Bishop Raul and Janice Alvear are missionaries in the most real sense of the word. They have allowed God to place a burden for Brazil on their shoulders; and, they have taken that burden and allowed it to become an integral part of who they are, not simply what they do. That burden has transformed into a mission. A mission whose premise is elegantly simple: reach the lost across South America.God placed this burden, desire, love, and mission in their hearts at a young age. Bishop Alvear’s parents became missionaries to Brazil after receiving the revelation of the Oneness through the ministry of American missionaries when he was 12 years old. Since a young man, he has remained faithful to spreading the gospel across Brazil. Sister Janice Alvear called at the tender age of eight, arrived in Brazil ten years later in 1968. She has never looked back but has continually served and reached out to the souls of Brazil. At the beginning of their missionary tenure, Bishop and Sister Janice Alvear worked several years individually in their work for God. Then, God in his perfect plan and timing brought them together in June 1972 at a conference in the city of Sao Paulo. After a relatively short courtship, in which both Bishop and Sister Alvear prayerfully sought guidance from God, they were married in December of the same year.
In that moment, God united one of the greatest missionary teams Brazil has ever seen. Joined with a singular passion and mission, Bishop and Sister Alvear have poured their whole selves into the missionary work in Brazil. The mission, the work, the people, and the purpose to further the kingdom of God has been the central focus of their entire lives. God has taken their obedience and submittal to His will and made great what in the efforts of purely human hands would have remained small. God has lifted the Alvear’s’ ministry from its humble origins under the boughs of a tree planted in a pagan village to a network of many churches, scores of house meetings, radio programs, children’s outreaches, and several other branches that are all connected in spreading the gospel.
God has multiplied the help and hands in the Brazilian missions field. Through Bishop and Sister Alvears’ passion to reach the lost, God has raised hundreds of pastors, workers, and missionaries. The Alvear’s’ work, through the blessings of God, has spread to 15 of the 23 states of Brazil with contacts and future prospects of an imminent breakthrough in the unreached states. The work also includes a Bible school in the south that is educating a gamut of students in the ever pertinent word of God a large campground is located in southern Brazil where buildings are being constructed. While it is not yet completed in time with the help of God, will serve the future propagation of the Kingdom.
Recently the Alvear’s have started a land project to help feed the people and the children in their area. The Alvear’s’ work- accomplished with love, patience, passion, persistence, and an emphasis on evangelism and church planting – has grown, under the auspices of God, from a tiny seed to an intricately branched and immovable tree. The mission in Brazil flourishes because they see the work and mission of God as a privilege and not a sacrifice. There can be no deeper joy than that of saving souls.“ And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)