Jeremy and Joneia Bennett

Missionaries to Southern Brazil.

Jeremy: I was saved when I was seven years old and brought up in a good Christian home in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. One evening in a boys’ meeting at church, my teacher taught salvation and that everyone must ask Jesus to come into their hearts to be their savior. I remember understanding that I was a sinner in need of a savior. That night, I went forward and talked with my teacher, who led me to pray a sinner’s prayer to ask Jesus to come into my heart and save me. I have known with assurance since that evening that I am saved.

I dedicated myself to God fully when I was 16. My Christian school had a camp at the start of each year. That particular year, the preacher was preaching about no longer being a mediocre Christian with God as just a part of your life, but to fully dedicate our lives to God. As natural with the camp experience, everyone responded, but many did not go any farther from there. I felt serious conviction from that message and took time after the service to pray and dedicate myself to God. From that moment, God started removing things from my life that did not belong and teaching me to have complete dependence on Him. After graduating from High School, I went to Lee University for a year with no clue about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. During that year in college, I strongly dedicated myself to prayer, Bible reading, and devotion to God. It was then that I asked God, “What do you want me to do with my life?” From that time, God would not remove the thought of being a missionary off of my heart. When I finally surrendered to God’s clear calling for missions, there was peace, joy, and a certainty that I had never experienced before. I knew I was going to be a missionary.

Joneia: In September 2001 I accepted Christ as my savior during our family devotional time. My dad was teaching us about the cross, and how Jesus died to save us from hell and from our sins. I understood that I was headed for hell, and that Christ died to save me. So, I bowed my head and asked Jesus to be my savior that night.

I was born and raised on the mission field in southern Brazil. I was blessed to have a family who taught me early on that doing Christ’s will was the only way to peace and happiness in life. I always knew that God wanted me to serve Him in church. I began to teach young children at age twelve and have been teaching kids church as the opportunity arose since then.

After starting high school, many began to ask me what I was going to do with my life. They asked if I was going to go to a regular college or university, or if I was planning on going to Bible college. I had honestly never really thought about it before then. I had some inclination towards animal science and counseling degrees, but that was just an interest, and not neccessariy what I wanted to go to college for. I was basically just waiting for God to tell me what to do. One day, when I was sixteen, I was reading in my History book about how there is a need for the gospel in the world. I thought to myself, “wow, we really need people to go,” and that’s when I heard God say “How about you?” I struggled with full surrender for a few minutes, but then gave in and surrendered to go anywhere God wanted me to go. Since then, I have had no doubt that God wants me to be a missionary till the day He takes me to my heavenly home.

Together: The Lord led both of us to Heartland Baptist Bible College, where we majored in Missions. In 2016, we got married. Joneia then graduated in 2017 as class valedictorian, and Jeremy graduated in 2019 with the Missions award.

After graduation, we moved to Washington State, and worked in a missionary internship. During that time, Jeremy gained a lot of experience in preaching, teaching, visitation, and song leading, and we led as the teen directors. After our internship, the Lord led us to Texas to join the Independent Baptist Fellowship International, and we entered the membership of Worth Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. During our time there, we worked with Pastor Tyler Gillit in what ministries we could during Covid.

At the end of 2020, we went to the field of Caxias do Sul, Brazil, to help Joneia’s parents with their ministry. While we were there, it became evident that God was calling us to go back to Southern Brazil. We returned to the United States in the middle of February 2021 and are currently working on our deputation.