Between the two world wars the vision of Brethren missions focused on Argentina and Africa. This would change in the early 1950s. Under the leadership of Dr. Russell Barnard, the mission would experience a period of rapid expansion. In their 1951 meeting the board interviewed 40 missionaries and candidates, and during the decade that followed, missionaries departed for five new fields.
The first of these was Brazil. Keith and Vivian Altig were the first to respond to God’s call to that country. One of their first converts, Raimundo Cardoso, had been warned by a priest not to look into their black book, the Bible, for fear of becoming blind. He became the first Brazilian pastor. Their target city, Belem, was at the mouth of the Amazon River.
Other missionaries soon joined them, including Bill and Imogene Burk. Bill used the Amazon River as God’s instrument for reaching people. With their boat, the Vamos, they evangelized and planted churches on the islands, bringing the message to these people for the first time. Converts were discipled, men were trained to be leaders and immediately given responsibility for the ministry, following the patterns of the book of Acts.
Many new missionaries joined the team, many churches were planted, and training schools were established. The ministry expanded to the south, with the city of Uberlandia becoming the main center for outreach in that region. Because of the excellent training given to the leaders, all the churches are pastored by Brazilian leaders.
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