Latest revision as of 12:06, 20 December 2024

"Carlos Cerqueira and family flew into Logan Airport in Boston on Feb. 10th. They were, in a sense, white refugees from Angola. "America for foreign people is a mystic thing", explained Carlos, not long after arriving. "The middle son, when he arrived, started to jump up and down."

Carlos was born in Portugal, but Angola was his homeland. He had gone there at the age of 12 and lived there for 22 years. After several successful years in the business world, he went into full-time Christian service. He worked with Clifford Beggs in starting a new assembly in the Cerqueira home, and watched it grow to a congregation of 70 with its own building. It was a racially mixed congregation, and after Angolan independence that presented difficulties. "I felt my presence didn't help the situation. The believers wanted me to stay, but whites were a detriment to the work there." Besides that, it was getting extremely dangerous for Portuguese residents. When two Angolan soldiers robbed Carlos at gunpoint, taking his watch, wallet and papers, he offered them his Bible as well. That caught them by surprise. They joked and shook his hand. Carlos thought of others who had been killed, perhaps even by this pair.

Carlos, Margarida and their three sons moved to Portugal in mid-1975, but they weren't happy there. It wasn't home. Soon after that move, T. Ernest Wilson, many years a missionary in Angola, spoke at a missionary conference at Buttonwoods Gospel Chapel in Warwick, Rhode Island. He talked to John Farrell, a leader in the assembly, about a good man (Carlos) who had to leave Angola. He wondered if this servant of the Lord could be of use in the area, for there were a lot of Portuguese people there.

John consulted with other assemblies in the area, and all agreed there was a need. Also, he found Carlos a job with the company he serves. The company has many Portuguese-speaking employees. On Feb. 22, a welcome for the Cerqueiras was held at the Buttonwoods Chapel, enabling believers from the Warwick, Pawtucket, Bristol, New Bedford and Fall River assemblies to meet them. It was also a "shower" to provide groceries, household utensils and furniture. Departure from Angola had been sudden, with everything left behind.

On March 14, Carlos conducted his first service. The Gospel Hall in Pawtucket has made its auditorium available for Portuguese services on Sunday afternoons. Carlos intends to do door-to-door Gospel work. The Cerqueira family will not be alone in the effort to start a Portuguese language work. They will be working with Augusto Pereira, formerly an elder in a large assembly in Lisbon, Portugal, and Pedro Oliviera, an evangelist among assemblies in the Azores. Many assemblies have been started through the efforts of refugees, ever since the days of Antioch (Acts 11:19-26). English-speaking Christians in Rhode Island hope it might happen again, among their Portuguese neighbors, and are glad for prayer to that end. For further information, contact John Farrell, 1 Sandro Circle, Warwick, R.I., 02886. The Cerqueiras reside at 241 Pawtuxet Ave., Cranston, R.I. 02905."

Also See

• Christian Brethren of Pawtucket, RI
• Who's Who at Christian Brethren of Pawtucket, RI
• Visiting Ministry at Christian Brethren of Pawtucket, RI

Sources

• Letters of Interest 1976-6, p. 12.