The Cunha family recently returned to their native Portugal after five years of faithful service to the Guam-Micronesia Mission. Earlier this summer, Pastor Tiago Cunha accepted the call to serve in Portugal.

Pastor Cunha, his wife Claudia, and their two children, Diogo and Lara, began their ministry in the Guam-Micronesia Mission in Palau, where Pastor Cunha served as both the senior pastor of the Koror Seventh-day Adventist Church and coordinating pastor for Palau. His work there included Prison Ministries, where he had a divine appointment.

Of his initial visit to the Palau prison, Pastor Cunha recalled, “On that first day, a man approached me in the cafeteria and asked me if I knew why I was there. He pointed at me and said, ‘You’re here to baptize me.’” The man’s name was Justin and he was the convicted murderer of Pastor Ruimar DePaiva and his family – a previous senior pastor of Koror SDA Church. After years of studying with Justin, Pastor Cunha did baptize him at the Koror SDA Church, across the street from the prison where Justin now leads his own Bible studies. Mrs. Cunha said of their time at Guam-Micronesia, “I have no doubt that we were called to GMM for Justin.”

In 2018, the family moved to Guam, where Pastor Cunha was appointed as the senior pastor of Agana Height Seventh-day Adventist Church, as well as the coordinating pastor for the U.S. Territory of Guam. Together with his wife and children, he continued to passionately work with his congregation in Health, Youth, and Homeless Ministries.

Their service for the Lord took them from Portugal to France, then to Switzerland, and finally to the Pacific islands. Now, his new pastoral role in Portugal will mark the first time that Pastor Cunha and his family will minister in their home country.

Join us in expressing our heartfelt appreciation to Pastor Cunha, Claudia, Diogo, and Lara for their love and dedication to the people of Guam-Micronesia. We bid them a fond farewell until we meet again. May God continue to bless and guide them as they enter the next chapter of their ministry.