Brazilian “Reverse Missionary ” Completes Two Decades as a Pastor, Is Re-Elected BCNE President

Lierte Soares Jr. speaks at the 2024 BCNE Annual Meeting

Ministry in “New England requires a different type of worker. They must be active pray-ers, good listeners, understand the culture, and be Spirit-filled. Not everyone can fill those shoes,” said Jim Wideman, when he was concluding his tenure as the BCNE executive director (2001–2014) and moving to Oklahoma. 

At their annual meeting on November 1 in Manchester, CT, the Baptist Churches of New England re-elected as president just such a leader. Lierte Soares Jr. is a self-proclaimed “reverse missionary” from Brazil to New England. He is pastor of Family Church, Framingham, MA; and New Life Community Church, Georgetown, MA.

Soares discussed his perspectives on pastoral ministry over two decades with Managing Editor Dan Nicholas. 

Please describe your years in ministry.

In 2024 I’m celebrating twenty years since my pastoral ordination; I was ordained on June 4, 2004. Now I’ve served ten years in Brazil and ten years in America. God is faithful! Ten years ago my family and I left Brazil  [and started] a new time in our lives and ministry. We were sent to America to serve as church-planting missionaries.

If I had a thousand lives, I’d be a pastor a thousand times. I had no regret when I made my decision to obey God’s calling in my life. I officially started my journey as a pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Governador Valadares, Brazil. 

Now I serve two great churches in Greater Boston together with my family—my beloved wife, Anna Paula, and our two boys, Lierte Neto and Gabriel. Thank you Family Church and New Life Community Church!

Why New England?

I’m a “reverse missionary” sent to New England by two churches, one in Brazil called Calvary Baptist Church and a Southern Baptist church in Louisiana called River of Life Worship Center. Both churches were partners in ministry. 

After more than a decade of missionary work in Brazil together with the Louisiana Baptists, Pastor Bobby Ready and I started praying about what would be next. It was clear to both of us that God was calling me to New England. 

A specific calling from God for reverse mission—a missionary movement that started more than ten years ago. Young church groups and congregations of the classic “recipient countries” of missionaries, predominantly in the Southern Hemisphere, participate in the worldwide commission of Jesus Christ. They have become “new sending countries”—sending out their missionaries. 

Their focus is on old Europe and the US. We see the spiritual need and the secularization and want to make our contribution to make the gospel of Jesus Christ known to Europe and the United States. New England is a mission field and the place that God called us to serve. 

What is your philosophy of ministry?

This is the philosophy of ministry in both of our churches. This is the church that I believe in: 

• Informal and inclusive worship

• Preaching with integrity and relevance

• Dynamic and contemporary teaching (small groups and intensive courses) 

• Training for maturity and ministry

• Leadership through discipleship teams and work in harmony

• Love for those who suffer through raising and allocating financial and human resources

• Missionary exercise through the support of revitalization and planting of new churches

• Ministries from people moved and empowered by God

• Structures established and shaped from existing ministries

• Inheritance (discoveries and experiences) available to the church of Christ because what we are is also the result of the influence of the discoveries and experiences of the brothers of the past, and 

• Contemporary ministry philosophy and contemporary missiology.

What do you most enjoy about being a pastor? 

I enjoy serving God and serving his people. The church is our spiritual family and it’s a great privilege to be part of the work of God. We all need to understand our purpose on earth. I was born for this! I love being a pastor!

How do you describe Family Church and New Life Community Church to someone who has not attended or been familiar with them? 

Family Church is an inner-city, bilingual church with a contemporary worship experience and New Life Community Church is a small-town, blended worship experience with contemporary music and hymns. Both of our churches are gospel-centered, grace-driven, and community-oriented. 

We are committed to holistically meeting spiritual, physical, and social needs so that [our neighbors] may know God’s peace and joy in their lives. We welcome all people regardless of age, race, ethnicity, or religious background, and we are a church for those who have no church home close by. 

Sundays are family-oriented times of worship including singing, prayer, a message from the Bible, and ministry for children. [People] come to discover how the gospel transforms us and, in turn, renews our city. Our worship services are relaxed and informal, so “come as you are.” There is no dress code. 

What ministry are you doing in Portugal? 

We’ve been partnering for three years with pastor Joao Melo in Greater Porto to plant Igreja Baptista Local. Twenty people from our churches in Framingham and Georgetown visited Porto on October 6 for ten days. We joined Rui Sabino, president of the Convenção Baptista Portuguesa (the Portuguese Baptist Convention), and others for the church’s inaugural service. 

We also announced plans for an international conference on reverse missions. Representatives from Brazil, Portugal, the United States, and several other countries are already planning to attend the conference on September 19-20 in Porto. We are planning this conference for a simple reason: we are being obedient to God’s call to the nations.