American Presbyterians in Brazil

148 Years (and counting) of Missionary Involvement

www.APIB.org

Tim served as a Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. missionary in Brazil in camp ministries, evangelism and new church development in central Brazil and southern Brazil from 1977-1984, and in education from 1984-1998, having helped develop several mission training programs. In 1978, Tim married Marta, a Brazilian Christian composer whose songs are widely sung in churches and youth groups throughout Brazil. He was co-founder, Academic Director, Dean, and Professor at the Protestant Mission Center, five hours north of Rio de Janeiro between 1984 and 1992. This Center was the first institution in South America to offer long term training for mission service. Today, approximately 20 such programs exist in seminaries and mission training centers throughout the country. Through the influence of these programs the number of cross-cultural Brazilian Protestant missionaries has grown from about 300 in 1984 to over 2,000 today. Many of these have taken Tim’s and Marta’s courses. From 1993 to 1998 Tim was Professor of Mission and Evangelism at the Presbyterian Seminary of the South in the Bachelor of Theology and Master in Missiology programs. From 1997 to 1998 he also served as Chairman of the Department of Pastoral Theology (with master degree programs in Christian Education, Missiology, and Christian Counseling) at Mackenzie University, a Presbyterian university in São Paulo. Currently Tim is Visiting Professor at these same three schools and at the South American Theological Seminary.

Tim’s interests are especially focused on the Biblical foundations for mission and the contributions of the social sciences to the development of local contextual theologies and to cross-cultural communication. He is the author of four books and 60 articles, the editor of seven volumes and translation coordinator of two books, all in Portuguese. Marta has focused on the contributions of linguistics for second language acquisition. Since 1984 Tim has taught 8 to 10 courses a year, spoken in numerous local church, denominational and national conferences and developed missiological texts. He was the founding President of the Association of Mission Professors in Brazil and serves as a consultant for the Board of the Association of Cross-Cultural Missions in Brazil and other denominational and non-denominational mission boards in Brazil.

The Carriker's have several wonderful websites that are worth visiting. They are in both English and Portugues. The external links are listed below:

http://www.carriker.org

http://www.missional.info

http://www.carriker.info  (in Portuguese)

http://www.missao.info (In Portuguese)

Student evangelists and nurses from the Missionary Training Center enjoy a lighter moment in the Carrikers' home in Florianópolis (2002 June).	The Reverend Jonas Furtado (left), director of the Missionary Training Center in Florianópolis, has become a father figure for students like Clevis.	Marta shares the story of Jesus at a local hospital for HIV positive patients in Florianópolis.	Marta (in pink blouse) and students at the Missionary Training Center in Florianópolis.
Local Guarani Indian children tell stories through song and dance about the oppression that threatens their existence just outside Florianópolis.	Children of a river community along the Amazon River.	A young Brazilian Presbyterian doctor who works among the neglected river communities, Manaus, Amazon.	The first graduating class of the Missionary Training Center in Florianópolis, December 2000. These students work in lay ministries, evangelism, nursing, women's groups, and social ministries among HIV positive and chemically dependent persons.
Marta's Sunday school students at our local church in Florianópolis, June 2001.	Rev. Luis Sabanay of the Independent Presbyterian Church.	A local Amazonian river community chieftain who originally barred entrance to his community. He later changed his mind, after a team prayed for his wife.	Three team members (left) of Shiloh Ministries to the chemically dependent. Nídia, lovingly known as "Bugra," the first woman on the left, a member of the Carrikers' local church, began this ministry nearly 20 years ago among hippies and the drug culture of this popular tourist city in Florianópolis, in southern Brazil. Érica (second from left) was among the first graduates at the Missionary Training Center, December 2001.

From September 1998 to August 1999, Tim served in Western Pennsylvania as Director of World Mission Initiative and Mission Coordinator of the New Wilmington Missionary Conference, two programs in cooperation with the Worldwide Ministries Division of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Both groups pursue the common task of promoting enthusiasm for the gospel of Jesus Christ and developing a mission vision among Presbyterians.

Currently Tim works with the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil as a mission research and writer of mission resource materials for the church and for the training of Latin American candidates for mission service.

  Education:

1975, B.A. in Religion at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte

1978, M.Div. at Gordon‑Conwell Theological Seminary

1987, Th.M. in Missiology at the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary

1994, Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies at the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary

Marta was born and raised in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.  She grew up in a Christian home and met Tim in 1977, when he came to town to learn Portuguese.  They were married a year later.  Their three children are Jennifer, Tim and Sarah.

Marta’s ministry has been through the home, teaching Sunday School, singing with numerous singing groups, teaching women, leading prayer meetings and Bible studies.  One of her gifts is in the area of languages and she has used that to edit and translate and write materials for publication.  She also taught Linguistics and Language Learning for Missionaries at several mission training centers in Brazil.

      In the United States she was involved with Hollywood Urban Project in California, helping start English lessons for Spanish speaking mothers in 1993.  Recently she was involved in ministry to the elderly at Mount Lebanon United Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh.

      Currently, Marta is assigned to the Mission Training Center in Florianópolis as Professor of Linguistics and Language Learning, Missionary Anthropology, English, and Portuguese.

  Marta’s Education:

1998, Masters in applied Linguistics at Universidade Estadual de Campinas

1982, B.A. in English at Virginia Commonwealth University

      1987-88, 1993 Graduate studies in Language Acquisition and Cultural Anthropology and Teaching Assistant in Language Acquisition,

 Fuller Theological Seminary School of World Mission

For more information about the ministry of Tim and Marta Carriker please visit their homepage at PCUSA: http://www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/profiles/carrikert.htm

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