Dr. Antonio Carlos Barro, Brazil

"In 1994, Antonio returned to Brazil to pursue a dream. Beginning literally with one typewriter, a small basement office, and his recently earned doctorate in Intercultural Studies, Antonio launched South American Theological Seminary in Londrina, Brazil, a thriving seminary that has become one of the largest of its kind in South America."

During his doctoral studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, Antonio Carlos Barro once led a devotion for a CISF board meeting in which he made the statement, "Jesus’ commitment to the poor bothers me." He continued to talk about the passion for the poor that Jesus has, and that this passion so often seems missing from the church today. Like so many of us, Antonio expressed his own reluctance to reach out to the most undesirable in society, preferring instead to remain with his own peer group.

The difference between Antonio and most of his North American listeners was his intense understanding of poverty. Born the eldest of four to a poor family in Brazil, he grew up in an economic situation far below the US poverty line.

Brazil is a complex nation. It has the fifth largest population in the world and the tenth largest economy. However it also considered one of the most unequitable societies in the world with a huge disparity between rich and poor. As much as one third of its total population lives on less than $2 a day.

When Antonio was growing up, his family was very poor. From an early age, Antonio began working to help his family put food on the table. When he and his sister went to school, they would literally share a pencil and workbooks—often with his mother erasing answers from the old text books so Antonio and his sister could fill them in at a later time.

Despite these challenges, Antonio proved himself an able student. At age 14, he gave his life to Christ—a decision, he says, that took on much greater meaning four years later when he spent nine months studying the Bible with a friend who was in seminary. During that time, he truly grasped the meaning of the Christian faith and for the first time, felt a call to the ministry.

Antonio began his university career pursuing a degree in business administration. For many, his departure from that world to seminary seemed ludicrous. During those studies, Antonio continued to work in order to cover tuition and help provide for his family back home. In the course of four years, he was poised to become an assistant manager for the State Bank of Sao Paulo. About that time, he felt called to quit his job and serve as a missionary in the Amazon. Upon receiving his resignation, Antonio's boss informed him of the stupidity of such a decision—giving up a career, salary and pension to become a missionary. Yet it was during his time in the Amazon that he felt called to not only proclaim the gospel, but to help train others for service in the Kingdom of God. While serving as a missionary, he also married his wife Priscila.

In 1989, Antonio and his family moved to Pasadena, California where he began his PhD at Fuller Theological Seminary. When he arrived in the US, he continued to work hard to make ends meet. Dr. Paul Pierson, former Dean of the School of Intercultural Studies recalls how little money the couple had when they arrived. Even with support from CISF, Antonio worked at several jobs including delivering pizzas, parking cars, and painting houses. Priscila, whose father had been a doctor, found herself cleaning houses to help the couple cover their costs while living in the US. In the meantime, Antonio not only earned a PhD, but also served as a teaching assistant in his department and was student body president of the seminary.

While in the US, Antonio’s heart continued to burn with a passion for his home country. Not only were the population and the economy growing—but so was the church. In Latin America, the evangelical church continues to grow at twice the rate of the population, making it nearly impossible to keep up with leadership training. The church has a great need for trained pastors, teachers, and leaders. During that time, Antonio also met with a handful of leaders, including Dr. Pierson, to dream about a new, non-denominational seminary in Brazil. They envisioned a school that could serve the broader church in Latin America—and even train missionaries for service worldwide.

In 1994, Antonio returned to Brazil to pursue that dream. Beginning literally with one typewriter, a small basement office, and his recently-earned doctorate in Intercultural Studies, Antonio launched South American Theological Seminary in Londrina, Brazil. Today SATS has more than 500 alumni, serving as pastors, missionaries, leaders of NGOs and on seminary and Bible school faculties throughout Latin America. In addition, SATS continues to train and send missionaries to Portuguese speaking Africa (Mozambique, Angola and Guinea-Bissau). As the largest Portuguese speaking nation, the church in Brazil has embraced its unique calling to advance the Kingdom in those nations.

In addition to its success in training leaders for the church, SATS has become the model of interdenominational work in Latin America. Although he is ordained in the Presbyterian Church, Antonio now teaches pastors from not only his own denomination, but nearly a dozen other groups including Pentecostal churches, the Salvation Army, and NGOs such as World Relief. Antonio sees their example of the body of Christ working together as one of the school's strongest assets.

In less than 15 years, SATS has become the largest, fastest growing seminary of its kind in South America. SATS not only builds bridges in Latin America, but trains leaders for the church, equipped to face the prominent challenges of their own context. They believe the church plays a strategic role as an agent of change in regions of the world where corruption and poverty are rampant. From its beginning, the seminary has been designed to bring together rigorous theological training with hands-on, practical ministry. The school runs several ministries in the city of Londrina. Home to more than 25,000 people living on less than one dollar a day, Londrina is a place where students find themselves engaged in ministry to the poor on a continual basis. Three CISF alumni, including Antonio, serve on the faculty and another two are now earning their PhDs so that they can further enhance the school's mission.

As he looks back across the course of his life, Antonio does not regret his decision to walk away from financial security to pursue God’s call. In fact, he hopes he can help another generation of Christian leaders heed God's call to follow Him and serve the church in ways that seem foolish and even "stupid" to the rest of the world—but make sense in light of God's Kingdom and His eternal purpose.