Abstract:
In this article, I will first show the historical development of this theological approach within
the Brazilian and Latin American evangelical spheres through the work of the Latin American
Theological Fraternity – a movement founded in 1970 that maintained historic evangelical
values (i.e. a high view of Scripture, the necessity of conversion) whilst also taking Latin
America’s great social needs into account. Nurtured by thinkers such as René Padilla (Ecuador),
Orlando Costas (Puerto Rico), Samuel Escobar (Peru), and later Valdir Steuernagel (Brazil),
the movement has not only responded to the concerns raised by Liberation theologians,
but it has also influenced the direction of the Lausanne Movement – an expression of global
evangelicalism. Secondly, I will discuss how missão integral has found its way into the missional
‘bloodstream’ and become a central value for some Brazilian and Latin American missions
organisations, including Missão Antioquia (1975) and PM International (1984). Finally, based
on 55 interviews conducted in 2009–2010 with Brazilian workers and mission leaders focusing
on the Arab world, I will show how Brazilian workers are demonstrating missão integral
through their ministries and also why this approach is relevant in the Arab-Muslim world.
