Dennis Pires and his wife of 15 years, Ivette, serve as one of the Overseas Instruction in Counseling (OIC) Coordinators in Brazil. At the early age of 19, Dennis sensed the Lord calling him to Christian ministry. While Dennis did not know how or where the Lord intended to use him, he was convinced of this call. An especial passion for the gospel of Jesus Christ began to burn in Dennis at this early age. However, his father, who is a minister, was initially concerned and was not on board with his call to ministry. But with patience and trusting the Lord’s timing, Dennis’s father come to support his call to the ministry.
Dennis was certain that faithfulness to this ministry call would require intense devotion to theological training, and so he devoted himself to its pursuit. After his seminary career, Dennis and his wife, together with their three children, were invited to join the ministry of Evangelical Christian Church in Goiania, Goias, the western part of Brazil. He currently serves as the Biblical Counseling Pastor at this local church.
Before joining the Evangelical Christian Church of Goiania, Dennis and his wife had never heard of biblical counseling. Roberto Amorim, the senior pastor of Evangelical Christian Church, was instrumental in their first exposure to the authority and sufficiency of Scripture for counseling. As the senior pastor, Roberto made, and continues to make, the Bible the primary means of counseling in their local church. Dennis realized that he needed to grow in his own spiritual walk with Christ, so he submitted himself to the tutelage of Roberto.
In time, Dennis and Ivette came to be truly convinced of the sufficiency of the Bible and its authority to solve man’s fundamental problem—separation from God due to sinful rebellion against him. This conviction stirred up in Dennis the desire to help broken people trust the Word of God as the source of the solution to all of their problems. However, Dennis not only desired to help others, but he also desired to train others to be biblical counselors so that they could help others who are suffering and in need of the Savior. This desire encouraged him to pursue certification in biblical counseling. After being certified as a biblical counselor through Faith Lafayette in Indiana, USA, Dennis was installed as the Biblical Counseling Pastor at Evangelical Christian Church.
Then, in 2015, Andrew Rogers, now the Executive Director of OIC, was invited to the yearly biblical counseling conference held at Evangelical Christian Church. Dennis became acquainted with the work of OIC through his friendship with Andrew Rogers. The fruit of their friendship culminated in their mutual desire to propagate the sufficiency and authority of the Word of God for human life. Dennis and his wife identified with OIC’s ministry vision, namely to train, empower, and prepare pastors for counseling and to train trainers of biblical counseling. Dennis and Ivette enthusiastically agreed to partner with this ministry that equips people with the biblical truths they need to diagnose the human heart and to be able to prescribe appropriate biblical principles in various contexts.
Dennis is convinced that the depravity of the human heart is the root of all problems. According to Dennis, “the Bible is the answer” to this universal problem. Psychology and humanistic philosophy permeate Brazilian culture and society, as people attempt to diagnose and treat their problems. However, Dennis strongly believes that “scientific psychology that prevents dealing with the main problem must be purged and replaced with the authority of the Scripture and the sufficiency of the Scripture to heal the human heart and cause genuine heart transformation.” OIC provides the tools needed to teach people that the Word of God is truly the solution to a person’s ultimate problem.
In 2020, not long after the establishment of OIC in Brazil, Dennis became one of the OIC Brazil Coordinators to work alongside Tiago Wagner, as well as Roberto Amorim and Jenuan Lira. In addition, Dennis continues his avid advocacy for the necessity of nurturing Christian communities that are founded on biblical principles and are ready to point sufferers to the great solution.
Being the biblical counseling pastor of his local church, Dennis comes alongside individuals who struggle with all sorts of issues and problems, including various physical ailments, alcoholism, drug addiction, self-harm, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorders, and more. If unchecked, problems like these often lead to suicidal thoughts. Dennis is convinced that the best way to help such people, who have realized their helpless state and approached him in need of help, is to unveil the reality of the depraved state of their hearts and encourage them to embrace their need for the Savior, Jesus Christ, as the only cure to their problems.
To God’s glory, Dennis has been privileged to see many of his counselees experience the transforming work of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit in their lives. And even more humbling in Dennis’s experience are the many examples of those whom the Lord has radically transformed and is causing to walk in the newness of life who then become avid counselors to others. For Dennis, such examples reinforce the importance of biblical counseling in local churches and related ministry strategies, such as OIC’s, to equip and train people in biblical counseling.
Dennis and the OIC Brazil team are working hard to propagate biblical literacy around the country. Dennis’s desire, as a pastor and biblical counselor, is to get the flock of God acquainted with the Word of God as sufficient for solving the inherent evil that abounds within each human. The firm grip that clinical behaviorism and human psychology have on individuals in his country needs to be replaced with the authority of the Bible. Dennis is convinced that when the root cause of the human problem is identified and the solution, that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God raised him from the dead to save sinners, is accepted, then the practical application of living out life unto God, rather than the self, will necessarily follow.
Dennis and Ivette are encouraged by Paul’s words to the Colossian Christians, “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom…” Col. 3:16. And they are committed to being instruments in the hands of their Redeemer for the equipping of people with the Word of God as the solution to the human problem. Dennis and Ivette, along with the OIC Brazil team, call for intercession for the many souls that are in desperate need of the gospel for transformation as they try to reach the nation of Brazil. As such, we would encourage you to consider partnering with the Pireses and OIC in ongoing prayer for their family, church, and ministry through biblical counseling.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST:
