PEPE International is celebrating its anniversary today, March 18! It marks 25 years of wholehearted dedication, offering thousands of children not only education and nutritional support, but also joy, a welcoming environment, safety, and—above all—the love of Jesus.
Many may not know this, but PEPE started small, with just 25 children from a disadvantaged community in São Paulo. Today, thanks to the work and dedication of countless JMM missionaries, it has become a benchmark in preschool education for children ages 4 to 6. PEPE now operates in 51 countries across the Americas, Asia, and Africa.
PEPE is a missionary socio-educational program that paves the way for the future of vulnerable boys and girls by strengthening their self-confidence and skills during the two crucial years leading up to formal education.
Furthermore, it is a strategic missionary tool for the expansion of God’s Kingdom. In partnership with evangelical churches and communities in Brazil and around the world, PEPE reaches even the most isolated or difficult-to-access areas to spread the Word of God.
“At every new frontier, PEPE plants seeds of knowledge and hope, transforming lives and building a more promising future for thousands of children around the world.”—Annual Report, 2025
Currently, PEPE plants seeds through 866 units and a team of 2,255 missionary-educators. In 2025, it reached a milestone: more than 28,000 children benefited. Today also marks the start of the tree-planting campaign at every PEPE unit. The proposal is simple: one child = one tree planted.
That’s thousands of smiles and rewritten stories about a better world.
In addition to education, the program offers nutritional and social support, reaching families as well. In 2025, the impact went beyond the walls of the units: more than 68,000 families were visited! And, through the work of the Holy Spirit, more than 40,000 decisions for Christ were recorded among adults and children.
With every step, every effort by global leadership, and every offering to JMM, more lives and entire communities are impacted by the presence of a PEPE unit.
As we celebrate PEPE’s 25th anniversary, we look back with gratitude and forward with hope. This vision echoes a truth highlighted by Billy Graham:
“One of the greatest legacies we can leave for the next generation is the knowledge of God and an education that prepares them to serve others.”
That is why PEPE exists: to restore a child’s right to dream again and to enable them to live the fullness of life that Jesus Christ offers. In doing so, we are planting seeds of eternity.
May the next 25 years transform lives one story at a time.
Jamile Darlen
Editorial Staff of Junta de Missões Mundiais da CBB
