Amid the height of the pandemic, pastor Leandro Alves began selling coffee after months of prayer, asking the Lord for ways to get resources to continue missionary work. The proceeds have funded a project that is now on the verge of being an established church in Anísio de Abreu, Piquí, Brazil.

During his prayers in July of 2020, Alves remembered a cafe that a missionary had introduced him to a few years ago, but he had lost touch with the missionary. He searched the internet and managed to talk to the missionary, who sent Alves the coffee salesperson's contact. Alves and the missionary, went together to the city of Atibaia, São Paulo to visit the salesperson. 

At that time, Alves had already bought the land in the city of Anísio de Abreu, Piauí. Even though they had the church-building project in sight, they did not have the resources to start building the church. So he decided to try and sell coffee to help fund the building of the church.

Alves borrowed money from a pastor friend to buy the first 100 kilos of coffee, which was of the finest quality. 

All of the coffee sold within in a week despite the churches being closed due to the pandemic. Since then, more than three thousand kilos of coffee have been sold, raising just under 30,000 Reais (a little over $6,000), which is being used in the construction of the church.

“We sent the money to our pastor in the city,” Alves said. “He was buying the material, and in November 2021, we went on a [Work & Witness] mission trip, with a team of 17 people. During the day, we worked on the construction and at night we did evangelistic work in the region of the current church and where the church is being built.”

The team built all the structure and foundation, and today the walls are ready. Very soon, they are looking forward to opening this church for the glory of the Lord.

According to Alves, this is coffee with a taste and purpose. The person buying the coffee is able to taste a delicious coffee while also contributing to the advancement of missionary work in a region very little evangelized in Brazil.

--Church of the Nazarene South America