This mission among the Caiuá, Guarani, and Tereno in the central-west part of the country was founded in 1928 by the American missionaries Albert Sidney and Mabel Maxwell. The success of the project was in large part due to the indefatigable efforts of these two missionaries and of the Brazilians who followed them — Rev. Orlando Andrade and his wife Loide Bonfim, who devoted more than 30 years of their life to it. The mission is supported by the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil, the Presbyterian Church of Brazil, and the Presbyterian Church (US). The objective of the mission is to care for the spiritual and material needs of the Amerindian people. Emphasis is placed on education, health services, and evangelism. In collaboration with various cities in the area, the mission succeeded in setting up 10 schools with 1,340 pupils (90% indigenous). In the area of health the mission established a hospital and a maternity clinic for indigenous people in Dourados —the “Door of Hope” —with 100 beds, 50 being reserved for the treatment of tuberculosis and other diseases often occurring among the indigenous. Free services are offered in a dental clinic. Medical doctors and nurses are sent regularly to the villages together with pupils of the Bible Institute. The Mission has stationed workers in 10 different indigenous villages. There are now 6 organized churches, 18 congr, and 2 preaching stations. Among the pastors, elders, and missionaries, 20 are indigenous persons and have been trained in the Bible Institute, Felipe Landes, which was founded for developing indigenous leadership.
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