Brazil’s evangelicals see Cup as fertile soil
“We are going to preach the world of God and hand out 10,000 flyers,” said pastor Paulo Solimar.
RIO DE JANEIRO:
The World Cup has given Brazil’s increasingly strong evangelical movement a chance to go out and canvas for more believers among football fans thronging the country.
One group went to proselytise on Rio’s tourist magnet of Copacabana Beach, a gathering place for hedonistic hordes enjoying their soccer rituals.
As Brazil prepared to see off Colombia to march into the semi-finals, around 100 evangelicals descended on the beach to seek converts.
As they formed a circle, the cry went out, “Alleluia! Jesus saves us!”
A prayer was followed by an enthusiastic “Glory to the Lord!” and a round of applause.
Military police on guard duty in front of Fifa’s luxuriant Copacabana Palace Hotel headquarters, wary of any sign of disturbance, looked on with curiosity.
Many of the group brandished banners in English and Portuguese with slogans like “Jesus is the solution for you!”
With hundreds of thousands of foreign and local tourists packing Rio for the football tournament, the group see a Heaven-sent opportunity to recruit a few for their own team.
“We are going to preach the world of God and hand out 10,000 flyers,” said pastor Paulo Solimar of the Assembly of God church in the Cantagalo slum. “We are a lively and dynamic church.”
The evangelicals also hand out some 15,000 small bilingual books entitled “Brazil, history, facts and football curiosities”. The work contains anecdotes about the game and tidbits of information on football stars like Pele, Cristiano Ronaldo, Fabio Cannavaro and Lionel Messi.
There is also an article by former Brazil, Real Madrid and AC Milan star Kaka, a devout evangelical Christian, who indicates that “the true sense of victory is having Jesus in my life”.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 8th, 2014.
The World Cup has given Brazil’s increasingly strong evangelical movement a chance to go out and canvas for more believers among football fans thronging the country.
One group went to proselytise on Rio’s tourist magnet of Copacabana Beach, a gathering place for hedonistic hordes enjoying their soccer rituals.
As Brazil prepared to see off Colombia to march into the semi-finals, around 100 evangelicals descended on the beach to seek converts.
As they formed a circle, the cry went out, “Alleluia! Jesus saves us!”
A prayer was followed by an enthusiastic “Glory to the Lord!” and a round of applause.
Military police on guard duty in front of Fifa’s luxuriant Copacabana Palace Hotel headquarters, wary of any sign of disturbance, looked on with curiosity.
Many of the group brandished banners in English and Portuguese with slogans like “Jesus is the solution for you!”
With hundreds of thousands of foreign and local tourists packing Rio for the football tournament, the group see a Heaven-sent opportunity to recruit a few for their own team.
“We are going to preach the world of God and hand out 10,000 flyers,” said pastor Paulo Solimar of the Assembly of God church in the Cantagalo slum. “We are a lively and dynamic church.”
The evangelicals also hand out some 15,000 small bilingual books entitled “Brazil, history, facts and football curiosities”. The work contains anecdotes about the game and tidbits of information on football stars like Pele, Cristiano Ronaldo, Fabio Cannavaro and Lionel Messi.
There is also an article by former Brazil, Real Madrid and AC Milan star Kaka, a devout evangelical Christian, who indicates that “the true sense of victory is having Jesus in my life”.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 8th, 2014.