Date post: | 23-Dec-2015 |
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The People
• 10.5 million people live in a country the size of Indiana
• There are 18 Districts (counties)• 3.5 million live in Lisbon the Capital• Native Portuguese, Brazilians,
Africans, Europeans and Americans and Gypsies comprise this diverse population
The Culture-Government
• Kingdom founded in 1143 by Alfonso Henriques
• 15th Century is the Portuguese Age of Discovery
• 1492 Columbus sails from Portugal to the Americas
• 1928 Portugal Monarchy falls to communist dictatorship
• 1974 Democratic freedom is visited upon Portugal
The Culture-Arts
• Fado is the popular folk music and has a blues type genre
• Fernando Pessoa is the famous poet laureate who created a series of alter egos and published under each one
• The Lisboa Cristo Rie was built facing the Brazilian one to thank Deus for keeping Portugal out of WWII
Culture-Food
• Food is what brings the Portuguese together
• Pastelle De nata is a favorite local pastry
• As a seafaring cultural, Cod and Sardines are a must eat to be considered Portuguese
Culture-Religion
• Predominately Roman catholic (78%). Most are marginally faithful
• Portuguese Romanists are superstitious and are adherents to Fatima and Mariology
• Evangelicals are associated with the cults like Mormonism and Jehovah Witnesses (1%)
• The Health and Wealth message has been popular as this poor country is being invaded by western materialism
Our Particular Mission
• To handle the church services• To provide computer education to
draw young people to the church• To encourage and refresh the
Arabis family and other believers• To establish a marriage seminar
program
Evangelizacao
• There are about 6,000 known evangelical believers in ALL of Portugal
• The Baptist Seminary has an evangelical website that has reached 10,000 people in the past year
• 2,000 confessions of faith have been made through this website
Evangelization
• There are less than 20 evangelical churches in Portugal with an average attendance of 25
• There are 250 communities with no evangelical witness
• There are 8-10 seminary graduates each year with no church to support them
Evangelization
• Portuguese are hesitant at first, but are open to the gospel
• Free Education in Computers and Music open many doors to the gospel
• Adult Day care is highly favored by the local community
• The small army of Portuguese Christians are overwhelmed by the 2000 responses
Evangelization
• The government requires that religion be taught to each child in the public school system
• Each school age child is given a laptop computer by the state with the assistance of Microsoft
• Portuguese want to learn English making ESL a popular inroad for mission work
Evangelization
• Do you perceive a problem?• Is the Holy Spirit directing you to find
out more?• See me for a detailed brochure and
invite me to coffee to discuss solutions• Thank you for your prayers and financial
support. Obrigado!• Visit
www.mrpcamissiontoportugal.weebly.com