Pastor Marcelo de Oliveira and his family are answering God's call to establish churches in every town and city in the state of Maranhão, Brasil.  Working with several independent churches and the Southern Baptist Convention, numerous churches have been established and thousands of people have been reached. 

Assisting Pastor Marcelo with this goal is the Mitchell family, who are members of First Baptist Church of Rio Rancho and are now full time missionaries living in Brasil. Glenn Mitchell and his family are working in Maranhão through their ministry organization Isaiah 6:8.  Their calling is to assist the pastors and congregations of the churches in Maranhão to strengthen and equip themselves to more effectively share the Gospel. 

Maranhão is the poorest state in Brasil.  Most people earn their living from manual labor in agriculture, construction, menial labor jobs, domestic service, and small family farms/businesses. Fishing and related industry support jobs also account for a significant portion of income.  The mortality rate among children is extremely high in most rural areas.  Most children do not receive formal education and less than 1% have an opportunity for higher education.  In several of the smaller towns in which Marcelo and Glen work to establish churches, teenage prostitution is very high.