Who Are We?
We are Gary and Ellen Sweetman, Gary is originally from Dublin and Ellen is from Sao Paul, Brazil. We have two children together, Sophia and Asher, and Gary has Chloe and Alex. We have been serving in Ireland with Elim the last few years in Dublin and Armagh.
As a family, we are passionate about connecting people to Jesus, whether in Ireland or around the world. We have witnessed the restorative and healing power of the Gospel in our own lives and now feel motivated to share the Good News of Christ with others.
The Call of God
The great mission that Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:16-20, to go to all nations, make disciples, and baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is a challenging command for some people.
Either God asks His people to stay in one place and do His work, or He asks them to move. After much prayer and reflection, we heard God's call to move, and we seek to continue our lives in response to this mission.
For Ellen, this will mean returning home to her native country after 17 years in Ireland. For Gary, it will mean moving to the country to begin a new chapter in his life after living in Ireland his entire life.
We pray that we may go to Brazil as missionaries and then as church planters. But before we are missionaries or church planters, we are children of God with a calling in our lives that He has given us. This calling, we believe as a family, is a call to share the word of God and the wonderful, transformative power of the cross through Jesus Christ.
Missionary Work
We will be joining with Elim Brazil as Elim missionaries, who are Elim Global Partners of Elim Pentecostal Churches UK. There are 18 Elim Churches throughout Brazil.
We will be working to bring a ministry plan to Elim Brazil through local projects, involving food banks, dance schools and family projects. We are Kingdom-minded in this endeavour. We do not desire to establish an earthly empire, but rather to do our part in seeking the Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. We passionately believe that the local church has a huge role to play in this, as people respond to the Gospel but are destined for their own calling to serve according to their gifts.