The Why
We are excited to introduce to you the mission God has called us to in Brazil. Our aim is provide a space for pastors and missionaries to refresh and renew as they work to continue on in their ministry with a restored focus found through a period of rest listening to God enveloped by His nature. The retreat center is located near Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil in the region of Nova Russia next to the Parque Nacional da Serra do Itajaí.
The retreat center is organized in Brazil as Associacao Agua Viva de Blumenau. It is supported through the US not for profit the Smoldering Wick Foundation. We created this after I (Calvin) was a beneficiary of a similar mission as Agua Viva in the USA. I had a time in my life where God was molding me through difficulties and setbacks. During that time I had the blessing of attending a retreat center that specializes in providing care and space for individuals to purposely disconnect from the world to connect with God. This gave me the time and space to pray and deeply work through any struggles and difficult moments with God.
This is the why of our mission. We started our ministry as a means to provide a restful place in nature specifically for those doing God’s work and also the average Christian man or woman to spend time with God without the normal disruptions of life in the city. Over the last several years, we have been working through not just acquiring a property for this purpose but also building out the space to meet this. The country of Brazil is known for its natural beauty. We found a property bordering a national park that has streams from natural springs. The property has mountain trails, lakes with fish, and most importantly is secluded from the worries of the world. This is only the first part of why we felt God’s call here.
The Need
The second part is because of the great need here. Christianity in Brazil has been set ablaze over the last several decades. A recent study by the University of Sao Paulo showed the evangelical church in Brazil has grown 550% over the last 20 years. From 7,000 churches in 1990 to nearly 110,000 churches in 2019 with nearly 17 churches being opened every day.
This is where this retreat center hopes to be the light to the Brazilian church and especially their leaders. By providing a place of retreat, refreshment, renewal and reorientation to the gospel, our hope is God speaks to those who come to further strengthen his kingdom here in Brazil.
Our call here is to be a place where those church leaders, those smoldering wicks that are spoken of in Isaiah and Matthew won’t be snuffed out, but can be fueled. Brazil doesn’t have the decades of church infrastructure like that of the United States. The resources that church leaders have in the United States are tremendous. There are numerous retreat centers in the United States that dedicated to church leaders.
Church leaders here in Brazil do not have these resources. The church has grown tremendously, but the resources to church leaders haven’t followed as quickly. God’s call for us at this place is to have the greatest impact to those leading their churches by simply providing a place for them to separate and listen to God’s continued call for their ministries.
While our heart’s desire is to cater to pastors, missionaries, and church leaders, we also hope to, at different times, host church retreats and church groups as well as laymen. We would love to have a library of gospel-centered books and a staff to provide meals and housekeeping, thus providing an all-inclusive experience which is really needed given the isolation of the retreat center.
As is evident throughout the Bible and as Jesus exemplified, we need time away to be able to listen to God’s voice and here is continued call. The need that this retreat center hopes to fill is providing this space for those in ministry.
The How to Help
We ask that you pray for our family, for Retiro Agua Viva and all the people that will hear God’s voice, whether in their own quiet time of reflection or in community with others here. Our call to you is to consider helping God’s mission here. That can be done through donating to the retreat center through the donate link or the QR code below.
You can also help God’s mission here through spreading the word. Talk with your churches, your missions organizations or maybe God is even calling you to such a retreat. Reach out using the form below. We would love to hear from you on how this center could partner with your organization.
“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;”
“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”
“After he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray”
“Rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. ”
“He would withdraw to desolate places and pray”
“For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”