From its inception, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary has been committed to training men for the mission field. Today students and graduates represent twenty foreign countries. Brazil leads all countries in the number of students and graduates. The Presbyterian Church of Brazil has more than 850,000 members. There are four factions in the denomination: liberals, charismatics, broad evangelicals, and the Reformed party. The reformed group is growing and by God’s grace Greenville seminary in playing a role. I recently completed a seventeen day trip to Brazil, where I ministered in four different cities.

ThM student Samuel Vitalino organized the trip. I preached and lectured at the second annual conference on the Reformed Faith. The conference met in three different cities. The first meeting was in Teresina, where Samuel is pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. I arrived Saturday afternoon, Oct. 10 (without my luggage), and was told I was to speak that night to a large group of young people.

I used the opportunity to give my testimony and used it to present the gospel and to derive some lessons for young people. Sunday I preached three times at three different churches (twice on 1 Cor. 1:30, 31, The Beauty of Grace; once on Mark 3:20-28, The Unpardonable Sin). I also taught a Sunday School class on how to listen to a sermon. The conference began on Monday evening. The theme was the Centrality of Christ.

The other conference speaker was Pastor Hernandez Dias Lopes.(He is the television preacher for the Presbyterian Church of Brazil.) I gave five messages: The Kingship of Christ (Ps. 93); the Humiliation and Exaltation of Christ (Phil. 2:5-11); the Redeeming Work of Christ (Rev. 5:9, 10); Union with Christ (Col. 3:1-4); and Preaching Christ (1 Cor. 2:1`-5). About five hundred people attended the conference.

The second conference began in Vitoria at the First Presbyterian Church on Wednesday night, Oct. 14, but I did not speak until Friday. Pastor Hernandez Dias Lopes, who shared the conference with me in Teresina is pastor. At this conference I gave three lectures on Calvin: Calvin as a pastor; Calvin as a preacher; and Calvin on worship. Again about five hundred people attended the conference. I preached twice on the Lord’s Day (about seven hundred in attendance) and gave the seminar on how to listen to a sermon.

On Monday, Oct. 19, we made our way to Recife, where I gave the three lectures on John Calvin. The lectures were sponsored by the Puritan Project. Monday and Tuesday night the lectures were at the newly renovated Puritan Project building; (picture) the Tuesday morning lecture was at the Presbyterian Seminary in Recife.

In Recife, I was able to spend time with one Greenville alumni, Rodrigo Brotto, assistant pastor at First Presbyterian Church (Dr. Smith’s uncle played a role in the formation of this congregation), and two advance degree students Claudio Albuquerque, a ThD student, who is senior pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, and Francisco Cardosa, ThM student, who pastors a newly formed congregation in Recife.

The last leg of the trip was in Belo Horizonte, where I preached at the First Presbyterian Church, pastored by Ludgero Bonilha Moraes, who is also the stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil. Here I gave the messages on the centrality of Christ and also one lecture to seminarians and ministers on Calvin as a preacher. I preached twice on the Lord’s Day to over seven hundred people.

Greenville Seminary has a keen interest in the spread of the gospel and the Reformed faith in Brazil. During the past few years Drs. Smith, Knight, Shaw, Scipione, and Curto have ministered in Brazil. In addition to the men who have returned to Brazil, we have one other graduate, Emilio Garafalo Neto, who is doing doctoral work at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. Two men continue their work on campus: Paulo Brasil e Sousa, ThD in Old Testament, and M Div student, Breno Macedo. When I was in Brazil I made contract with two men who, God willing, will study with us.

By God’s grace Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary is having an influence in the Presbyterian Church of Brazil. Your support allows us to train these men. They all receive full tuition scholarships and we help them with their living expenses. Please keep them and the church in Brazil in your prayers.