By Marcelo and Giulianna Viana

In 2021, we completed our first mission assignment, working at New Horizons International Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A congregation had been planted, and so we moved to the east side of the city. Here, we began our second church planting effort. We started in our home with a small group in February 2022. By November, we had about 50 people, and our home became too small, and we looked around for a larger place to meet. By faith, we rented the chapel of a converted school.

From December 2022 to April 2023, our family covered the congregation's expenses, including rent. As a new fellowship, we had no supporters, and most of the congregation were new believers, not accustomed to giving.

The economic crisis in Canada has affected many, including us and our congregations. In 2022, 17.8% of Canadians were already food insecure, and that number increased in 2023. In addition, my wife, Giulliana, spent much of this time sick, on medical leave, greatly affecting our income. Yet, with God’s blessing, the ministry continued to thrive. God continued to supply our needs, miracle after miracle.

We started during the pandemic and the economic crisis, without any supporters, with a group of non-believers and new believers, most of them immigrants with financial difficulties and without the habit of giving. Ten months later, we were in a church building, including a large group of congregants in the process of discipleship. From miracle to miracle, God always met our needs.

We have seen a growing interest in the gospel among teenagers; many children have atheist parents. God brought some of these young people to us and they have learned, remained faithful, and dedicated themselves to serving. Discipleship of teenagers in our church involves apologetics, hermeneutics, and catechism. We currently have 25 enrolled in a teen evangelism camp that we will hold in August.

We have managed to publish a book called "I Want to Understand the Bible: A Short Guide for Teens" (leader's book and student's book versions), which will be used in the camp's Bible study. The book covers apologetics, hermeneutics, and biblical introduction in language accessible to teens.

For two consecutive years we had the opportunity to worship in a public place at the High Neighbor Festival in Transcona, the eastern part of the city, where our church is located. The service was held in conjunction with two other reformed churches and our church was responsible for the worship on both occasions. As a result, the church became much better known in the community.

God opened a door for us to evangelize on a reservation called Little Grand Rapids where we planned to host about 13 teens from the Little Grand Rapid reservation at our camp, and we have been invited to host events for teens on the reservation itself. We trusted God to provide the resources needed for this work.

Praise God for how he encouraged all of us. We had 12 kids from Winnipeg and 13 Indigenous kids from the reserve. During the camp, 18 teenagers surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ.