Hisportic Christian Mission | One Language, One Gospel | Reaching Portuguese-Speaking Nations

Who We Are

About Hisportic Global

Planting Churches Among Portuguese-Speaking Peoples Worldwide

Founded in 1984, HCM exists to multiply Christ-followers among Portuguese-speaking peoples across the globe. What began as a ministry to Brazilian and Portuguese communities in New England has grown into a movement reaching the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe—partnering with local believers to plant churches, train leaders, and build sustainable, Gospel-centered communities.

Driven by the truth that language connects hearts and cultures, our mission is summed up in this call: One Language. One Gospel.

From Brazil to Guinea-Bissau, from Goa to Timor-Leste, we walk alongside Portuguese-speaking people—helping them discover Jesus, lead well, and impact their world. With each church planted, each student trained, and each entrepreneur supported, we’re laboring together for transformation in communities that have long been overlooked.

Tim Shields
Executive Director

Tim Shields has served as the Executive Director of Hisportic Global since 2015. Growing up in central Brazil, where his parents served as missionaries for nearly forty years, Tim developed a deep love for cross-cultural ministry from an early age. In his twenties, he followed that calling—serving as a missionary in Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Okinawa, South Korea, and Mexico. His work focused on evangelism, discipleship, preaching, teaching, and translation. Fluent in English and Portuguese with high proficiency in Spanish, Tim brings a global heart and a communicator’s gift to every part of HCM’s mission.

Before his full-time ministry work, Tim served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He later earned a B.S. in Cross-Cultural Ministry, an M.A. in New Testament, a Master of Divinity in Christian Care and Counseling, and Board Certification as a VA Chaplain under NAVAC. Over the course of eighteen years, Tim has served in the preaching ministry of four churches in Georgia, Tennessee, and Oregon.

Tim and his wife, married since 1985, share three grown children and six grandchildren who continue to inspire their passion for faith and family.

Board of Directors

This dedicated team of leaders serves as the Board of Directors for Hisportic Christian Mission. Among them are ministers, missionaries, church secretaries, veterinarians, and business professionals—each bringing unique gifts and experience to the work of the Gospel. Every board member is active in a partnering church and united by a shared vision: to see Portuguese-speaking peoples reached and discipled for Christ.
We are deeply grateful for their wisdom, partnership, and unwavering commitment to the mission of One Language, One Gospel.

Our Story

The Beginnings

After nine years of mission work in Brazil, Wayne and Gail Long returned to the United States in 1983 for a short furlough. During that season, Wayne served as the Interim Professor of Missions at Northwest Christian College (now Bushnell University). While researching for his classes, he discovered large pockets of Portuguese-speaking communities living in New England. God stirred his heart with compassion for these people who shared the language and culture he had come to love in Brazil. After prayer and the counsel of friends and church leaders, Wayne and Gail followed God’s leading and founded Hisportic Christian Mission in 1984.

The Vision

From the beginning, their vision was clear: to bring the Gospel of Christ to Portuguese-speaking peoples in their own heart-language. To make this vision reality, HCM began recruiting Portuguese-speaking pastors to plant churches among Portuguese, Cape Verdean, and Brazilian communities in the northeastern United States. The Longs moved to Rhode Island—strategically positioned to reach New Hampshire, New Jersey, and beyond—and began building relationships that would become the foundation for dozens of new churches.

The Impact

In the decades that followed, God multiplied that small beginning into a far-reaching movement. HCM has been instrumental in planting more than 50 churches across the United States, training dozens of pastors, and equipping hundreds of lay leaders. Thousands have been baptized, homes and families have been restored, and many have found freedom from addiction, depression, and despair through the transforming power of the Gospel. None of this would have been possible without that first step of obedience—to reach Portuguese-speaking people for Christ.

Leadership Transitions

After 22 years of faithful service, Wayne Long retired in 2006 and the Board appointed Carl Bookout as Executive Director. Having served on the Board for 16 years, Carl knew the mission well and carried the vision forward—helping plant additional ethnic churches among Portuguese, Cape Verdean, and Brazilian communities. He and his wife, Naomi, even spent six months in Brazil to learn the language and strengthen partnerships with Brazilian Christian Churches. Nine years later, Carl also retired, and in 2015 Tim Shields was called to lead HCM into a new era of global ministry.

Growth and Expansion

Under Tim’s leadership, Hisportic Christian Mission entered a season of remarkable growth. HCM had already stepped beyond U.S. borders in 2000, launching work in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, a former Portuguese colony. Over the next fifteen years, that ministry grew from 6 churches and 2 schools to more than 20 churches and 5 schools, along with the vision to establish a Bible institute (IDE — Institute of Development and Evangelism) to train emerging leaders.

In 2017, HCM expanded again—this time to Timor-Leste, a small Southeast Asian nation and former Portuguese colony. After two survey trips, HCM formally adopted Timor-Leste as a mission field and began recruiting missionaries for the work.

In 2018, God opened yet another door—this time in South Asia, another region shaped by Portuguese history and culture. Partnering with a veteran missionary family who, after a 10 year break, were returning to serve there, HCM launched its South Asia ministry in 2020.

A New Vision

With each new field, HCM’s vision continues to grow. Today, the mission is committed “to take the Gospel of Christ to the millions of Portuguese-speaking peoples in their own heart-language worldwide.” To fulfill that calling, HCM is prayerfully forming an international corps of missionaries—American, Brazilian, Papuan, Indian, and others—united by a shared language and a shared Gospel.

There are eight countries and two enclaves that share Portuguese history, culture, and language. To date, HCM is active in five of these ten regions—and continues to follow God’s leading to reach the rest.

HCM’s most recent expansion came in November of 2024 as we joined forces with an already existing ministry to Portugal. This veteran missionary family is engaged in church planting, personal discipleship, higher education in leadership formation and church planting, and unity among groups of smaller churches for the sake of evangelistic outreach.