The desire and passion to pastor missionaries defines Jenuan Lira’s purpose in ministry. He is one of the newly appointed national coordinators of Overseas Instruction in Counseling (OIC) in Brazil. Jenuan and his wife of 30 years, Aline, have a long line of missionary veterans in their extended families. Having been born into a missions-loving family, Jenuan’s love for missionaries was influenced and nurtured from his youthful age. After pastoring a local church in his hometown for 29 years, he helped found the ministry Brazilian Missions, now Maranata Multicultural Ministries.
The Lord blessed the mission organization, as they experienced a rapid growth in the years following its founding. Missionaries were being recruited and sent out to the field at a remarkable rate. However, Jenuan began to observe a major problem that seemed to be generally viewed as inconsequential or to be met with dismissal. He realized that once missionaries arrived and continued to serve on the field, there seemed to be very limited encouragement offered to help them remain on the mission field. Jenuan pondered and realized, “We are so diligent to recruit, but we are not being so diligent to help missionaries remain on the field.”
Over the years, he observed that missionaries experienced different kinds of problems on the field that included, but are not limited to, insufficient material or financial support. He observed that many are the troubles that missionaries encounter, whether in their mission engagements or in their personal lives, that require biblical counseling. These problems often require trained counselors who are able to come alongside them in the various difficult conditions.
At the same time, Jenuan observed the deficiency in raising up biblical counselors as missionaries, which is a glaring gap in missions, not just in Brazil but in Christian missions at large. The glaring gap in missions instigated in him the passion to be a pastor to missionaries in Brazil, and wherever the Lord leads. Jenuan was convinced beyond doubt that “we need more laborers, so we cannot afford to lose those we already have.”
Jenuan’s first exposure to biblical counseling was in 1987 while he was still in bible school. He loved the fact that the Bible is sufficient to solve the human problem, rooted in the heart. He would later receive a Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling (MABC) from the Master’s Seminary. As time passed, his passion for biblical counseling and missions continued to grow. He came to recognize that mission organizations need to be sending competent counselors to the mission field in order to address the gap in missions. However, the biblical counseling organizations he was aware of, at that time, did not have a vision beyond organizing biblical counseling conferences in a region of Brazil that is not easily accessible to many.
As the Lord would have it, about a year ago a longtime friend of Jenuan, Robert Naves (now a co-OIC Brazilian coordinator), introduced him to OIC. Jenuan found OIC’s vision and mission—to train trainers in biblical counseling in all parts of the globe—not only intriguing but most efficient, as the ministry walks individuals through modular courses that effectively shape believers into competent counselors. Jenuan shared that Roberto, who knew his passion for biblical counseling and missions, encouraged him to see OIC’s ministry as a unique opportunity to leverage both passions. Therefore, Jenuan wasted no time committing to joining OIC’s ministry for that very purpose about a year ago.
Jenuan shared his excitement that since he became a part of OIC’s family, he has discovered more and more the richness and value of OIC’s ministry method—commitment to targeting church leaders in the effort to propagate biblical counseling. Jenuan finds this approach to be effective and rewarding both short- and long-term.
In addition, he appreciates the fact that OIC takes its training to the doorsteps of individuals around the world. He shared that he was invited to teach OIC’s Church Leadership Training (CLT) Module 1 to a large group of pastors in a seminary in Manaus, the capital city of the Amazonian State. After the training, Jenuan was astounded by the response of immense gratitude he received from several pastors who attended the training. They testified to the invaluable and extremely practical truths they were exposed to during the training. To the glory of God, many of them informed him that they had started applying this training and reproducing what they had learned in their various local churches. Jenuan added that two particular pastors had been longing to attend a biblical counseling conference organized by another organization. However, they were discouraged and could not attend the conference because of the financial expense as well as the inaccessibility of the location. So, they were extremely thankful that Jenuan brought the OIC training to their doorstep.
For Jenuan, these experiences of success reinforce the need for biblical counseling training to be transported to the mission field. Missionary biblical counselors are urgently needed because missionaries are engaging cultures of broken people, who need the gospel and also to be taught how to think about their problems from the biblical worldview. For instance, Jenuan shared that he has two missionary families currently serving in a region that is known as the “world suicide capital.” The presence of Hinduism and Islam in this region of Brazil promotes suicide among young and old. Hindus of the region understand suicide as a fast track to escape from the sufferings of this life and entrance into the utopian nirvana. The socio-religious conditions of this region reveal the desperate need for equipped missionary biblical counselors who can help the many hurting souls before it is too late.
Moreover, Jenuan shared another concern that motivated him to action in his comment that “often times mission organizations are not prepared to prepare missionaries prior to going on the mission field.” So, he decided to make it his ministry to visit missionaries on the mission field with the purpose of training them on how to counsel biblically as well as bringing encouragement to them.
As is evident from Jenuan’s experience and testimony, there is a vast need in Christian missions for competent counselors. Therefore, he prays wholeheartedly that the Holy Spirit will enable churches and mission organizations to gain the vision to train, send, and support missionary counselors. Jenuan desires that the Lord will raise up well-equipped and experienced individuals in biblical counseling to consider going to the mission field to help missionaries. He added that it is an absolute self-deception to think that counseling on the mission field is not “real missions!” So, he prays that the Lord will enlighten his people to the defective assumptions we have concerning the needs on the mission field. While sickness, or lack of financial support are major reasons missionaries leave the field, unresolved internal relational problems, whether between team members and/or with their missionary-support bases, can also lead to missionaries vacating the field.
In addition, unhealthy and unresolved disagreements among missionaries, can potentially leads to difficulty in working together and solving problems. Situations like these require equipped biblical counselors. The mission fields need biblical counselors! Ultimately, Jenuan and his family are trusting the Lord and excited for the next phase of their ministry, as they plan to train their missionary partners all over Brazil and beyond. They are excited to leverage their position in OIC to impact the mission field with biblical counseling. Therefore, the Liras and the entire OIC ministry covet your partnership in prayer and also financial support as we trust the Lord to use the means of biblical counseling for the expansion of his kingdom and glory all over the world.
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