Paulo can list 16 BMM missionaries whose influence brought him and his fellow Brazilians to where they are today. They were missionaries such as Charles and Martha Hocking, who showed an evangelistic film that Paulo watched as a 14-year-old. As Charles preached from the top of his van during that street meeting, Paulo placed his name in John 3:16: “For God so loved Paulo….” Martha had the privilege of leading him to Christ that night.
Later, Paulo attended a camp where missionary Billy Griffin was preaching. It was where Paulo told God that if He wanted him in ministry, he was willing. Paulo grew in his walk with the Lord through his missionary pastor, Bud Taylor. Along with his fellow Brazilians, Paulo grieved at Bud’s death in 1984. Billy Griffin’s words at the funeral have never left Paulo: “Someone has to take his place.”
Paulo was ready to carry on the missionaries’ work. He graduated from the BMM seminary in Curitiba in southern Brazil. Today, Paulo and his wife Eunice are in the pastorate of the First Regular Baptist Church in Curitiba, founded by missionaries Neal and Alice Smith.
Missionary influence has indelibly imprinted on Paulo the passion to see Brazilians take up the missionary mantle. In 2000, Paulo helped found and now serves as president of the Fundamental Brazilian Baptist Mission (FBBM). This agency has sent 16 missionaries to areas within Brazil and to Mozambique. In 2006, Joel and Joanie Troester became the first BMM missionaries to partner with FBBM missionaries in Mozambique.
Paulo is delighted to help his own people build on the work that missionaries started and to expand it around the world.