A letter from Tim Carriker in Brazil
june 2014
I just returned home from an early morning men’s prayer breakfast at Gugu’s apartment complex. As always, it was a short hour of deep friendship and mutual support among a handful of men in their 30s. There are two reasons I want to share Gugu’s story with you. First, Presbyterian World Mission currently engages in three Critical Global Initiatives; one is sharing God’s love through Jesus, and that is a central goal of the partner who invited us to work with them, the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil. Gugu is a moving example of how that works out in practice. Second, and since Gugu is a soccer coach of one of Brazil’s Class A professional teams and we are in the middle of the World Cup playoffs, I thought this would be a good time to share his story with you.
But let me get right to the punch first: the main “lesson” I have learned from our global partner, for which Gugu is an example, is that evangelism is first and foremost about building relationships. I suppose that is why the PC(USA) calls this critical initiative “sharing God’s love through Jesus Christ.” It is hard to imagine “sharing” without the idea of building strong friendships…
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Gugu and his family
It all began about 12 or 13 years ago. We had just moved, one or two years prior, to the island capital of Florianópolis (look it up on Google maps and type in “Servidão Alphaville, 274” and you’ll see where we live!). It is one of those surfing paradises that yearly hosts the World Surfing Tour, and I just happen to love longboard surfing. Around 7 am one morning I was coming out of the water after an early morning session of surfing. Since it was Fall, no one else was there except a professional soccer team that just happened to come for grueling exercise in the soft sands of that particular beach. Although I did not know Gugu well at the time, I recognized him from our local church among the team players and we complimented each other briefly. I don’t think he was accustomed to seeing a pastor on the beach at that hour of the day, especially one carrying a surfboard. And there our friendship began.
Gugu was still pretty much a “jock” with little concern for his faith or commitment to his church, but through that simple contact a bridge was established and over the next year or two Gugu began to grow in his faith. It was not just our friendship that moved Gugu to a deep commitment to Jesus, but also the conscious strategy of our local congregation to grow through small cell groups led by members of the church where all are encouraged to share and bring in their unchurched friends. Gugu has a special gift for creating and developing friendships and has brought numerous friends, including other coaches and professional soccer players, into our church. He calls them (and me!) on the phone or sends messages via Whatsapp several times a day. In fact, no matter where I am traveling in Brazil, I rarely hear from Gugu within less than 24–48 hours. He knows the importance of building close friendships and invests his energy in just that.
During our early years in Brazil (late 1970s and early 1980s) Marta and I emphasized “programmatic” evangelism, that is, evangelistic events, such as camps and public presentations of various sorts. And there is surely a place for that. But over the last decade or so the Brazilian churches have taught me that lasting and self-multiplying evangelism occurs primarily by building deep friendships. We are grateful to them for that lesson. And we are also indebted and thankful to you for allowing us to be your representatives in Brazil. Without your prayers and financial support we could not continue in this privileged role.
Tim
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.61
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