Strategy for Bud and Pam McCord

1. Make Brazil “Home base” for Bud and Pam.

Believing Brazil’s churches will be critical to God’s purposes to evangelize the entire world, by God’s grace and provision, Bud and Pam McCord have returned permanently to Brazil to join God in the spiritual formation of abiding believers and abiding churches from Brazil.

Though Brazil is “home base”, the vision of Abide Brazil is not limited to Brazil. Brazil will be home for what is becoming an international ministry for spiritual life and formation.

2. Seek the health and fruitfulness of our Brazilian local church.

Believing every Christian should always be a part of a local body of believers, Bud and Pam will become a part of the pastoral leadership team of the First Baptist Church of Sao Jose dos Campos which is one of Brazil’s most dynamic and influential churches. Bud has been invited by Senior Pastor Carlito Paes to become their first pastor of Spiritual Formation to this congregation of over 2600 members. This church will be the living “laboratory” to develop leaders, materials and to impact and plant other churches across Brazil.

Leila Paes, Pastor Carlito’s wife and director of discipleship for the church, has already joined Bud and Pam to help develop ABIDE BRAZIL into a ministry that is being first embraced by the First Baptist Church of Sao Jose dos Campos so that it will be embraced by the other churches of Sao Jose and Brazil’s churches nationwide.

3. Seek the health and fruitfulness of other area churches

Through the ABIDE-BRAZIL ministry office in Sao Jose dos Campos and the Abide Training Center in Campos do Jordão, Bud and the ministry team will develop leadership training and support to all area pastors and church leadership teams. Materials developed in cooperation with the First Baptist Church of Sao Jose will be adapted to serve the needs of all Brazilian churches.

4. Seek the health and fruitfulness of Brazil’s churches.

Through leadership retreats, conferences, radio and literature encourage church health and fruitfulness across Brazil. The First Baptist Church of Sao Jose annually hosts multiple conferences for Brazilian church leaders. At one such conference in September of 2004 over 3000 delegates from across Brazil attended. ABIDE BRAZIL participated and is already being asked to develop discipleship and spiritual formation teams in other churches.

5. Seek the health and fruitfulness of "Sister churches".

A “sister church” program linking American congregations with Brazilian congregations is already underway. The International Bible Baptist Church of Miami, Florida is already sending teams to support and learn with the First Baptist Church of Sao Jose dos Campos. The Brazilian church leaders are leading their members to come to visit and support their American sister church as well. Bud and Pam will work to link likeminded churches and pastors for long-term relationship.

6. Seek to bless local churches worldwide.

A new local church campaign called The Satisfying Life has been developed in English, Portuguese and Spanish and will be available in 2008. Other languages will be added every year. This eight week local church campaign focused on John 15 is designed to allow local churches to sustain a dialog about Christ’s perfect life within every believer. The small group dvd series and study booklet can also be used to disciple believers into the abiding life.