OUR HISTORY
The Serviço de Evangelização e Assistencial de Restauração Ágape (Service of Evangelization and Assistencial of Restoration Agape), whose acronym is SEARA, was established to give juridical support to the project of implanting churches and thus, has been characterized as one of the only entities of the Brethren in Brazil with this emphasis: church planting and work consolidation by means of a missionary team.
In order to consolidate this process of church planting, and especially by means of education, in 1995, SEARA acquired a piece of land 2,000 m2 (1.24 square mile) on Mirassol Street, on the corner with Jardim do Eden Street, in the Planalto district, Natal, RN, to build a structure for a child education fundamental school and, besides, to serve as missionary headquarters for SEARA, where also a Bible Institute as well as some social projects shall take place.
In 1997, through Dr. Ronaldo de Oliveira Teixeira and engineer Marcílio Dantas, we reached architect Anete Vale de Almeida, from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, who elaborated and donated a beautiful project that contemplated the rooms of the structure mentioned. With this project in hands, we initiated by faith its building, doing its fundament and bringing up the three classrooms and bathrooms walls.
In 2004, we did the fundament for the remaining rooms with all their walls, and in May 2008 we built the ceiling to all of it. The Missionary Headquarters building is in its roof, electrical installation and finishing phase. For such, we`re waiting for supplies.
As a missionary headquarters, this building which is still under construction (which is already ten years old), will include:
1) TheMcNair Bible School – mail courses to reach people and cities in the Northeast states, with the goal of long distance evangelization and having its students saved by the Lord and as key people to start new churches;
2) The McNair Bible Institute – three-year course to prepare those who the Lord has called apart for His Work to meet the needs of the Sertanejo towns in the Northeast. As an early stage of this project, SEARA has already been offering since 2007 the FORPEL – Formação Permanente de Líderes (Permanent Formation of Leaders), that consists of an extension training with monthly classroom classes. The students are brothers and sisters from several churches that were established during these past 16 years.
3)Training of Evangelistic Impacts through the PROMINEs – Projeto Missionário do Nordeste (Northeast Missionary Project) which focus on the formation of young and adult teams;
4) Bible Conferences and social projects to give support to the neighborhood inhabitants;
5) Communitarian Music School, since 2004, to reach children, teenagers and youngsters in risk situation who live in the Planalto needy neighborhood.
- IV. CHURCH PLANTING PROJECT
Beginning in May 1994, with Celso Luiz Castro and family.
We initiated our investment through the Sertão area, in the Santo Antônio da Cobra village, in the municipality of Parelhas, 242 km (150 miles) from Natal. It`s a community with 1,000 people, where we worked for 4 years. Due to lack of financial support to purchase a building to serve as a House of Prayer, we stopped going there in January 1998.
In July 1994, we began to visit Vila, on the Santana mountain, that in 1996 emancipated politically receiving thus the name of Tenente Laurentino Cruz, 238km (147.88 miles) away from Natal, where there were no Christian churches. On April 16, 2000, we inaugurated the first House of Prayer in the Sertão. We must mention the untiring dedication of brother Edmilson de Oliveira in building this House of Prayer, as he was then still a new convert. At that time, the local congregation received as missionaries, at the beginning of their ministry, brother Joneri Gonçalves and sister Soeli da Luz Lima,husband and wife, who were recommended to the Lord`s work in October 1999 by the Planalto Evangelical Church, responsible for the church planting project.
In January 1995 we started another challenge, this time in a town called Cruzeta, 230 km (142.91 miles) away from Natal, time when we acquired a house at the COHAB (government supported housing). Eight months after its beginning we passed the responsibility of the work to the married couple missionaries Juber and Carmelita Pinto, who took on the responsibility for it. These missionaries being connected to the Church of God em S, Torquato, Vila Velha, ES, such work in Cruzeta was disconnected from the SEARA ministry. Today there`s a growing church there.
In May 1996 we started to visit a town called Riachuelo, at the entrance of the Potiguar (= belonging to the RN state) Sertão (Northeast characteristic backland), 76 km (47.22) miles away from Natal, having as key person in town sister Maria Nilva, who had just been born in Jesus, who was just returning from Ribeirão Preto, SP, to her home town Riachuelo. In 2004, we were able to purchase a piece of land and start building a House of Prayer.
