Brian and Lorena

As the founders of Transforming Lives Ministry, Lorena and I are dedicated to realizing Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations.

Mission Statement: Take seriously Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations.

Personal History

For the past forty years, our journey has involved planting churches on three continents, training hundreds of missionaries and pastors, and having fun doing it! Our hearts are deeply committed to preaching the gospel, teaching the Word, praying for the sick, and encouraging the Church! We have a passion to see the lost come into a relationship with Jesus Christ and desire to see the Church equipped to reach the world.

Happily married for over forty years, we are blessed with five remarkable children and seven beautiful grandchildren.

Why we do do what we do?

While serving as missionaries in Africa, I (Brian) was deeply moved by the state of the Church. I saw that many struggled to grasp the truth of the gospel and the completed work of Jesus on the cross. To illustrate, some would attend church on Sunday and then visit a witchdoctor on Monday. When we asked (even) pastors, “How does one attain salvation?” we received religious answers such as “Join the church.” or “Stop sinning. Live a good life.” We rarely heard them mention the name of Jesus! This realization prompted a significant shift in our ministry approach in Africa. We recognized the urgent need to clarify the message of Jesus Christ to both teach and demonstrate the power of the gospel. It brings us profound joy to witness the moments when ‘the lights come on’ for believers as they understand how the work of salvation is complete and comprehend the authority and power they possess as believers.

What do we do?

Word

We teach the Word of God and equip others to first understand the Bible with personal applications, and then teach the Word to others. II Timothy 2:2, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” We do this with discipleship booklets covering the foundations of our faith, simple enough for any pastor to understand and use with his/her people. These can be taught interactively over 2-3 days, used by teachers/pastors for sermon material, or just given to believers for their own personal growth. Some booklets are designed for pastors particularly in oral cultures, teaching them how to create sermons from Bible stories. Birthed out of Lorena’s experience in Mozambique, we also have a booklet accompanied with lessons, teaching how to create a vibrant, growing children’s ministry for all ages in an environment with basically no resources.

Power

Paul told the Thessalonians, “…our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.” We too love to minister with the gifts the Holy Spirit has given us, and invite believers everywhere to discover and use the gifts God has given them. We go wherever God opens doors for us to preach and teach, leading others into a knowledge of the Word as well as an encounter with the Holy Spirit. The first miracle I (Lorena) ever saw was my own healing after falling down a flight of stairs in the middle of the night in the Philippines years ago. The next day I could not move. We didn’t know if my back was broken – there were no doctors or hospitals in that area. My teammates began praying and within 20 minutes, I was completely healed! I was then able to continue pain free with the team, traveling in a crowded jeepney for the next 8 hours on torn up bumpy roads filled with huge potholes to our final destination! Since then, (and now more than ever), we see God’s love and power touch and heal many throughout the world.

Conclusion

Jesus did not command us to go into all the world and make initial converts.  Jesus’ command is to go into all the world and make disciples.  This is why our mission statement is to “take seriously Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations.”

Brief History: Our church planting missionary experience began in Indonesia in 1984, moving on to the Philippines in 1989, where we stayed for 5 years. Since then we planted and pastored a church in SJC, California for 14 years, then served with Iris Global in Mozambique for 9 years. We continue with Iris Global to this day, but now God has called us back to Asia (though we still oversee the national discipleship teams remotely in Mozambique).

Currently, we are answering God’s call on our lives to go through the doors He opens -offering teaching, training, resources, encouragement, prayer, etc. to churches, Bible schools, missionaries and believers in Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Our passion is to see believers strengthened in the Word of God and experience the loving, peaceful, powerful presence of the Holy Spirit in their daily lives.

Discipleship Materials – A continuing work in progress

We are currently creating audio versions of our materials in various languages.

This will enable even more individuals to access and enjoy the training materials, regardless of their literacy levels. The ability to listen and learn in their own language will undoubtedly be a tremendous boost to the spiritual growth of these people groups. Many of these training materials are already available on this website.

Free to Use and Share

As we have dedicated our lives to sharing the gospel and equipping others to do the same, all our materials are offered free of charge and available to download and copy. We just ask that you do not edit the material without prior permission.

Pastorbrianwood@gmail.com or Lorena lorenawood62@gmail.com

Please feel free to contact us! We would love to hear from you!

Brief History:

We answered the call of God to return to the mission field in 2008, when we accepted the invitation from Rolland and Heidi Baker (Iris Global) to serve with their team in Pemba, Mozambique.  Brian helped direct the Mozambican Bible School, while Lorena developed and grew a large children’s ministry. 

After two years in Pemba, we felt God leading us to the heart of Mozambique where we could more directly disciple the many pastors of the Iris churches, known there as Comunhao na Colheita. For 7 years we taught pastoral training seminars and raised up national discipleship teams, which continue to this day. 

Current:

Every week one or more teams are sent out, teaching one of our discipleship booklets to a 3-day gathering of pastors from a given district. (These can be found on the home page under “creser” and are free for anyone to download and use.) These leaders are also given materials so they can return to their districts and disciple their people. “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” (2 Timothy 2:2). We continue to write ongoing discipleship booklets and oversee the teams and pastors through online chats, videos, etc. At the same time, we now have answered God’s call to live and minister in Asia with the same focus on discipleship.

Recently we felt the Lord asking us to get the Word of God into the hands of as many literate believers as possible in our Mozambican Comunhao na Colheita churches. There are thousands that can’t afford or even find a bible in their rural regions. Iris Global has worked hard to get audio solar bibles and printed bibles to many of the top leaders, but we are now working on getting small portions of the Bible printed locally in booklet form out to the regular church members who can read. This is affordable and simple to distribute with with help of the local district pastors and alleviates the corruption and delays we face at the ports when we import Bibles. Presently we are printing and distributing a booklet with the Gospel of John, Galatians, and Ephesians, costing us just $1.25 each.