WEC entered Portugal in 1980 with one couple, who relaunched the free gospel paper Cedo in the northern city of Braga. The office is now in Penafiel (near Oporto), where two couples are now involved in the Cedo ministry. Cedo is sent to 55 countries, but primarily to Portugal, Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau.

The current quarterly circulation is 150,000 copies. Cedo is printed in England by CPO and despatched by groups in the UK. These Despatch Units pack the papers, pay the postage, and pray for the work. The office in Penafiel deals with editing, management of mail records, and follow-up including letters, Bible courses and other literature.

Two visits from Portugal to Mozambique have been made, and the team would like to do more of this, to see how Cedo is being used, to encourage distributors, and teach leaders who have very little opportunity to learn more about the faith. WEC’s goal is also to plant churches in northern Portugal. The work is hard and discouraging, but the need is great. There are large churches in the centre and south of the country, but in the greater Oporto area of about two million people, there are only 20 evangelical churches, of which most are very small.

There is a powerpoint available about the work of CEDO in Portugal.

The WEC UK website lists a leaflet on Portugal you can download.