Seminary graduate Dr. Leandro Tarrataca serves as president of ABECAR in Brazil.

Dr. Leandro Tarrataca graduated from Calvary Theological Seminary with a Master of Theological Sciences in 2007 and headed home to Brazil to put his degree to work. Now he serves as president of ABECAR (Brazilian Association of Culture, Education, Service, and Religion), a ministry focused on discipling believers through various forms. Tarrataca said, “The main thing we do is making disciples; that’s our Great Commission. In order to get that task done, we have different areas in process.”

ABECAR works to fulfill the Great Commission through strategic church planting, running children’s camps throughout the year, children’s programs, and media ministry. The camp program frequently involves teams coming from American churches to host English camps. The idea for the children’s program was developed by Tarrataca’s wife, Julie; she created a plan for buses to pick up underprivilaged children, who receive meals, help with homework, and recreation time. Tarrataca said, “It’s not only social work, it’s a social program because we want them to come to Christ.” He said over 1,000 children have been through the program, and as they grow up, they are becoming “doctors and dentists and teachers” instead of turning to drugs or other destructive habits.

The media aspect of ABECAR’s ministry sprouted from Back to the Bible’s work in Brazil, and follows a similar format. In the past, Tarrataca was “the voice of Back to the Bible to the Portuguese speaking world,” and he brings that experience to his current work developing podcasts and video sermons. He loves the analytics of modern technology that gives ABECAR statistics on their viewership base that has reached over 360,000 viewers in Brazil, Japan, and throughout Europe and the Americas. The media presence also plays a critical role in the educational side of ministry. ABECAR offers long-distance education across the country, supplemented with on-campus modulars that train believers and pastors in their faith.

When Tarrataca started his own education, he said, “[I knew] that I would be engaged with some sort of media ministry… that was my crystal-clear thing that I should be doing.” The other aspects of his current work—children’s ministry, church planting, and directing ABECAR—were unexpected. As he evaluated the ways God is working in Brazil, he said, “I really think we have to answer these things, not based on feelings, but on what Scripture says… I think our aim of making disciples is a biblical command… [and] we see people coming to Christ and being baptized… [So] first, what we’re doing is biblical; second, people are coming to Christ; and third, people are growing spiritually.” Based on that, he said he fully trusts that God is working in and through the ministry in Brazil.

Pastor Chris Williams and his congregation are putting their faith to work revitalizing a local church.

Calvary University (CU) alumnus Chris Williams is excited about the new direction God is taking his congregation. Williams graduated from CU in 2003 with a Master of Science in Christian Studies, and a Master of Divinity in 2013. He is now senior pastor of Fellowship Church, Greenwood (FG), in a role he has filled for six years.

Recently, FG undertook the project of revitalizing another local church, First Baptist Church of Raymore. Williams pointed out that, “We are a recipient of another church pouring into us and investing in us when this church had died… and our dream was always to pay forward what Lenexa [Baptist Church] did for us.”

When First Baptist of Raymore approached Williams to discuss pursuing revitalization, he brought it before the church leadership and members to discuss it and pray over it. Ultimately, they felt that God was giving them the chance they had been praying for to invest in another church body.

Williams and the other leaders at FG see the hand of God at work as they prepare to send fifty of their members to the new church site. “We’re doing exactly what was done for us. We’re giving them people; giving them dollars. We’re giving them mission and vision to see that church become a vital part of its community.” Williams said that Raymore is the fastest growing city in Cass County and the third fastest in the KC Metro area, so the opportunities for engagement and impact are vast.

The body of FG voted unanimously on the proposition to delegate their time, money, and leadership to First Baptist of Raymore. Williams said FG is unified in their enthusiasm to see the Raymore campus “living for the good of that community, the glory of Christ, and the salvation of all.”

When Williams first came to CU in 1997, he was untrained. He said, “I didn’t even know what a quiet time was.” His time at CU proved formative for his spiritual growth. “It was transformative in my faith journey. I really learned and grew a desire to love God’s word and to study it in a dispensational, verse-by-verse manner, with that literal historical grammatical approach to Scripture.” Williams believes CU helped him develop his love for the Word of God and states, “It was at Calvary that I learned what a disciple was and actually became one.”

Pastor Williams is clear about his mission at Fellowship Church. “I want to help everyone who comes to the Fellowship to understand that they were created on purpose and for a great purpose.” Having received training in how to know and serve God, Williams now works to provide others with the training they need. “I want to help them discover that purpose and then give them the encouragement and the tools and the training that they need to go live in that purpose.”