Brazil is the fifth-largest nation in the world and the biggest country in South America. It has a population of more than 214 million, of whom around 31% are evangelical Christians. Brazil has extremes of wealth: the poverty of the favelas contrasts starkly with the beautiful mansions of the super-rich.
The Protestant church in Brazil is growing rapidly and chaotically, with small, unorganised groups breaking away from established denominations. People with limited knowledge of the Bible and no formal education often lead the small independent churches. The by-product of this phenomenon is the growth of churches where members do not understand the gospel and have a low view of Scripture.
Pastor Nelson Salviano and his wife, Marcia, saw the tremendous need to train grassroots Christian leaders and decided to dedicate their lives to building up the local churches in Brazil. They studied at All Nations Christian College, and Nelson also took a one-year intensive course on Biblical preaching and training teachers, organised by the Proclamation Trust, in London. In 2004, they founded a school for equipping Christian grassroots leaders called ESCALE, in Belo Horizonte. ESCALE provides a range of short intensive courses, operating in three different segments: 1) Two year-long courses on the basics of theology and expository preaching; 2) Several weekend-long crash courses throughout the year on expository preaching; short mission trips to poor regions twice a year.
