The vast majority of PAZ pastors and workers are Brazilian volunteers, who work sacrificially to take the gospel into river and jungle communities. These faithful men and women are the true heros here in the Amazon, working on the front lines under adverse and sometimes dangerous conditions.
Pastor Renaldo
It's not uncommon for these pastors to paddle a canoe, ride a bicycle or walk for many hours to reach a remote village. One of our supervisory pastors rode horseback for nearly 100 miles to visit churches in the interior because heavy rains had made the roads impassable. Read more about the Transportation Challenge.
Our volunteer pastors sometimes face serious persecution. Some have been shot at. Others have had their boats or building projects vandalized. Still others have been pelted with rotten fruit and run out of town by witch doctors or catechists enslaved to macumba (black magic) or works-based religion. It is a great testimony to God’s faithfulness and awesome power that many of the people who earlier persecuted PAZ church planters have since given their lives to Jesus and now work for the church. Some have even become senior leaders.
Pastor Rosinaldo
The day-to-day lives of our volunteer pastors are filled with natural trials, including periods of unrelenting heat followed by weeks of rain. They work in river and jungle environments that are full of alligators, snakes, stinging insects and disease. Sometimes it’s a challenge for them just to find a cup of clean drinking water. It’s not stretching the point to compare these men and women to the Apostle Paul, who became a tent-maker to support his ministry (our workers generally fish or farm for a living) and endured hardships and trials of many kinds to build God’s Kingdom. The self-sacrifice of these most excellent saints is bringing thousands of people to faith in Christ Jesus and has enabled PAZ to plant hundreds of churches in the Amazon.
