. Afterward, we opened the Adventurers and Pathfinders clubs and more young people were baptized.
In 2023, the first Pathfinder camp in Guinea-Bissau was held, a historic moment for the church. Another 70 people were baptized, eight of which resulted from the work at Casa Novo Tempo. In September, more than 100 students were enrolled in our language courses, inspiring us to move the influence center to a larger house.
In 2024, we have been unable to receive short-term missionaries for our project as we have been scheduled to depart on furlough, and it would not be appropriate to leave them alone here for four months. Even so, the work has not stopped, and we have continued with visitations, health care, Bible classes, Adventurer and Pathfinder clubs, and discipling new converts. This July, nine more people were baptized during a beautiful baptismal ceremony.
As we leave for our furlough, placing the work in the hands of our Guinean brothers here, we are sure that this period will richly bless them and us. The first stop on our furlough will be in Brazil, where we will visit our families, present our project to some churches and complete the process of obtaining our American visa. We will then depart for the United States, where we will meet with our AFM colleagues, visit donors and present our project to churches and other Christian communities.
We are immensely grateful to everyone who has become involved and supported us financially during this period. We pray that God will continue to bless each of you in many ways. There is still much to achieve, but we would not have gone this far without you. Thank you very much.
We praise God for everything He has done for us so far, including His love and constant care for our family. We are certain that greater blessings are on the way because, as the Apostle Paul said, “I am convinced that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).
