Gunnar Vingren grew up in a Christian home in Sweden. After immigrating to America in 1903, he studied theology and became a Baptist pastor. Daniel Berg, also Swedish, arrived in the US in 1902 and worked as a steelworker.
Encounter with Pentecostal Power
In 1909, their lives intersected with Pentecost.
Vingren experienced baptism in the Holy Spirit during a visit to Sweden—an encounter characterized by speaking in tongues and a profound sense of divine empowerment. Berg had a similar experience at a Pentecostal meeting in Chicago.
Prophetic Word Testimony Brazil
Then came the prophetic word.
A group of Pentecostals confirmed that Vingren was called to missionary work. More specifically, God was sending him to a place called "Pará." Neither man had any idea where that was. After searching through maps and documents, they discovered Pará was a state in northern Brazil.
Testimony of Obedience to God
With no denominational support and almost no money, Vingren and Berg sailed for Brazil, arriving in Belém on November 19, 1910. They knew no Portuguese. They had no contacts. They had only a calling.
Initially they joined a local Baptist church while learning the language. But when they began preaching about the baptism in the Holy Spirit, controversy erupted. They were expelled.
On June 18, 1911, with 19 people who had also been expelled from the Baptist church, Vingren and Berg founded what would become the Assembleia de Deus—the Assemblies of God of Brazil.
A Continent Transformed
The growth was slow at first but explosive thereafter. By 1930, the church had 15,000 members and was present in nearly every Brazilian state. Leadership was transferred entirely to Brazilian nationals—a visionary move that ensured the movement would become authentically Brazilian.
Vingren returned to Sweden in 1932, his health broken. He died a year later at 53.
But what he and Berg planted became the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world. Today, the Assembleia de Deus has over 22 million members in Brazil alone—the largest evangelical church in Latin America.
Two Swedes who obeyed a prophetic word about a place they had never heard of changed the spiritual landscape of an entire continent.
