Pastor João Jorge Sanhá

Executive Director​

Pastor João Jorge Sanhá, “Nenê,” has been the Director of Alfalit Guiné-Bissau [“Alfalit Guinéa-Bissau”] since 2014. Father to Isaac and Beatriz, Pastor Nenê is married to Irina, who works side-by-side with him. He became interested in Alfalit when he learned that over 70% of the people in Guinéa-Bissau are illiterate. Educating Guinéa-Bissauans, he believes, is key to developing leaders needed to help the country grow and flourish. The Alfalit International team knows that Pastor Nenê is a compassionate humanitarian and true leader who is committed to zero illiteracy in Guinéa-Bissau.

The Pastor President at Cristão Vida Abundante [“Abundant Life Christian Center”], Nenê, leads Treinamento de Missões Transculturais [“Cross-Cultural Missions Training”] to create teams to travel to often remote villages to offer assistance. While there, they also develop missionary workforces to ensure interventions, education, and spiritual guidance continue when workers leave. When visiting villages beyond the main city of Bissau, he frequently invites health professionals to accompany him and they distribute medicines, supplies, and school materials while assessing community needs. During cholera season, he volunteers his time to help those who are ill and shares prevention and care information with those who are not. Children and youth are his target audience for health education, but he informs all about health and suggested preventative practices. As a result, his neighbors know to come to him for first aid and basic medical supplies which he happily provides whenever possible.


Nenê attended the Zoe International Christian School in Portugal, where he was born and majored in theology and education. He continued his studies at the master’s level in counseling at Universidade Autonoma De Lisboa [“Autonomous University at Lisboa”]. He also completed Guinea Sociology (Lusófona University, Bissau) and evangelical morals studies. He holds certificates and diplomas in speciality areas related to drug addiction, nursing, health awareness, and prevention education. Before coming to Alfalit Guinéa-Bissau, Nenê was the Director of Logistics and Training for Bolsa Samaritana [“Samaritan’s Purse”] and Executive Director of the Fransanha Company, an import/export company. A skilled carpenter, Nenê has constructed several churches and schools. He has been recognized for his tremendous volunteer work by Bolsa Samaritana, Associação da Juventude Evangélica [“Evangelical Youth Associatio”], and Grupo Bíblico Universitário [“University Biblical Group”]. He speaks Portuguese, Spanish, French, and English.