David and Sherry Harrison

David and Sherry Harrison met as students at Northwest Bible College. They began ministry as evangelists to children in 1963. For nearly two years, they worked in summer kids’ camps and children’s crusades in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and California. Devin, their eldest son, was just a few months old when they began their ministry. They spent the summer of 1964 in Brazil with a youth mission team. Within a few weeks of coming home, the meetings they had scheduled through 1966 began to cancel out. About that time the Assemblies of God church in Silverdale called them to be their pastors.

They began their pastoral ministry in Silverdale in December, 1964. The church was not able to support a pastor, so Dave a drove school bus during the first two years. As the church grew, so did their family. In January, 1966, Dalen, their second son, was born. By the time their daughter Denette was born in January, 1967, they were looking for property to build a new church. They purchased land, but before they could begin building, they were appointed as Assembly of God Missionaries to Brazil. The Harrison family arrived in Brazil aboard a freighter on July 1, 1970, the day Brazil won the World Soccer Cup for the third time. The boat pulled into the pier just as the fireworks and celebrations began. It seemed as if all Brazil was welcoming them!

After a few years, Dave and Sherry launched the International Correspondence Institute (ICI) ministry in Brazil, offering Bible correspondence courses. In March, 1972, they began with one course. Three thousand Brazilians enrolled that first month. Before their first furlough in 1974, several new courses had been published, and enrollment had passed the one hundred thousand mark. Dave and Sherry continued to sing and preach at Good News crusades each weekend.

In 1985, Dave & Sherry began working with the three districts in the Amazon region, and since then have provided 36 boats to help with the planting of new churches. They have taken many MAPS teams along the Amazon River to build churches.

In the last four years they have developed two sites on the internet to reach the whole Portuguese-speaking world. One site offers Evangelism courses, and has the entire Portuguese Bible online. The second site offers Biblical materials for Brazilian public schools. Religious education courses were specially prepared for Brazil’s primary schools at the request of the Minister of Education. Teachers anywhere can download all the materials needed to teach their religious education classes.

The Harrison children are following their parents’ example. Devin and his wife Laurie serve as medical missionaries in Nigeria with the International Mission to the Blind. Dalen is very involved at Portland Christian Center and in various Missions activities. Denette passed away in 1984, after an accident in Brazil a few weeks before her high school graduation. Each year a scholarship is offered in her name to an Everett, Wash. high school student who is headed to Northwest University.

The Harrisons returned to Brazil for another term on January 26. Dave and Sherry have truly “let light shine out” in the years since graduating from Northwest. Congratulate the Harrisons and check out their web site at www.xanga.com/str8frombrazil.