REPORT ON VISIT TO BRAZIL APRIL 2010
PLACE
We stayed in a district called Tucuns
not far from the beach resort of Buzios
and about half an hour's drive from Cabo Frio
a city about the size of Cork
two and a half hours' drive from Rio de Janeiro.
It is of course hot, with lush vegetation, with beaches,
which could be rivalled by some in Ireland
but add at least 10 degrees Celius and the the South Atlantic easily beats the North Atlantic
The food is highly salty or sweet and pleasantly spicy.
Hot snacks are easily available,
the coffee is strong and sweet
and sometimes free at petrol stations.
Meat is prominent in the diet:
I attended a barbecue without a burger bun in sight
with the steak cut in small pieces
so everyone gets a bit at same time
The plant and wild life is that of a tropical country.
As well as the ‘cobra’ a snake which Robson's nephew spotted on a beach
we saw vultures, egrets, monkeys.
PEOPLE
The people are as warm as the weather, they smile and are very tactile.
The ‘thumbs up’ sign is very useful when your Portuguese is limited.
I heard the words ‘crazy’ and ‘so so’ a lot.
It is a very laid back culture, valuing people over programmes,
so a lot of patience is required by Europeans.
There is lot of racial diversity, and on the surface harmony,
going back to Brazil’s heritage of indigenous people, millions of African slaves,
and European settlers, mainly Portuguese and then German.
But I was told that black people tend to be less well off,
more poorly educated and discriminated against.
Many people spoke sadly about the deep seated corruption.
Possibly fuelled by the sunshine and beaches, it is a very sensual culture.
Pastor Luis Carlos said in a joke with a serious intent that he hated Buzios,
the nearby beach resort made popular by Brigitte Bardot;
he sees it as a moral & spiritual graveyard for several pastors.
‘Crazy’ may not always be good.
PASTORS
The pastors are warm hearted and dedicated.
They don’t get or don’t take many holidays.
Still less do many get opportunities to travel far.
There is a good degree of participation in worship
with a mixture of praise songs that we would recognise
and others of local origin.
People come up to the front for prayer.
They sometimes stand for the scripture reading.
After the benediction in Presbyterian churches
they tend to respond with a threefold sung Amen -
a traditional piece of music but sung with great feeling.
There are a good number of young people at church,
though I was told that some who are regular in winter,
in the high summer find other things to do
PROJECT
Robson & Emma's project to start an outreach centre at Tucuns is at an early stage,
waiting for government permissions.
A local lawyer, Adriano, a Christian is helping with this.
He suggested that they could have a soccer pitch
and run an outreach based on that.
Ed & Sandra are friends of Robson & Emma from England
who have been having a house built on the other side of the road down the track;
this is nearly complete.
Their plan is to spend part of each year in Brazil
and see how their facility can be developed.
Robson & Emma have a long term plan to be resident in Brazil
and manage their centre, which is at a much earlier stage of planning.
PRAYER
Prayer is needed to see how to progress things.
I hope that maybe once a month some of us will meet with Robson & Emma
to focus on the needs of that country
and how their project may be used by God.
The first such meeting is this Saturday 8 May at their home at 4 pm.
But I want us to pray for Christians in Brazil
in terms of the reading from 1 Corinthians 10.
Like the church in Corinth
the churches in Brazil are comparatively young
and like Corinth the surrounding culture
is given over to in your face pleasure seeking
without limits in partying and other self indulgence.
Evangelical Christianity has made great advances in S America.
People are glad to embrace a faith that sets free and is vital
but maybe many think it’s only about getting ‘born again’
and don’t understand that there is a also a call to day by day discipleship.
What Paul is warning the Corinthian Christians
is not to presume on their spiritual blessings.
Spiritual vitality is not always the same as holiness (Christlikeness)
The experience of the children of Israel in the desert wanderings
is given as examples
‘to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did’ (v6)
Just because we have committed to Jesus
does not mean that we are magically immune from temptation
and cannot fall.
We are all vulnerable to temptation.
We can all fall.
If it is not the spectacular things
that would get tabloid headlines
which may be particular dangers in the Brazilian culture
it can be something as acceptable in Irish society
as grumbling and complaining
which is equally displeasing to God,
however socially acceptable we think it.
Paul reminds us that ‘God is faithful’
‘Deus e fiel’ which Brazilian Christians often write on their cars and vans.
God will provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
We don’t have time to go into what the ways out may be:
it can be something different according to each situation
but as we pray for each other
as we lovingly warn each other
as we live positive Christlike examples before each other
challenging the areas where each is weak
whether Brazilian self indulgence or Irish negativity
we show each other the escape routes.
If you would like my more detailed journal of the visit, please email me on jfaris@eircom.net
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