The latest in my series on the other side of the World Cup is another post from Mark & Suzana Greenwood. This time it's a series Prayer Points related to the World Cup host cities - please
pray during the World Cup for the following cities and issues:
São Paulo – Rede
Evangleica Nacional de Ação Social (RENAS) – http://renas.org.br – is a network of Christians
who care about people´s social social situation. Their headquarters is in São
Paulo. RENAS is promoting the “Bola na Rede Campaign” – “Ball in the
net” – a Christian movement that campaigns against sexual
exploitation and violence against children and teenagers during the World Cup.
“Ball in the net” will develop different actions in all the 12
World Cup hosting cities.
This coming Saturday the youth from Edward and Ana Greenwood´s
church will campaign on a square near where they live, giving out leaflets and
“vaccinating against violence”. This vaccine consists of talking to people on
the streets and ask them if they want to be vaccinated against violence. If they
say yes, they are given a sweet. The idea is to bring awareness and bring the
subject out into to the open, with the intention of discouraging people who
might have come to World Cup with the wrong intention (i.e. sex tourism, which
involves a lot of adolescents and children).
Salvador – Large numbers of people in Salvador
follow African Traditional Religions, such as Candomblé, or Spiritist beliefs,
like Umbanda. Salvador also has got a strong Baptist Convention, with
evangelistic and social work amongst drug addicts, and one of the oldest church
based community projects in Brazil – at Grace Baptist Church.
Rio de Janeiro – Rio de Janeiro is where the
Headquarters of the Brazilian Baptist Convention (CBB) are. Also there are the
Headquarters of the Baptist National Mission Board (JMN) and the Baptist World
Mission Board (JMM), all three in walking distance of Maracanã Stadium, where
the World Cup final will be held. The National Mission Board will be organizing
evangelism during the World Cup in all the hosting cities, in and around the
stadia. CBB is also ceding two of its office areas to Christian radio guys from
UK and USA, who will be broadcasting commentaries and documentaries, from a
Christian perspective, through thousands of relay stations throughout the
world.
Recife – Known as the most violent city in
Brazil, Recife is a beautiful place, with a traditional Baptist Seminary and a
large number of churches involved in Social Action. Another Baptist seminary
there, originally a women’s college, the Christian Education Seminary (SEC), has
trained hundreds of missionaries and Christian social workers over the years,
who now serve God throughout the world.
Porto Alegre – Porto Alegre is capital to the
least evangelised state in Brazil, and also has many followers of Candomblé and
Umbanda. One of the Baptist Conventions that works in Porto Alegre, the Pioneer
Baptist Convention, has as one of its aims that every church be involved in at
least one Social Project. The other Convention (Rio Grande do Sul Convention)
has a very active women’s ministry.
Manaus – In the headquarters of the Amazonas
Baptist Convention, in Manaus, Executive Secretary Pr Teodoro holds a prayer
meeting with his staff every day. His work covers a huge geographical area. The
nearest major city to Manuas, Tabatinga, on the border with Peru, is 2 hours’
flight away. The Baptist Convention of Amazonas runs a children´s home for
orphans and children who cannot be with their parents. Churches in Curitiba and
São Paulo also have children´s homes. This type work has become very challenging
recently, due to significant changes in the law. Pray for wisdom for the leaders
at this very difficult time.
Natal – Natal is capital to one of the poorest
states in Brazil, Rio Grande do Norte, but also has one of the most beautiful
coastlines. The Baptist Seminary there, recently set up by BMS missionaries, now
enables locals to train for the ministry without moving to other states.
Margaret Swires worked there for many years in the Baptist Convention, setting
up the Social Action Department.
Fortaleza - Like most Brazilian cities,
Fortaleza is a place of extreme inequalities. The international airport, opened
just over a decade ago, while helping to boost the economy, is also an open door
for sex tourism, similar to what has been happening in Recife for even longer.
Local government and churches are fighting against this, however it is a
situation with no simple solution. Please pray for Jailma who is heading up the
“Ball in the Net” campaign there.
Curitiba – Capital of Paraná, and now one of
the better-organized and most developed cities in Brazil, Curitiba was home for
BMS missionaries for decades. These missionaries planted many of the churches in
and around Curitiba and also developed many Social Projects, as well as working
in the Bible College, training ministers. The Paraná Baptist Convention has as
one of their aims to plant a church in every prison.
Cuiabá – Cuiabá is the geographical centre of
South America, and the heart of the Brazilian soya industry boom. Many people of
indigenous origin live in and around the city, and there is a evangelical
training college, called AMI, for pastors from a number of different tribes.
Folk come from all over Brazil for this specialized training, which understands
the tribal cultures like no other college does.
Brasília – Brasilia is Brazil’s capital, where
the country’s politicians work. Fighting corruption has been a slogan for the
present government, for the opposition and for protesters from the population in
general. Brazil has progressed on the road against corruption, however, much
still needs to be done. Please pray for wisdom and fairness among politicians,
and for the presidential election, to be held in October.
There are plenty of people unhappy with the fact that much
public money has been spent on building stadiums. U$642 million was spent to
rebuild the stadium in Brasilia, almost double than what had been planned. One
of the points protesters make is that there is not a strong football team in
Brasilia, and the odds of filling the stadium for any games after the World Cup
are very small.
Belo Horizonte – The Social Department in the
state Baptist Convention is the most well developed in the Brazilian Baptist
Convention. Simone, who leads it, is very involved in Child Protection work and
is, herself, a foster mother. She is also running the “Ball in the Net” campaign
there. There are many churches with social projects around the city, and some of
the biggest churches in Brazil.
Four of the hosting cities, São Paulo, Rio de
Janeiro, Recife and Fortaleza, have churches which run the Space-to-Fly
programme for children aged 7 to 11.
During the World Cup, these children are enjoying all sorts of
activities which enable them to learn more about their country, looking at the
maps where the different cities are. Brazil is a huge country, from Porto
Alegre, in the South, to Manaus, in the North, it takes at least 6 hours by
plane, non-stop. It is not possible to go by road.
At Pepes (pre-school projects designed to help children, especially those in extreme poverty, be prepared to go to school) and Space-to-Fly, children also are involved
discussions that help them to see that, even though the World Cup is fun, there
is much more to life than football, and Jesus is certainly more important than
football.
You can see the article in it's original form
here.
A
wise man, when asked how to eat an elephant, replied “one bite at a
time.” So we need to start small: praying the Spirit will help us
to pray, meditating on the passage from Romans (and others that the
Lord places on our hearts), giving what we can to charities who
directly help those caught up in these situations, like Christian Aid
working in Gaza, or Tearfund's “No Child Taken” campaign. And
those questions that keep running around our heads? Maybe consider
joining the Alpha course that will start in October, where we'll
explore together our Christian faith & get to know the Lord, and
each other, that bit better.
