Marcos Amado, Teacher, Pastor, Brazil

Q. Tell us about your family.
A. Rosangela and I have been married for twenty-seven years. We have two children: Priscila is about to turn 21 and Filipe (married with Cristina) is 25.

 

Q. Give us a brief overview of your work and ministry.
A. For more than twenty years we were involved in Muslim ministry. We initially lived in North Africa and, later, in Southern Spain, where I became the international director of PM Internacional, a Latin American mission agency that trains and deploys Latino workers to different parts of the Muslim world. I am presently taking the first steps to start a missiological center in São Paulo, Brazil. I am also the mission pastor of a growing and vibrant Baptist church and Lausanne international deputy director for Latin America.

Q. What is your favorite quotation?
A. “Grant, O Lord, that in the written word, and through the spoken word, we may behold the living Word, our Saviour Jesus Christ.” – Simon H. Baynes

Q. Who has been the most influential person in your life/ministry, and why?
A. I served on the OM ship Doulos for three years. I was quite young and deeply impressed by the prayer life, passion for world missions, and solid Bible teachings of Frank Dietz (the ship's director), who I consider to be my first mentor.

Q. What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?
A. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself! Get up and get going!” It was hard to hear, but turned out to be very important in my life.

Evangelism. On Point. Q. Describe a time in which you shared your faith in Christ with someone who didn’t know him, and then saw God clearly work in that situation. A. As part of my ministry with our home church I have been leading a Bible study. Some of the attendants have come from spiritism. They had heard about Christ, but had not recognized him as Lord and Savior. It has been wonderful to see the transformation the Lord is doing through the study of his word. Their lives have turned upside down and their eagerness to know more about the Lord and his word is simply fantastic.

Q. What one issue do you believe is the greatest barrier to evangelism, and why?
A. The greatest barrier to evangelism is the influence that modern and post-modern ideas are having on Christians of all ages and in places, mainly the idea that we should avoid suffering at all costs. There is no way we will finish the task if we do not understand that our willingness to pay the price is essential to our walk as faithful followers of the Lord.

Q. What book do you most often recommend to others to read, and why?
A. As a pastor, I am always challenging people to read the Bible. Other than that, I often recommend a little book by Charles Sheldon called In His Steps, What Would Jesus Do? Although it was written several decades ago, it is still challenging and helps Christians to consider if their priorities are right in relation to what we learn from the Lord through scripture.

Q. What would you like to be doing in five years?
A. I would have finished my DMin, be very involved with the missiological center I am hoping to form in São Paulo, and be training, teaching, and challenging Brazilians and Latin Americans to get serious about the Great Commission.

Q. How can people be praying for you?
A. Right now we are in the middle of a ministry transition. I will be less involved with our local church and more engaged with the Lausanne Movement and the formation of the missiological center. This kind of transition always presents a number of challenges for the whole family. I would appreciate prayer that the Lord would give us protection, wisdom, and discernment.