From An Apprentice to Communication Director: Melissa's Journey on Pais Brazil
From An Apprentice to Communication Director: Melissa's Journey on Pais Brazil
As a missions organization, the Pais Movement provides opportunities for young adults to deepen their knowledge of Scripture, to be discipled, and to disciple others. Melissa, a Brazilian missionary from São Paulo, is one of those people. Almost 8 years ago, she decided to join the Pais Movement in order to advance the Kingdom of God.
After serving a year abroad with Pais UK, Melissa returned to Brazil to serve in her home nation, where she became a team leader. Because Melissa was really good at sharing about the Pais Movement with others, she was challenged to develop new skills in the areas of communication and marketing, which led to her becoming the communication director for Pais Brazil in 2018, a position she holds to this day.
True discipleship made more sense to Melissa after she joined the Pais Movement. While serving, she had numerous opportunities to reach teenagers in schools by modeling Biblical principles and serving as a mentor.
“Understanding how Jesus made disciples opened my mind a lot. Jesus took his disciples with Him everywhere he went. The disciples were always walking, seeing, and learning from Jesus as He did things. And that’s what discipleship is about: experiences that lead to education. With the Pais Movement, I had the opportunity to live that out and put it into practice as I was being discipled by Pais Brazil and discipling students at the same time.”
Currently, the Pais Brazil teams are working hard to reach students through a project called ”Schools for Peace,” using the Pais Movement evangelism tool Because You’re Loved to teach them about generosity, love and service. So far through this project, Melissa and the Pais Brazil team have served in 52 schools, representing all of the middle and high schools in Osasco, São Paulo, Brazil!
Melissa describes Pais as an organization that transforms the lives of young people in schools:
“We do that through our apprentices. They are trained to be role models to those students and build relationships with them, being true life mentors. The Pais missionaries can then invite the young people who are learning forward to experience evangelism, Bible study, and discipleship in a way that trains them to replicate these things with other teenagers. With that, we live out the Pais tagline: missionaries making missionaries.”
If you want to apply for a free mission year with us and advance God’s Kingdom, click here to find out more!
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2021 Year-In-Review: Pais America
2021 Year-In-Review: Pais America
As the year comes to an end, we are celebrating all that God has done through our Pais nations in 2021! Read below to discover the great ministry stories from our nations in North and South America:
Pais Brazil
“In August, Pais Brazil invited Apprentices who had been unable to travel to the nation they were to serve in to join our Home Office initiative. Six of them rose to the challenge of applying a Kingdom-centric gospel in their home towns as they settled in for the 6-month wait before visas would be approved and borders would open.
They were trained in our catalytic tools on Zoom and were given a series of challenges to put into action in six different cities, thousands of kilometres from each other. Over the past 4 months, they each mobilized young people from their local churches through Because You’re Loved campaigns, gathering donations to give clothes and shoes to children living in poverty, raising money to help a child who was diagnosed with cancer, helping young people from impoverished communities write their first CVs, and cleaning and restoring spaces in the local community.
In a time of disappointment and uncertainty, when they could have given up or gone back to their previous lives, these six missionaries pursued the advancing God’s Kingdom in their own towns and cities, taking young people with them to share the gospel and to bring change.”
Pais North America
“This year we re-launched a Pais team in Vancouver, Canada. It’s been many years since we’ve had a Pais team in this part of Canada. Jess and Hiba are our Apprentices who make up the Pais team and have been serving at Highway Church. Highway is a church plant that was birthed in the middle of Covid.
Despite their limited access to the community, the Pais team has been involved in various initiatives. They were granted access into a few schools where they are teaching and mentoring students weekly. On Tuesday’s they serve in a local donation food program where they distribute food to families in the community. Through this they were able to engage with an Indigenous woman who had no church background and bridged the gap between community and faith. This resulted in the woman being integrated into the church and is now serving alongside the Pais team distributing food on Tuesday’s.
THIS is what Pais is all about.”
Do you want to support and help expand the work of these nations? Click here to donate now!
A Ministry Flourishing In An Unexpected Nation
A Ministry Flourishing In An Unexpected Nation
Celebrating 10 Years Of Pais Pakistan
Every day, Christians living in Pakistan face extreme religious persecution. New converts are oppressed by family members, communities, Islamic extremist groups and the government. Yet, even the violent persecution has not been able to stop the power of the Gospel.
On June 17 of 2011, Pais pioneered a new ministry in Pakistan. Throughout the past years, this Pais Nation has seen unexpected growth. The Pakistan National Director reflects on this journey during their 10-year anniversary:
“It has been so encouraging to see Pais Pakistan grow over the years. Through all the ups and downs, God has been faithful. Our outreach continues to get stronger, and our teams are more dedicated to the mission. We thank God for helping us make Pakistan a place of prayer, a place of healing, and above all, a place of God. We are history makers in this region.”
Pais Pakistan serves people living in poverty and disaster affected areas, provides education sponsorship for underprivileged children, and creates economic opportunities for low income communities. This Nation also empowers leaders to transform their communities through varied training initiatives.
What started out as a pioneering movement in Asia is now an influential ministerial organization. Their teams are touching hearts in more than 100 villages and major cities of Pakistan. Many churches, schools, and even non-believers are now established partners. Pais Pakistan also received several awards and gold medals due to their contribution to local communities.
For the next 10 years, the country’s National Director desires to see many more young people developing a relationship with Christ. Their goal is to give the youth opportunities to also share the love of Christ and their personal experiences with others.
A Missionary's New-Found Confidence To Impact Lives
A Missionary's New-Found Confidence To Impact Lives
Renata is one of our Pais Missionaries from Brazil who has been serving since September of 2020. She knew God had called her into ministry, yet she didn’t feel equipped with the knowledge or practical experience necessary to pursue her calling. After experiencing on-the-job training with Pais, Renata now shares about her new-found confidence to impact lives:
“I always wanted to work for the Kingdom, but I didn’t know how to start. In 2019, God ministered in my heart that I should pursue missionary training because He would open doors for me to care for people. At the time I didn’t have the financial conditions to pay for a training program.
But I soon learned about Pais, an organization of missionaries making missionaries, and their Free Mission Year. I participated in the selection process and started my Mission Year in September of 2020. Today, with the practical experience that Pais has provided me, I feel more equipped to follow my calling.
I learned how to disciple, how to mobilize Evangelistic events, and how to lead and teach Bible studies. I am so grateful to God for the opportunity to be a part of Pais, and to learn from and work with so many wise people. Wherever I go, I’ll take the tools I have learned here with me!”
As part of the Pais Mission Year, all our Missionary Apprentices receive 200 hours of lectures and over 1800 hours of on-the-job training. We offer free training because we believe it to be the most efficient way to advance the Kingdom of God. Find out more about the Pais Mission Year Options here.
For more stories and updates from Pais Brazil, follow them here!