JACKSONVILLE (FBC)—After migrating to Orlando from Brazil, Tatiana Oliveira, 27, accepted Christ at the Primera Igreja Batista Brasileira de Orlando and eventually drew her future husband Erik Erben, 28, to the church.

A native of Czech Republic, Erben could not understand the Portuguese language spoken in worship but listened to the Gospel translated into English through the church’s audio translation system. Through that experience and the witness of others in the church, the young man accepted Christ as his personal Savior.

His new faith rescued him from alcohol, “drugs and a lot of bad stuff,” Erben said, preparing the young couple to start a new life together with the same spiritual purpose.

“Now we’ve got hope,” Tatiana said with tears rolling down her cheeks. “We’ve got Jesus, We’ve got each other. We’ve got love. We’re part of more than a church, we are a family.”

Family is important in the Brazilian culture, said Jedaias Azevedo, pastor of Orlando’s First Brazilian Church. Immigrants are particularly open to the Gospel, he said, because they arrive in the states knowing few people and are limited by the language barrier in meeting new people.

Finding a friendly and welcoming congregation like the Orlando Brazilian church provides the immigrants—most of whom are young adults — with an instant “family” and new purpose in life when they accept Christ.

Nearly 35,000 Brazilians live in the Orlando metropolitan area. “Without this church, many people would be lost and going to hell,” concluded Pastor Azevedo. “I cannot imagine Orlando without the Primera Igreja Batista Brasileira de Orlando.”

The Brazilian Church first started in the Orlando home of Edilton and Mildete Vilela in 1996. But the church quickly outgrew their home and relocated. Then for several years Downtown Baptist Church in Orlando gave them a permanent meeting place.

“It is incredible what God has done in our church,” said Edilton Vilela. “God has been so faithful. Many people came to our church, accepted Christ and moved to other cities. Still almost every church member came to know Jesus here in our church.”

The church grew to more than 400 members who speak in their native Portuguese language and have been reached with the Gospel after they left their homeland and migrated to Orlando.

But as the church continued to grow, the Brazilian congregation felt they needed a place to call their own where they could have a place to train and disciple their newly converted Christian flock.

“So the church began to pray,” said Azevedo.

The congregation found a 40,000 square foot office building and warehouse located on 2.5 acres of land in an industrial park in central Orlando. The facility offered meeting rooms for classes, offices and children’s ministry, as well as a large open space that could accommodate 400 persons in worship. Additionally, the large warehouse, if remodeled, could provide meeting space for up to 1,000 persons.

“For two years our church prayed,” the pastor continued. “We prayed and asked God to help us find our own property. When we found this property, we went before the Lord and asked Him to give this property for us.”

Nearly 65 percent of the congregation lived in the area where the building was located.

Azevedo put down a $25,000 deposit on the $1.7 million property and began praying. “We only had $30,000 at that point,” he said.

Another $75,000 was secured from the Florida Baptist Convention’s interest-free Church Site Loan, underwritten by the Maguire State Mission Offering. This provided the congregation with enough money to secure an additional loan from a bank. Church members took out home equity loans to provide the needed additional funding.

“God put all the pieces together,” said Azevedo.

The first bank contacted by the church refused to give the church the $1.1 million loan they needed, but a second bank provided a loan within 20 days of closing on the property.

For the church members, it was a miracle of God, said Azevedo, and cause for celebration. The congregation dedicated the facility Dec. 11, 2005, as church leaders prepared their own “Ark of the Covenant,” an Old Testament symbol of God’s presence and power, and carried it into worship.

“That was a special moment for our people,” said Azevedo. “Having our own property, we felt like a family who was moving into their new home.”

“Thank you, Florida Baptists for our church and for making this dream a reality.”