Philip & Rachel Stucky met at Western Baptist College in Salem, Oregon, and were married in 1979 in between Philip's semesters of study at Dallas Theological Seminary. They were accepted as missionaries with the Brazil Gospel Fellowship Mission that same year and arrived in Brazil as missionaries in 1980. Their two major ministries have been church planting and leadership training. They have been involved in developing three churches and turning them over to Brazilian pastors, and are now looking forward to helping in their fourth church plant. They were also involved in theological education by extension for 20 years and more recently have been on staff at Maranatha Bible Seminary (SIBIMA in Portuguese). They are presently involved in transitioning two ministries into Brazilian hands: on the one hand, they are training a leadership team of five men to take over the pastoral responsibilities of the Pajucara Bible Church; on the other, they are phasing in two Brazilian men to be President and Dean of SIBIMA Seminary.

As they look to the future, they plan to wrap up their current ministries in the city of Fortaleza and in 2006 will most likely be joining the church planting team in Maceió, a city of about 800,000 people nearly 800 miles southeast of Fortaleza. They plan to assist the missionary team there in developing an effective church planting strategy, as well as help them develop a seminary program to train future pastors, missionaries, and church leaders. Then, by 2010, they are considering opening a new field of ministry in south Brazil.

Do pray that God would grant them wisdom day by day to serve Him faithfully, and that He would direct them step by step in the ministries He desires them to accomplish in the land of Brazil. Pray that they would always walk in the center of His will. Pray as well for their three sons, Andrew (1981), Luke (1984), and Mark (1986), as they prepare for a life of service, that they would daily walk with God and by faith live out His plan and purpose for their lives.