In May 1996 through sister Maria Nilva we began contact with some of he relatives in a town called Extremoz, in bigger Natal. In the beginning we had the collaboration of married couple missionaries Fábio Rodrigues and Maria Elizabete Coutinho, who shortly afterwards returned to live in Campinas, SP. We continued this work by gathering with the children there and teaching them the Bible for five years under a big mango tree in the needy neighborhood called Parque das Flores. In 2001 we acquired a piece of land next to this mango tree, where in 2002 we built a House of Prayer. Its inauguration happened with the accomplishment of the first PROMINE. Since then this new congregation of the Planalto church has been assisted by married couple missionaries Luciano Borges and Glaucia Camargo, who came from the Christian churches in Lages de Paracambi, RJ and Olaria, RJ, to integrate the SEARA team.
In July 1999 we started a church in a town called Santa Maria, 61 km (37.90 miles) away from Natal and 15 km (9.32 miles) from Riachuelo. The beginning of this church was different from the others because we started it through a missionary project in July 1999 with the support of JUVEP (Juventude Evangélica Paraibana – Praibana (from the Paraíba state) Evangelical Youth). During this project 108 people came to Jesus, but only 8 remained faithful, some of which were taken away by a Pentecostal church. Today we have a growing church there. In January 2000 the Christian church in Planalto sent the missionary couple Eliel Sola e Heliane Dantas de Oliveira to give pastoral care to this new work. In 2007 we acquired a piece of land there and in 2009 we built a House of Prayer, inaugurated on September 26, 2009. During all these years, this congregation has gathered in 4 different places until they could have their own temple.
In 2004 we began evangelization in a town called Jucurutu, 280 km (174 miles) from Natal and 40 km (25 miles) from Tenente Laurentino Cruz. In 2006 we acquired a land with a humble house in it, in front of Aloísio Alves Park, in Freitas neighborhood.
In 2004, the Christian church in Cidade Praia neighborhood (Natal) and the ministry in the town Ceará Mirim became part of the SEARA ministry, becoming thus a congregation of the Evangelical Church in Planalto. The ministry in Ceará Mirim was inactive at that time.
In 2005 we remodeled the House of Prayer in Ceará Mirim and made it adequate adding rooms for Sunday school classes and bathrooms. During January 9-23, 2006 we had the III PROMINE there to reactivate this work through this evangelistic impact project.
The SEARA team started to group up in 1995 with sister Lieselotte Hundt. In 1996 Sívio and Andrea Agostinho, and Fábio R. and Maria Elizabete Coutinho came to join the team for a short period of time, returning then to their home town.
In 1999 the church at Planalto recognized and recommended brethren Joneri and Soeli Lima, and Eliel Sola and Heliane Dantas de Oliveira. Still, with the arrival of Luís Vicente Fávero César, the team grew. In 2002, the missionary couple Luciano Borges e Glaucia Camargo arrived, and as Luis and Lillian got married the SEARA continued to grow. Luís and Lillian returned to Juiz de Fora in December 2008, leaving thus the SEARA team.
THE PRESENT SEARA TEAM IS COMPOSED BY:
1) Celso Luiz and Josiane D. H. Castro (Children: Filipe and André) – Founders of SEARA
2) Lieselotte Hundt
3) Joneri and Soeli Lima (Children: Joneri Jr.and Jean Ricardo)
4) Eliel and Heliane de Oliveira (Children : Sofia and Heitor)
5) Luciano Borges and Gláucia Camargo (Children: Davi and Paulo)
Offers and contributions for the missionary work developed by SEARA should be made only to the SEARA bank accounts:
BANCO DO BRASIL: Agency 3293-X; Account: 11.385-9
BANCO BRADESCO: Agency 2134- 2; Account: 019261-9
BOARD:
Celso Luiz Castro – President
Joneri G. Lima – Vice President
Eliel Sola de Oliveira – Secretary
Lieselotte Hundt – 2º Secretary
Luciano Borges Camargo – Treasurer
Francisco Henrique da Silva – 2nd Treasurer
