Santo’s Institute of Evangelistic Training

A Testimony

It is with great honor and satisfaction that I am writing to you to witness about what God has done through our ministry and the blessings received by Santo’s Evangelistic Training Institute (ICEVES), an evangelistic ministry located in eastern Brazil with the goal of soon establishing a missionary training school.

In one of our committees, the members of ICEVES, presently working for Taquara Institute, a missionary training school based in Rio de Janeiro, had the idea of making ICEVES more active by sending missionaries to the state of Espirito Santo, where the new school is to be located. It was a challenge because of both human and financial resources, but as the apostle Paul says in 
2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Since then we started to take the first steps and to plan. The committee decided that I should be the first Bible worker on the field for ICEVES. I was reluctant at first, but this vanished as God gave me evidences of His will. In one of our monthly convocations in Espirito Santo last year, I recall that we announced the plans of moving forward by faith alone.

The missionaries to be sent would have the following goal: to visit and assist the brethren who had suffered injustice in any way and been left as sheep without a shepherd, to encourage the discouraged in faith, to look persistently for property for the school, to preach the gospel to the Gentiles and to always make the place ready where the convocations should be held. All of the ICEVES supporters unanimously praised God and showed thankfulness about the new great idea. To God’s glory, many offered themselves to be systematic financial supporters, while others offered their own homes without any cost of rent, and one person rented his house and dedicated the money to the mission field project of ICEVES.

The good news soon spread out even to some of our brethren in Sao Paulo. Ferdinande Machado, one of ICEVES’s supporters, rode his motorcycle from Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro—about a seven hours’ drive—and went back home by bus. He came just to donate his motorcycle to ICEVES to be used by me in Espirito Santo, by God’s grace making it much faster and more economical to go from one place to another. I have been invited by one of our dear supporters to live as long as I need in his home while doing God’s work, and that is where I have been living since I arrived in Espirito Santo. Since then it has been a great blessing to be surrounded by people who love the truth and support God’s ministry.

The work has started. Today, after a month and a half, here is a synopsis of what we are doing: a class on Old Testament history in two rehabilitation centers for drug addicts with a total of 25 young people, Bible classes on conversion and righteousness by faith on Sabbath, Bible studies to a small group of five to eight people, missionary visitations and Bible studies.

I believe at the next convocation there will be more people visiting us for the first time, for many invitations have been made, and the work has been advertised wherever I go. I ask all to keep praying for ICEVES, for there are other plans and challenges ahead that only God can accomplish through our prayers and effort. May the grace of Jesus, the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all.

By Luciano Campos. Bible worker and outreach coordinator for ICEVES. Contact Giancarlo Demiranda via email: gmiranda@iestrj.com.br.