Pray For
- the continued growth of both the Brazilian and Nikkei Conferences through evangelism, discipleship and church planting
- the wise and courageous leadership of each conference as they navigate the increasingly secular ideologies
- the fledgling new churches, which are fully functioning throughout Brazil, including the cities of Manaus, Campo Grande and Aracajú
- continued creative ministry of the Nikkei Conference churches to the Japanese and Brazilian communities
- the church-planting training base started in March 2022 in the city of São Paulo through a partnership with the Free Methodist seminary
- missionaries Dan and Hope Owsley as they oversee the program and teach classes at the FM seminary (Seminário Bíblico Wesleyano) in São Paulo
PRESENT MINISTRIES
Brazil General Conference
In March 2024, a general assembly of approximately 1,500 members gathered to witness and celebrate the signing of an agreement for the establishment of the General Conference of the Free Methodist Church of Brazil, whereby both general conferences (Brazilian and Nikkei) committed to being unified in doctrine, rituals and representation before the World Conference of the Free Methodist Church and in public communication while maintaining autonomous financial administration.
Brazilian Conference
The Brazilian Conference has five regional conferences, including West-Central and Northeast Brazil. There are new church-planting initiatives throughout the country. In addition, they oversee the Free Methodist Church in Angola. Missionaries who began ministry in the Brazilian conference serve overseas in Spain, India and China.
Nikkei Conference
Free Methodist ministry in Brazil began among the large population of immigrants from Japan. The conference is divided into two regional districts and helps oversee mission districts in Japan, Argentina and Paraguay. The conference supports Brazilian missionaries serving the FMC in Japan and Europe. In 2021 the conference took responsibility for supporting and overseeing a new church plant for Venezuelan immigrants in the Amazonian city of Manaus.
OUTREACHES TO THE WORLD
The two Brazilian conferences have sent missionaries to Portugal, Italy, Japan, Hungary, two creative access countries, East Timor (Indonesia), Equatorial Guinea and the Suruwahá tribe in the Amazon Rainforest. Furthermore, the general conference oversees a mission district in Angola. The Nikkei Conference connects with Japanese-descendent churches in Paraguay, Peru and Argentina.
ORIGINS
In 1928 Daniel Nishizumi, a Free Methodist minister, traveled from Japan to Brazil at his own expense to do missionary work among the Japanese living there. He was followed by other Japanese laymen and ministers in an influx of Japanese immigration. The first FM church was organized in 1936. (Brazil, and particularly the Saõ Paulo metro area, is home to the largest Japanese community outside of Japan – 1.5 million.)
Ten years later the first board-appointed missionaries arrived, Misses Lucile Damon and Helen Voller. They, and those who followed, worked with both the Japanese and the Brazilians. A seminary was built in Mairipora and later relocated in 1965 in the city of São Paulo. Because of the differences in language and culture, the churches separated into two conferences in 1966: the Nikkei (or Japanese) and the Brazilian.
Country LeaderS
Bishop José Ildo Swartele de Mello
Brazil General Conference
Bishop Daniel Seiji Abe
Brazil General Conference
Missionaries
Dan & Hope Owsley
Dan and Hope Owsley have served in four major regions of Brazil over the past three decades, helping start churches and organizing conferences. Their ministry has included teaching Bible and theology to church leaders, mentoring men and women in ministry, sharing the...
Prayercast | Brazil
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COUNTRY STATISTICS
- Population: 212,812,405 (88% urban)
- Evangelical Christians: 25.22%
Brazilian General Conference
- Bishops: José Ildo Swartelle de Mello and Daniel Seiji Abe
- Brazilian General Conference Ecclesiastical Accountability: Free Methodist World Conference
Brazil Conference
- FM Work Opened: 1946
- FM Churches: 67
- FM Membership: 4,530
- Ordained Ministers: 110
- Ministerial Candidates: 40
Nikkei Conference
- FM Work Opened: 1936
- FM Churches: 36
- FM Membership: 2,858
- Ordained Ministers: 35
- Ministerial Candidates: 7
Photo Credit: TUBS, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Join the ministry in Brazil
Church Planting & Development
Funding the Brazil Church Planting and Development (CPD) will help resource church planting and leadership development.
Extra Mile Projects
Brazil Scholarship Fund
The Brazil Scholarship Fund helps with tuition for Free Methodist seminary students preparing for pastoral ministry, church planting and evangelism in areas of Brazil where the Free Methodist Church is initiating new work. The Seminário Bíblico Wesleyano (Wesleyan Biblical Seminary) is the Free Methodist leadership training school through which students receive biblically grounded preparation for church ministry. The school serves churches in seven states of Brazil.