Terena Dias, Henrique & Corina

Henrique Dias grew up among the Terena people of Brazil. He accepted the Lord as his Savior at nine years old during a Vacation Bible School led by Wycliffe missionaries in his village. Corina grew up in a Christian home, accepted the Lord at sixteen years old. She felt the call to missions shortly after through a missionary woman at her church. They met at the Kadesh Barnea Bible Institute, a former ministry of South America Mission, and married at the end of their course in 1986. They served as Dean of Students for seven years, and during these years their daughter Elianai was born.

Their joint passion to reach all indigenous peoples led them to respond to an invitation in 1995 to participate in the Ammi Training Center in Brazil. Ammi was strategically located closer to other tribes in need of training and discipleship.  Their son Eliel joined their family during those years. They served faithfully for 21 years at Ammi. While there, Henrique learned about CONPLEI: the National Congress of Evangelical Indigenous Pastors and Leaders. Henrique has served as President of CONPLEI since 2002. He has helped lead many movements throughout Brazil with the goal of reaching other indigenous with the same calling they received on their lives.

Henrique and Corina’s unique gifting in leadership has enabled them to serve well the Indigenous Church. They currently serve as advisors and coordinators of the Trans Amazon Network, bringing the CONPLEI movement to five other countries in South America: Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Paraguay.  They both have been greatly involved in leadership training and empowering of indigenous leaders in the Amazon region. Henrique also serves as an advisor and consultant to both Brazilian and foreign missionary agencies, raising awareness of mission work being done among the indigenous to national churches.

Henrique and Corina joined South America Mission in 2022 to see the Indigenous Church strengthened throughout South America. Their desire is to grow these indigenous networks, creating other training centers across the states, and reducing the gap between the national church and the indigenous church. With these goals, they hope to see the many unreached people groups across South America also one day respond to God’s call of the Great Commission.