How We Got Started: Portugal
The Birth of Our Movement in Portugal
In the 1980s, Portugal seemed ripe for the gospel. It was one of Western Europe’s most underdeveloped and transitioning countries after a 41-year dictatorship that ended in 1974, and the country joined the European Union in 1986. Catholicism was still quite strong among older generations, while younger generations seemed to be more open to other beliefs. Jack Zielasko, Director of Grace Brethren Foreign Missions, and Larry DeArmey, Field Leader in France, went on exploratory trips to Portugal and decided it was time for our movement to send workers there.
The first Charis missionaries in Portugal were Tim & Julie Hawkins, Margaret Hull, and Ralph & Martha Schwartz, who arrived in the early 1990s. They began their ministries in Maia, a growing suburb of the northern city of Porto. During their first years, key partnerships were developed with evangelical organizations, including IFES Portugal (known as Intervarsity in the USA), which was directed by Alfredo Abreu at that time. Because of the connection with IFES and our focus on sending teams to major European cities, the team relocated to Porto, where they discipled and invested in university students.
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, our workers inspired groups of university students, families, and even a soccer club to meet, developing the first Points of Light. Excitement mounted as conversions and baptisms were celebrated. One of the university groups in Porto, led in part by Gami Rosário and Álvaro da Costa, felt a special connection to the Charis movement and decided to declare itself a church, which continues meeting to this day.
The Growth of Our Movement in Portugal
The early 2000s brought a new wave of workers to the Portugal team. After working with IFES, Alfredo and Rita Abreu joined the Charis movement and were mobilized to plant churches and work with the Portuguese Bible Society based in Lisbon. Sam and Tracey Schwartz also started working with the expanding work in Porto.
By the mid-2000s, the Porto Charis church and the Encompass team decided to partner with an international church based in Lisbon, based on their mutually recognized need for an English-speaking evangelical church in Porto. This interdenominational partnership resulted in the birth of Riverside Porto church, which is still thriving today. In Lisbon, our movement developed a family-based small group, and Alfredo worked to spread God’s written word through his Bible Society work. One of Alfredo’s projects in 2004 was the Handwritten Bible, which was supported by top government and cultural leaders.
As the first wave of Charis workers in north Portugal retired or left by the early 2010s, a new ministry was being launched. Portuguese missionaries from the Porto church were being sent to pilgrims of the St. James Way (Camino de Santiago), an ancient and now trendy pilgrimage with paths throughout Europe. Charis volunteers from around the world went to Porto to build a pilgrim’s inn, support the work, walk the Saint James Way, learn about others, and evangelize in this partnership. This ministry reached thousands of people from around the world through both service and proclamation of the gospel.
By the early 2010s, Sam & Tracey Schwartz sensed that the work in Porto was well-established, so they moved to Lisbon to partner with Alfredo and Rita Abreu in planting churches. It was there that they began partnering with Serve the City—a volunteer-mobilizing charity that serves the homeless, elderly, at-risk youth, and others in need. Relational bridges were built through activities such as community events, visiting the elderly, and mentoring children in public schools. As a non-profit inspired by Christ but open to everyone, Serve the City has opened the door for thousands of believers to share God’s love through serving as they work alongside unbelievers. Our workers in Portugal played vital roles in establishing Serve the City Portugal, which now operates in four major Portuguese cities, mobilizing thousands to serve many needy souls.
Because of the investments Serve the City has made in the lives of its volunteers and the marginalized, a small church was born in central Lisbon that still meets today.
A Call to Prayer and Support
Pray for Portuguese people to seek authentic Christian communities and grow interested in God’s grace and the gift of salvation.
Pray for Christians and church communities in Portugal to choose to engage society with both genuine forms of service and gospel proclamation.
Pray for a new generation of Christian leaders to rise up, live holy lives, teach God’s Word, and serve others in love.
