Teófilo Hayashi

Teófilo Hayashi (April 15, 1980), best known as Teo Hayashi, is a Brazilian pastor and missionary, son and grandson of pastors. Teo Hayashi founded the Dunamis Movement in 2008, after returning from the United States, where he lived. In 2016, he participated in the event "The Call: Azusa Now" in Los Angeles, which would give rise to the movement "The Send" in 2019, of which Hayashi was one of the co-founders.

Teo Hayashi's mother, Sarah Hayashi, founded the Monte Sião Church in São Paulo, in 1977. His maternal grandparents, Hiroyuki Hayashi and Kaoru Hayashi, were missionaries and came from Japan to Brazil in 1935, with the aim of serving Japanese immigrants living in Amazonas.

Early life Teo Hayashi finished secondary school in Brazil and went to the United States to study psychology at Liberty University. It was while graduating that, according to him, he began to "deviate from the ways of the Lord." However, at the end of this period, God would have directed him to Youth With A Mission (YWAM), which he claims he had to research about, as he did not know what the organization was about. Teo Hayashi then spent three years on missions at the YWAM base in Hawaii, where he became convinced that his work should be aimed at college students, due to his own negative personal experience. He also served as a YWAM missionary in Asia, and upon returning to the United States, spent another five years working at Kingsley Fletcher Ministries.

Beliefs Teo Hayashi has a more conservative view of what the believer's role and attitudes should be in society. According to him, discussing his rejection of "hypergrace" (translated as attitudes alien to Christian conduct),

Zion Church In January 2020, the Monte Sião Church where Teo Hayashi is pastor, underwent a rebranding and was renamed "Zion Church". The global aspirations of its leadership probably explain this name change, which is highlighted on its official page welcoming the new name: