A first-time “reverse missionary” debuts her own song in Portugal while her mother paints a landscape of “faith”
Sophia Armstrong called her first experience as a “reverse missionary” “a special experience to spread the word of God through music because music has power.”
For the first time publicly, the Swampscott (Massachusetts) High School freshman sang “This Is Jesus” during a worship service when she was visiting Igreja Batista Local, Porto, Portugal. [Read the words of “This Is Jesus.”] She composed the worshipful song a few months earlier.
Sophia Armstrong (left) and her mother, Rita Armstrong, served together as reverse missionaries at Igreja Batista Local, Porto, Portugal.
While Sophia Armstrong sang, her mother, Rita Armstrong, painted a pastoral landscape on canvas and adorned the colorful creation with a message in both English and Portuguese that evoked her own Christian faith.
The Armstrongs are members of New Life Community Church, Georgetown, MA, where their pastor is Lierte Soares Jr. In November, he was re-elected president of the Baptist Churches of New England (BCNE.net).
“Bringing the gospel back” to Europeans
“When you have music and you have ultimate power—the gospel with music—it doesn’t only change people’s day, but it can change their lives for eternity,” said Armstrong, who visited Europe for the first time with her close friend, Arianna Diecidue [who was profiled in the first article in this reverse-missions series.]
“I understand that, as reverse missionaries, we were bringing the gospel back to Europeans. Originally, they brought it over to us. So, we’re reversing the mission; we’re sending the gospel back to them,” said Armstrong, who is 15.
The twenty-two-member team practiced evangelism and prayer walking, participated in small groups and worship services, and held what Soares called “pastoral encouragement meetings” for Portuguese church leaders.
Armstrong, who is considered a “second-generation” American because she was born in Massachusetts, learned about reverse missions from her pastor, who teaches seminars on the topic through the hybrid-learning platforms of the BCNE Multiplication Center.
Reverse missions seminar planned. You’re invited!
From April 4 to September 5, 2025, Lierte Soares Jr. will teach a reverse missions seminar at the BCNE Multiplication Center and online to prepare a team for serving at and attending a September conference in Porto. Registration is free and is now open to everyone. If you’re interested in learning about reverse missions, apply to be part of the Multiplication Center:
https://www.bcne.net/multiplication-center-application
or email Lierte Soares Jr at liertesoares@icloud.com.
For Soares, the work of the Center “is a matter of raising the [so-called] ‘next generation’ with a Great Commission mindset [see Matthew 28]. Multiplication only will matter if we touch them inside to their deepest understanding of the Great Commission.”
Painting as an act of reverse missions
Rita Armstrong migrated from Governador Valadares, Minas, Brazil. As part of a worship service in Porto, while her daughter was singing her own song, she demonstrated her ability as an artist.
“I painted a huge canvas and the word God gave me was ‘FAITH,’” Rita Armstrong said.
As part of the Sunday worship service in Porto, Rita Armstrong painted a pastoral landscape on a large canvas and adorned it with the word ‘FAITH.’” Later, those present painted their own small versions of Rita’s creation.
After the worship service, those present were invited to another room for a painting party during which they each created their own small versions of Rita’s “faith” painting that they could display at home.
Five young women enjoyed a Sunday afternoon painting party at the church in Porto. (Clockwise from bottom left): Matilde Oliveira, Lilly Silva, Sophia Armstrong, Arianna Diecidue, and Leonor Oliveira.
Most Europeans today are not evangelicals
Portugal is not devoid of gospel witness (Roman Catholicism is the largest denomination) but the number of evangelicals is a small percentage of the population. An Evangelical Focus report from January 2019 says, “Evangelicals represent between 0.4% and 1% (depending on the sources) of the population of Portugal, but despite being a small faith minority, their social initiatives are visible in cities like Lisbon and Porto.”
“The statistics that we have, based mainly on church affiliation, suggest that around 2.5% of people in Europe are evangelical Christians, but taking into account nominal evangelicals, 2% would probably be more realistic,” according to “Europe Needs the Gospel,” a report in Evangelical Magazine (September-October 2021).