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Wes & Tena Oliveira
Wesley
grew up as the third child in a family of ten children in Recife - a
northeast city in Brazil. He grew up in a Christian home where going to church
was a regular practice. It was not
until the age of 9 that he came to know the Lord as his personal Savior.
During his junior year at Pillsbury Baptist Bible College, he felt God's
call to the ministry and upon graduation he enrolled at Central Seminary from
where he received the M. Div. degree. In
1976 the Lord led him and his wife into the work of church planting in Brazil. After a challenging deputation ministry among churches from
coast to coast, they left for
Brazil in 1979.
In 1994
the Oliveiras became the only missionaries with Baptist Mid-Missions reaching
Portuguese-speaking people in the United States.
The Oliveiras are excited to be ministering to this neglected segment of
the population which is often mistaken as Hispanic. Not only do they minister to
Portuguese-speaking people but they often faced with the opportunity of
ministering to Spanish-speaking nationals.
They are excited with the expansion of their ministry and grateful to
Berean, their home church, for our faithful support during these 22 years.
Tena,
a native of Minnesota and a graduate of Pillsbury College, accepted the Lord at
the age of 12. She served as a
short-term missionary in British Colombia and Jamaica.
Teaching in Christian Day schools in Panama City, Florida, and Lynchburg,
Virginia, prepared her for what the Lord would have her do foreign mission
field. She and Wesley met in
Illinois and dated during her vacations from teaching and were married on August
7, 1971.