Read letters from Tim and Marta Carriker
September 2012
May 2012
March 2012
November 2011
Thanksgiving 2011
October 2011
July 2011
May 2011
November 2010
July 2010
May 2010
October 2009
June 2009
April 2009
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Rev. Tim and Marta Carriker
Mission co-workers in Brazil
Serving with the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil
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Marta and Tim will next be in the USA, based in Charlotte NC, in April - September 2016. Email them or the Mission Connections office (Rachel.Anderson@pcusa.org) to extend an invitation to visit your congregation or organization.
About Tim and Marta Carriker's ministry
Rev. Tim and Marta Carriker are Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-workers seconded to the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil. They live and work in Florianopolis, the island capital of the southern state of Santa Catarina.
Tim is a professor and missiological consultant doing research and producing resource materials on mission. He is working on several projects, including a mission study Bible and book titled The Church’s First Great Missionary: The Life, Gospel and Ministry of the Apostle Paul. He has published numerous books and articles on missiological and biblical themes in Portuguese and travels throughout Brazil conducting continuing education seminars for pastors and teaching in various theological institutions.
Marta ministers by teaching in mission training programs at the local church, leading prayer meetings, and singing. She has accompanied numerous short-term mission trips to Brazil by Presbyterian congregations from the United States.
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Country context
Brazil is South America’s largest country, both in size and population. Its diverse population includes Europeans, Africans, Asians and indigenous people. It is the only South American country with Portuguese as its official language. Most of Brazil’s population live in the south-central region, which contains São Paulo (Brazil’s largest city), Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte, industrial cities that have seen rapid growth. And while this growth has enhanced economic development, it has also led to social, political, environmental and security issues for Brazil’s urban population. The gap between the rich and the poor in Brazil is shrinking. Yet this gap is still large, and most of the best farming land is owned by a small percentage of wealthy Brazilians. Around 75 percent of Brazilians are Roman Catholic. The other 25 percent include traditional Protestants and members of growing evangelical churches and African religions.
About Tim and Marta Carriker
The Carrikers were PC(USA) mission workers from 1977 until 1998, when Tim began service as director of the World Mission Initiative at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and director of the New Wilmington Missionary Conference. After their brief interlude in the United States, the Carriker family returned to Brazil in 1999. Tim has served in camp ministries, evangelism and new church development in central and southern Brazil (1977 to 1984). From 1984 to 1992, Tim was co-founder, academic director, dean and professor at the Protestant Mission Center. This was the first institution in South America to offer long-term training for mission service. From 1993 to 1998, he was professor of mission and evangelism at the Presbyterian Seminary of the South in the Bachelor of Theology and Master in Missiology programs. From 1997 to 1998 he served as chair of the Department of Pastoral Theology at Mackenzie University, a Presbyterian university in São Paulo. And from 2007 to 2008 he served as Professor of Mission and Evangelism at Fortaleza Theological Seminary, where he also coordinated the master’s degree program.
Marta is a native of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. She and Tim married in 1977. She is a proficient linguist and has used her skills to edit, translate and write materials for publication. Marta is also a talented composer of Christian music. She has served as a teacher of linguistics and language learning for missionaries at the Evangelical Missions Center. While in Pittsburgh she was involved in ministry to the elderly at Mount Lebanon United Presbyterian Church.
Tim holds a bachelor’s degree in religion from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte and a Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He earned a Master of Theology in missiology at the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. His Ph.D. in intercultural studies was also awarded by the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary. Tim was ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament on October 10, 1977, by the then Mecklenburg Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS).
Marta holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Virginia Commonwealth University and has pursued graduate studies in language acquisition and cultural anthropology at Fuller Theological Seminary’s School of World Mission, where she also served as a teaching assistant in language acquisition. She holds a master’s degree in applied linguistics from Universidade Estadual de Campinas.
The Carrikers have three children, Jenny, Tim Jr. and Sarah.
Birthdays:
Tim - August 2
Marta - September 4
Jennifer - September 19
Tim Jr - June 19
Sarah - July 16
