When I wrote about the history of the Calvary Chapel movement, I felt there was still an important part of that story left untold.
The story of how Calvary came to Brazil, but also the story of how God placed me in the middle of it.
Because one thing is studying the history of a movement. Another thing is looking back and realizing you were there, that you saw some things happen up close and, in some way, God allowed your own story to become intertwined with what He was doing.
So I want to share a bit of my experience.
Not as someone who has all the answers, nor as someone who wants to romanticize the past. I just want to tell it as someone who looks back and thinks:
Man, God’s good hand was on that people.
When it all began
Calvary Chapel arrived in Brazil in the year 2000, through Tim and Talisa Rogers. They were on their way to Africa, but, by God’s providence, they ended up in Brazil and stayed here.
At that time I was 17 years old.
I had become a believer less than two years earlier, in a fairly radical way, after the death of a very dear friend. My life had changed completely. I was discovering Jesus, the Bible, the church and, little by little, a huge desire to serve the Lord.
I was part of a Baptist church that was extremely important in my formation. That church welcomed me, my pastor Marcos played a huge role in my walk, and to this day we are friends.
It was during that period that I took my first missionary trip.
We went to Foz do Iguaçu.
I had no idea that years later that city would become my home and the place where I would plant my first church as a Calvary pastor.
God already knew.
I didn’t.
The golden years
When I think of the first years of Calvary Chapel in Brazil, I like to call that period our "golden years."
Not because everything was perfect. It wasn’t.
But something was happening.
There was an enthusiasm that was hard to explain.
Mission teams from Corvallis, Oregon, and also from California began to arrive. They were groups of young people, families, and missionaries who came to serve, evangelize, help the churches, and simply be with the Brazilians.
One of those teams went to the Baptist church where I was a member.
It was there that I first heard a couple singing in English.
I remember them singing "Lord, I Want You" and "Shout to the Lord."
It may seem like a small thing, but for me it was very striking.
It was as if I were discovering a new world.
In that first year, my pastor Marcos was invited to help with the paperwork and the leadership of the new church. He accepted with great affection.
And that’s how new friendships began to appear.
At some point my pastor came to me and said:
Kaká, you have a heart for Jesus and for missions. I think it would be amazing for you to be with this people, learn English, and be a local guide for them.
I liked the idea a lot.
But I needed a push.
God provided.
The Miami Hotel in São Vicente
The teams were lodged near Gáudio, at the Miami Hotel, which at that time was one of the few options available.
From there they started spreading throughout the city.
Squares.
Schools.
Beaches.
Communities.
Wherever an opportunity appeared, they went.
One day a team went to evangelize at a school on the corner of my house.
I spent the day with them.
It was amazing.
I ended up talking for a long time with a Brazilian who was part of JOCUM. I had just returned from a trip with JOCUM, so we had a lot to talk about.
At the end of that day he invited me to go to the so‑called Miami Hotel.
I accepted.
It was there that I was able to talk more with Tim and the other members of the team.
After that day I began doing everything I could to stay close to them.
I wanted to learn.
I wanted to serve.
I wanted to understand what was happening.
And, without realizing it, God was beginning to place me inside that story.
It felt like a revival
Looking back today, some of those scenes look like revival stories.
I saw crowds hearing the gospel.
I saw people responding to Jesus in squares, on beaches, in schools, in poor communities and practically anywhere those people went.
Some places were closed to churches and, for some reason, they ended up opening their doors to those Americans.
God was opening doors.
And there was a great favor.
The church began to grow in an impressive way.
There were conversions.
People were coming.
People were being baptized and discipled.
Leaders were being raised.
And some of those first converts would later become pastors and leaders of Calvary in different parts of Brazil.
I was watching it happen.
And I was only 17, 18 years old.
I remember seeing an article in the Vicenza newspaper about the phenomenon of American youth coming to the first city of Brazil. Some images of the first beach baptisms were part of the article.
Even today, when I see those newspaper photos from that time, they move me in a very deep way.
Because I was there.
What I learned in those years
Those years were fundamental for my formation.
It was at Calvary that I first saw a church teaching whole books of the Bible expositorily.
It was there that I began to understand that the Bible didn’t have to be used only as a text to support an idea the preacher already had. The Word itself could drive the message.
It was also there that I began to realize that worship didn’t have to "force the issue."
It wasn’t necessary to create an artificial atmosphere to convince people that God was present.
God was present.
Jesus was sufficient.
The Word was sufficient.
It was also there that I heard the well‑known story that Calvary could be like an "Adullam Cave."
There was a place for me.
A place where broken, unlikely, and still‑in‑process people could come, find grace, be cared for, and then go out to what God had prepared.
I identified with that a lot.
I felt at home.
I also remember the first months of my conversion, when I started walking with some young people who would later become pastors.
The youth aspect of Calvary was always something surreal. Pastor Chuck Smith was a great enthusiast of the youth. He believed in what God could do through that generation.
Some of those young people started before me.
I still didn’t know exactly what God would do with me.
But I was there at the beginning of their walk.
I saw people being formed.
I saw people learning to serve.
I saw people persevering.
I saw what it means to plant a church.
And I began to understand that ministry was not a stage.
It was service.
It was life.
It was perseverance.
A generation being raised
It was also during that time that I began to see Calvary spreading to other places.
Rio de Janeiro.
Curitiba.
Campo Mourão.
Foz do Iguaçu.
And other locations.
It was very beautiful to see God raising people.
There was a huge enthusiasm when a new church was born.
There wasn’t that feeling of "this is my church."
The joy was seeing the Kingdom advancing.
I was gaining experience and, slowly, the idea of someday becoming a missionary pastor was maturing.
Then came the School of Ministry.
And I am deeply grateful for that period.
It was a surreal year.
There we began to see a first generation of Brazilians being trained to pastor, serve, and help the new churches that were emerging.
Many of those students became great friends.
And many continue serving the Lord to this day.
For me, the School of Ministry was much more than a school.
It was part of forming a generation.
The call to the nations
After the School of Ministry, I was sent to Rio de Janeiro to study English and receive cultural orientation, preparing me for one day to serve among the nations.
At the same time, my friend Alexandre was taking over the pastorship of Calvary Rio.
I was able to serve at the church on weekends.
It was an especially special time.
I was still trying to understand what God wanted to do with me, but one thing was becoming clearer and clearer.
I wanted to serve.
I wanted to plant.
I wanted to go.
I wanted to see people coming to know Jesus.
And God was still writing the story.
I just didn’t know that one of the next pages would be in Foz do Iguaçu.