The Nunleys
Johnny was born and grew up in Christiansburg, VA. He was saved at the age of 8 and began to preach when he was 17. In 1969 he entered Piedmont Bible College (now Piedmont International University) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina where he received his Bachelor of Theology degree. In 2004 he received his Master's from Trinity Theological Seminary.
Rena was born and grew up in St. Lucia, the West Indies, where her parents were missionaries for 40 years. She was saved at age 13 and in 1972 entered Piedmont Bible College where she met Johnny. Ah yes, she studied there, too, and graduated in 1975. Rena has her own blog at anaspinkroses.blogspot.com.
In 1974 they were married and began to pastor a small church in Eden, NC. It was not long before the Lord began leading them in the direction of becoming missionaries. Although St. Lucia was originally considered, the Lord changed those plans and sent them to Brazil. After a 2-year period of raising support, they, along with their 2-year-old daughter, stepped onto Brazilian soil on October 5, 1978 and began their study of the Portuguese language in Fortaleza, Ceará.
The Nunleys have 5 children who all live in the Winston-Salem area of North Carolina. They have been blessed with eight grandchildren.
Rena was born and grew up in St. Lucia, the West Indies, where her parents were missionaries for 40 years. She was saved at age 13 and in 1972 entered Piedmont Bible College where she met Johnny. Ah yes, she studied there, too, and graduated in 1975. Rena has her own blog at anaspinkroses.blogspot.com.
In 1974 they were married and began to pastor a small church in Eden, NC. It was not long before the Lord began leading them in the direction of becoming missionaries. Although St. Lucia was originally considered, the Lord changed those plans and sent them to Brazil. After a 2-year period of raising support, they, along with their 2-year-old daughter, stepped onto Brazilian soil on October 5, 1978 and began their study of the Portuguese language in Fortaleza, Ceará.
The Nunleys have 5 children who all live in the Winston-Salem area of North Carolina. They have been blessed with eight grandchildren.
A Little Bit of History
First week of language school in 1978.
1-Our first year in Brazil was spent in Fortaleza where we studied Portuguese, which is Brazil's national language. "Esta é a família Miller"... Oh, how we repeated that first sentence many times before we ever began to get it right! It takes more than a lifetime to learn a foreign language, so...we are still learning!
The house where we held services for awhile.
3-In 1983, after our first furlough, we moved to Patos (also in Paraíba) where we stayed until 1992. There we began another "Faith Baptist Church" which started on our carport with a class of children.
Fortaleza Academy students before a sports event.
5-The Lord led us to move back to Fortaleza in 1992 where Johnny assumed directorship of the Fortaleza Academy, Baptist Mid-Mission's school for missionary children, for one year. Our five children all eventually graduated from this school.
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Rena, Jonna, Johnny, Sharon
2-After language school we moved 8 hours to the south, to the town of Sousa in the state of Paraíba. We were there for almost 3 years. We helped missionaries Russell & Judy Gordon at Igreja Batista da Fé (Faith Baptist Church). Many stories could be told about those "first experiences" years!
Our 3rd 'Faith Baptist Church'!
4-During the years that we lived in Patos, we also began a church in Santana de Mangueira, about 2 hours to the west. Today it is a thriving congregation in the town that once held zero believers!
Some of the members at IBJI when we left in 2000.
6-In Fortaleza we began working at an already established church, the Igreja Batista em Jardim Iracema. We remained there for 8 years until 2000 and the church grew from about 25 members to 100 during that time.
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