For the full pre-2015 interview go to https://vineyardusa.org/elba-dolan-and-the-vineyard-in-brazil/
In this interview, Elba Dolan shares her story of coming to Christ, how she connected with the Vineyard, and her thoughts on the Vineyard, both in Brazil and globally. She currently serves as one of the National Leaders for the Vineyard Churches in Brazil, is presently the Senior Pastor of the Igreja da Vinha do Mirante, and is the founder/director of nonprofit organization CDR.
VUSA: Let’s start with a bit of your story. How did you come to Christ, and how did you end up in the Vineyard?
Elba Dolan: I came to Christ when I was 16 years old through a missionary family. They were from Canada, they had a relationship with the Vineyard, and they came to plant churches in the Amazon. I started working for them as a maid, and that’s how I came to the Lord.
Rick Bergen had a dream to come to the Xingu region about a year later to start planting Vineyard churches. So that’s what we did. We came to the Xingu and started Vineyard churches there. That’s how I was born into the Vineyard.
It really takes godly people to do what Rick ultimately did. How many people can have a teenage maid and see a calling in my life that I didn’t see – that I would be his leader? But Rick was that kind of guy. He always encouraged that call in my life. He gave me opportunities to work toward that. It just came to happen through him faithfully serving the Lord.
And I learned that you have to work faithfully with the small things. If it’s cleaning the kitchen, you do that well. You work your butt off, don’t play around, and the Lord will lead you. That’s what happened to me – being in the right place with the right people around me to see things that I didn’t see. Lots of mentoring and encouragement. I never thought I’d become the person I am. I just kept going step by step.
And going for the adventure! I just went for it. Not that it’s all fun all the time! But to see the Lord working, to see marriages restored, to see people coming to Christ … there’s no way I’d miss this. It’s addicting. You almost develop a love/hate relationship with it. So you do it, you work hard, and then you rest. And the next day you’re in love with it again.
That is what I learned as people gave me opportunities, and that’s what I try to do: move people along. I think it is just being faithful to that and walking through the doors that are open to you.
And each step was amazing. Leading a small group was amazing. Helping lead youth was amazing. Whatever I was doing was amazing, and then God had the next thing. So you just keep moving as the Lord is moving. It’s not magic, just faith.
How long has the Vineyard existed in Brazil?
We came here in 1996, but the interesting thing about the Vineyard is that it started in Brazil in the north and south parts through different relationships that they had with Vineyards in Canada and the U.S. around 1994, maybe 1995. But we didn’t know about each other – until 2001, when Mark Fields heard about both groups and brought us together.
When did Brazil become its own AVC (Association of Vineyard Churches)?
We haven’t yet! We’re still in the process. We were supposed to be released last year, but we decided to step back and wait to get everything the way it should be.
What are some of your passions in ministry? What excites you?
I come from a very poor background. I felt like coming into the kingdom just completely expanded my vision. I’ve been able to do things I never could dream of. It completely opened my eyes to the world. Huge opportunities. I truly believe the kingdom brings opportunity.
I am very passionate about young people experiencing this huge adventure with Christ. So I just love that. I love to see people being changed, I love realities being changed. I love to see movement, to see people go beyond where they thought they could go on their own.
I love that challenge. You can be somebody else. Your life can be different. There’s so much more to life when you come into the kingdom of God. I want that for everyone. That’s what I live for on a daily basis.
What are some of the challenges of doing church and church planting in the Xingu area, and what are some of the neat opportunities that you have?
In this area, people are very open to the gospel. Geographically though, it’s very far, and travel is hard. It takes much time to get from one area to another. Training leaders in the community is a huge challenge because we’re not there on a daily basis. A lot of places you visit only once per month.
In a month a lot of things happen. A lot of times, changing that mentality of being a leader and not a follower is a challenge. That’s not the model of Brazilian history and poverty. People are used to being told what to do. It’s a big challenge to train leaders, to make them believe that it’s okay to lead in this way. We experience that.
The other thing is, when you train a leader and he or she starts getting more knowledge and experience, they want to keep growing. Many times they’ll just move out of the community looking for more education, more opportunities, get their kids in school and do what they were not able to do. That’s a challenge, to train people to lead and then get them to stay in their communities.
The other challenge is that people still move a lot. They homestead, they move together as a family. But opportunities change, and people move a lot.
That’s in the Xingu region. In the south, it’s a different challenge. It’s more urban. It’s a different culture. To go to church, to give your life, is to leave the urban life. It’s a step down, not a step up, to leave your good job and follow Christ.
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