God Changes Lives In Brazil
LAM Magazine
Staff
accepted in the Army and
was sure that, after camp, I would enter the 8th Engineer and
Construction Battalion. God had something else in mind. The speaker, Pastor
Gary Parker, asked if anyone would like to dedicate his life to ministry. It
had not occurred to me that God would call me to the pastorate, but that day He
did. Today, as a Pastor for the Alliance of Evangelical Christian Churches in Brazil, I serve as Regional Director for Child
Evangelism Fellowship, in Maranhao
State. Who can doubt the
impact of a camp for decision making?" (Pr.
Dalierson Sarrazin, Regional Director for Child
Evangelism Fellowship, Sao Luis-MA,
Brazil) [Contributed
by the Mullins and Krebskys]
Marcos Agripino attended Camp Good Hope
in Goianaia, Brazil for the first time as a
teen,
where he decided both to acknowledge Christ as his Savior, and to heed
God's call to full time Christian Service. After college and seminary he became
a missionary with Mission Aviation Fellowship
in Brazil.
On a trip to Angola, Africa after a week of teaching principles of Christian
Leadership to pastors and church leaders in a small interior city, he was on
the plane ready to leave when suddenly armed soldiers surrounded it: the doors
were opened and in came the mayor of the city in native dress, followed by his
body guards. He marched right up to Marcos and pointing his finger at him he
said: "I know what you were teaching to the church leaders this week and I want
you to promise to come back and teach these principles to the town
council." Marcos is now the chairman of
international missions for the Presbyterian Church of Brazil. [Contributed by
the Mullins]
Sóstenes, the rebellious son of a
Presbyterian minister, came to serve on our camp maintenance staff. He had
never been to camp and was not sure he would like cleaning floors and washing
dishes, but his parents were anxious to see him involved. At camp he found what
he had 
been looking for: a place where he could put his talents to work and
where no one expected more of him just because he was a preacher's kid. God
called him to full time ministry; he prepared himself by attending a Bible
Institute, and completing Brazil's
CampDirectors course. Now he, along with his wife Valeria and sons Calebe (8)
and Nilo (5), serves as the director for Camp and Conference Ministries of the
Presbyterian Institute of Education, a school with over 3,000 students.
Sóstenes is responsible for planning at least one camp per year for each grade
level. He trains the older students as his counseling staff. [Contributed by
the Mullins]
Each camp is new and edifying. But, there is
one that stands out for confirming me in
ministry. Based on the theme, 'The
Chosen Liberator,' our missionary project was the Portuguese speaking countries
of Africa. I was the program director. I
witnessed first hand the participation of the campers in the Bible studies, the
missionary debates, research, and presentations. It overwhelmed me to see these
children with their missionary offering the last day, giving with so much
satisfaction and exceptional reverence. I cried. I know first hand the impact
of a Christian camp. (Isis Deise Silva Sousa, New Life
Camp Program Director, Sao Luis-MA, Brazil)
[Contributed by the
Mullins and Krebskys]
Andre spent 23 days as a
camp counselor at a winter camp. "Why would anyone exchange 
his vacation time
to work as a volunteer?" Because to him and many young Christians in Latin America it is rewarding to give their time to help
people establish a personal relation with Jesus, or to reaffirm their life commitment to God. It is always a great privilege to be involved in God's work
as a volunteer staff in a Christian camp. He said, "As a counselor, I had the
unique opportunity to see some campers fully devoting themselves to Christ. God
uses camp ministry to call His people." (Andre
Garcia de Paula-Presbyterian School Camp Counselor, Goiania-GO, Brazil) [Contributed by the Mullins and Krebskys]