God put a specific message on Nathan Patefield’s heart as he and his wife, Dawn, approached their 2019 furlough: challenge people about being open to missions even if they were in the middle of their career. The Patefields prayed that the Lord would use the messages to stir people toward missions. What they never expected was that God would use the message to stir them toward a different form of missions. Nathan and Dawn had served in Brazil for more than 30 years. Would they be willing to let go of a ministry they loved and a country that felt like home?

After their furlough, the Patefields returned to Brazil. They felt like Abraham following God into an unknown future. After spending a year helping a church plant reach graduation status, they returned to the US to explore that future.

Leaving Brazil was one of the hardest things Nathan and Dawn had ever done, but they were convinced God was working out something bigger than they could understand. Eventually the Lord led them to Bothell, Washington, to start a Campus Bible Fellowship ministry at the University of Washington. The location also put them close to their sending church (North Creek Baptist Church) and to Nathan’s aging parents who would eventually need their care.

God’s bigger plan began taking shape shortly after the Patefields arrived in Bothell. In the last 20 years, Bothell’s ethnic mix changed from mainly European descendants to an eclectic blend of immigrants drawn to the city’s technology-sector economy. The Patefields’ sending church pastor and his wife, Jake and Paula Schopf, eagerly told Nathan and Dawn about the new Brazilian grocery store in the area. Having Brazilians in town was an exciting development not only for the Patefields but also for Pastor Jake, a Brazil MK* who originally intended to be a Brazil missionary himself.

When Nathan and Dawn asked the store owner, Leo, if they could post a notice about a Portuguese Bible study, Leo talked with them for 45 minutes. Leo had recently come out of one of Brazil’s biggest cults. Not knowing which new church to attend, he prayed, “Lord, wouldn’t it be a lot more simple if you brought the church to me?”

Every time he prayed this, the Patefields happened to show up at his store. Shortly before Easter Sunday 2023, Leo visited North Creek Baptist Church. It was the first time he stepped into a church where he felt loved. His former cult was all about earning salvation through position and works.

Leo couldn’t keep the good news of the gospel—or word about the church that welcomed Brazilians— to himself. He gathered other former cult members and began leading them in Bible studies. It didn’t take long for Leo to realize he needed help. Their cult taught them to never read the Bible, and what they did teach was a twisted version of Scripture. Leo struggled to teach and answer everyone’s questions all by himself. Jake began one-on-one doctrinal studies to strengthen Leo’s understanding. Leo’s Brazilian friends were hungry for this knowledge too. The first time the Patefields visited Leo’s study, the Brazilians peppered them with questions until 1:30 am. Jake and the Patefields continue to teach the study.

Cautiously, the other former cult members began attending North Creek Baptist. The church’s already diverse mixture of Indians, Venezuelans, and longtime church members diversified even further with the addition of Brazilians. Eleven of the Brazilian believers were baptized on November 26, 2023.

The Brazilians searching for truth were not just in Bothell. A group that Leo knew in Sacramento was also questioning the cult’s teachings. At their request, Jake began teaching them online and in-person doctrinal classes. Their initial apprehension gave way to joyous freedom in Christ. Some of these have settled into a good, Bible preaching church near them.

The cost of leaving the cult is high, because those who leave are shunned by other cult members. In the tight-knit cult community, close family members and friends turn their backs on those who leave. The road ahead is challenging for these Brazilians as they grapple with the pain of ostracism and the difficulties of sorting out their spiritual beliefs. But through the Schopfs, Patefields and the rest of the church family, North Creek Baptist has become a safe haven, giving them God’s truth and a new sense of family and community. And Nathan and Dawn are so grateful that leaving Brazil didn’t mean leaving ministry to Brazilians.

*Jake is the son of the late BMM Brazil missionaries Jake and Izzy Schopf.