BEAM Missions Foundations announces two new Schools of Missions: The Brazil School of Missions (BraSOM) and West Coast School of Missions (WCSM).
BraSOM held its first official session this February in São Paulo! We have a diverse group of trainers and students with backgrounds in engineering, administration, education, law, literature, library science, graphic decision, music, and more. We are especially thrilled that nine of our eleven trainees are under the age of 33. This is a major victory for our brothers and sisters in Brazil, since there are currently only two people in their 20s serving full-time on staff in our Brazilian congregations. We want and need many more!
Our vision is that BraSOM will become a pipeline for spiritual future leaders throughout Brazil, the rest of the Portuguese-speaking world, and beyond. Our dream is to raise up, train, and send out leaders who can build thriving churches and training ministries in every Brazilian city with more than one million people and healthy discipleship groups within walking distance of every Brazilian. Brazil is a large and diverse country with a population of 215 million—about two thirds the population of the United States—most of which is unreached. There are currently 19 metropolitan areas in Brazil with over one million residents and no ICOC congregation. In addition, many of our congregations have no full-time staff leadership. Since BraSOM’s first meeting, we have focused on training our students to be intentional and impactful communicators and effective converters with godly time management skills and visionary faith. We have continually been impressed by our students’ willingness to sacrifice, learn, and go to new neighborhoods and even new cities. We are thrilled by the increased financial and relational support for our efforts to raise up many more Brazilians to meet the incredible challenge of winning Brazil for Christ in the years to come!
We are excited to announce the beginning of the West Coast School of Missions (WCSM) this February in Orange County, California! The WCSM “freshman” class has fifty-three students from Orange County, San Diego, and Phoenix—our largest school to date! WCSOM’s first session included two full days of classes and fellowship. After an opening lesson from Steve Stevenson on knowing our why, Dr. John Oakes taught a class on New Testament Survey and Kene Izuchukwu and Robert Carrillo both taught classes on Spiritual Formation, emphasizing the need for patience with others—and ourselves—on the different stages of our spiritual journey.
Nothing is more important than training the next generation of leaders. Our WCSM trainers and our students alike are extremely excited to take what they learn back to their home ministries and all over the world. Our congregations in the southwestern United States support church plantings and missions’ efforts both locally and across several continents, and we cannot wait to see how God will work through future WCSM graduates!
