PROJECT DESCRIPTION
In the eighties, a church planting ministry started in the bleak part of the mountainous area of the state Espírito Santo. There are about 120 000 descendants of the German Pomeranians living in great poverty and no perspective. Their ancestors came here in the 19th century. They are heavily influenced by superstition and the occult. Up to today, they speak their Pomeranian dialect and some of them hardly speak any Portuguese at all.
EBM INTERNATIONAL supports and promotes local staff and missionaries. Valério and Sandra Kurth are from Pomeranian descent themselves and are the “fruit” of this mission work. They are responsible for the church planting here and coordinate it. They are passionately involved in their ethnic group. Three other pastor couples have a heart for the “Pomeranians” and support this work.
In the meantime, quite a few churches and mission works have been established. A mission network was formed to strengthen the missionary church planting and to make it more effective. It is a big sacrifice when people volunteer to go into areas like this one where so many people live without perspective in life. The Pomeranians are very rejecting and closed. When people do find faith in Christ, their lives are being changed completely and radically. That is what is most convincing to others and what makes them ask questions.
“Pomerania For Jesus”, that’s what the mission project is called in Espírito Santo. They want to plant churches in still unreached places in creative ways. The good news comes to people for example via the radio and by spreading DVDs and CDs with evangelistic movies and messages in their own language, the Pomeranian dialect. This initiative is quite effective!
Beside church services, there are also prayer groups that take place in the houses, and activities for children and youth are being organized. Many families suffer from huge problems. Marriages are breaking and people are feeling helpless. The good news can offer new ways and chances. Many people do not want to go to church at first but they do not mind prayer groups. That is a great opportunity to tell people the good news. This work is very blessed.
