Missionary Information

Brazil, the world’s fifth largest nation in area, covers nearly 50% of South America and contains one-half of the continent’s population. It is the only South American nation to derive its culture and language from Portugal. Manaus is in the center of the world’s largest forest that scientists call the “lungs of the world” by its contribution of oxygen it gives the atmosphere. Over a third of Brazil is drained by the Amazon and its more than 200 tributaries. The UPC of Brazil began in 1956 under the leadership of Samuel Baker. Under Superintendent DeMerchant, the UPCB now has 1,000 churches and preaching points, 852 licensed ministers, and about 67,700 constituents organized in four regions and 20 districts. In March 2002 the UPC of Brazil, with its own Faith Promise and Partners In Missions programs, sent the Cezar Moraes family from its shores to Mozambique, Africa, to help in training. Under the Regional Missions Program, Brazil plans to reach other Portuguese nations: Angola, Azores, Assunção, Cabo Verde, Guiné-Bissaú, São Tomé and Príncipe, Macaú, and East Timor.

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Bio: A former captain in the U.S. Air Force, Chris Weber felt God’s call to preach the gospel and began his ministry in Lompoc, California. God’s call led him to take a leave of absence from being an electrical engineer and travel to Brazil with his family in 1995 under the AIM program. At the 1998 General Conference, Chris Weber and his wife, Michelle, a schoolteacher and professional accountant, were appointed as intermediate missionaries. After language school, the Webers remained in São Paulo to begin reaching that state of almost 40 million inhabitants. They conducted pastor seminars, evangelism crusades, and music training, and initiated Sunday school programs. The churches under their influence experienced 100% growth. The Webers now pastor the central church in Curitiba and are active in ministerial training.