The Bible in Brazil - # 242

ISSUE 242 – January-March 2014 – YEAR 66

Guided

by Faith Colporteurs, missionaries, church leaders and volunteers devote themselves to initiatives that help to spread the transforming message of God’s Word across Brazil.

DIGITAL THE SUCCESS OF GOD’S WORD IN DIGITAL FORMAT

The Holy Scriptures in digital format are increasingly popular. This can be easily noticed through the growing numbers of biblical publications distributed in digital format. From January to October 2013, SBB (Bible Society of Brazil) distributed 27,225 digital Scriptures, especially Bibles featuring the Almeida Revised & Updated (738 copies) and NTLH (576 copies) translations and the booklet God’s Blessings for You (20,842 copies). SBB, the pioneer in offering the Holy Text in digital technology in Brazil, offers 25 digital titles, including academic publications, Bibles, Study Bibles and biblical booklets.

THE YEAR BEGINS WITH NEW TITLES

SBB will launch, by late March, a series of digital publications in e-book format in different categories.

Check below the titles that are in the final stages of preparation. All titles will be available in Amazon Brasil (www.amazon.com.br) or Google Play (https:// play.google.com/store): • Booklets: The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Featuring the New Translation in Today’s Language, they will be published in literary edition, that is, not divided in chapters, verses and titles, and with just one column. In addition to these publications, the Book of Proverbs will be launched as well.

• Academic: The History of the Bible in Brazil; The Bible in the Brazilian Empire; and The Bible in the Brazilian Republic. All publications are authored by Luiz Antonio Giraldi.

• NTLH Study Bible.

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Photo: SBB File

TESTIMONY

WHERE DO WE START READING THE BIBLE? As soon as I converted myself, I realized a reading plan. Since then, I read the Bible that members of the church I had chosen chronologically, starting with the Book of read the Bible frequently. So I started Genesis, and following different reading reading it as well, but I decided to begin plans!

The result: My soul started to observe with the Book of Revelation. The more things around me in a special way. I rejoice I read, the less I understood. Even so, I at the promises I find in God’s Word. My insisted and enjoyed reading the Book of faith has increased and I got closer to the Revelation.

Lord. I have more understanding and peace.

Then, one day, I had a dream. I was I learned that Jesus is good. on a beautiful green field, with “I rejoice at the The Bible has also taught me to pebbles right on the middle.

My Bible was on top of the promises I find in serve and have common sense, God’s Word.” so I have been trying to live by pebbles open on the Book of the biblical teachings. Now it Revelation! Suddenly, a gust of doesn’t matter if I start reading Genesis, wind brought thousands of leaves that fell Revelation or any other biblical book. What from trees that gently turned the pages of really matters is that through the Holy my Bible leaving it open on the first page of Scriptures I learned to do good, beg and the Holy Book. At that moment, I heard a receive the grace and mercy of God.■ voice close to me: “Jesus will talk to you.”

Iva Moreira de Oliveira – Brasília – Federal When I approached the Bible, it was not District open on the Book of Revelation anymore, but rather on the Book of Genesis. The voice continued: “Read the Bible.”

I woke up abruptly and realized that Testimonies about the Bible I should start by reading the Book of If you have experienced an edifying experience with the Word of God, write to The Bible in Brazil magazine Genesis instead of satisfying my curiosity and/or to SBB’s website telling it. Those whose by reading the Book of Revelation. It all testimonies are selected and published will receive a copy of the NTLH Study Bible. Please send your started to make more sense. I also talked testimony with a photo to webmaster@sbb.org.br. to the pastor of my church who suggested

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PRAYER CALENDAR

EVERYWHERE WITH THE WORD OF GOD Bible Society of Uruguay values its relationships with churches, bookstores and partners by investing in projects developed to boost the distribution of Scriptures in the country and encourages new generations to have contact with the Holy Book.

Operating in a country that is going through huge internal changes caused by both the effects of globalization and the growing use of technology, Bible Society of Uruguay (SBU) is investing in several activities in order to rise to the new challenges. “We need to understand God’s plans to know how to explore and use the resources and opportunities available in order to provide increasingly efficient services in our country,” says Raul Gonzalez, the organization’s General Secretary.

Photo: UBS

Bible Society of Uruguay materials being distributed to children during Children’s Day celebration held in Rivera, a town in the North of the country.

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One of the main programs developed

by SBU is called New Horizons, which is considered the foundation of the biblical literature distribution work in Uruguay.

Through this program, the organization keeps in touch with churches, bookstores, schools and Christians across the country.

Representatives from the organization visit different towns in order to learn the needs of churches in terms of biblical literature.

The program also encourages people and organizations to join the Bible-a-Month Club, therefore committing themselves to

buy every month a copy of the Bible, at subsidized prices, to be donated to those who have never had contact with the Word of God. The New Horizons program enables the local Bible Society to reach every little village across the country with the Good News.

NEW GENERATIONS One of the challenges faced by Bible Society of Uruguay is the evangelization of children and the teenagers in order to teach them Christian principles, the value of family and the importance of the homeland. Therefore, it has been making efforts to develop projects targeting this audience by using technology as a way to communicate and interact.

So it has been using different electronic media to encourage young people and the population in general to read the Word of God. Website, pages on Facebook and Twitter are some of the media used to communicate the organization’s mission and programs, in addition to offering the full content of the Bible online.

One of the projects developed for children is Children’s Day, carried out with active participation of churches and other institutions with partnerships established with Bible Society of Uruguay. The arrangements for the celebration, which is always held in August, start to be made

on the first half of the year by organizing activities, raising funds and promoting the event in churches. The project, one of organization’s favorites, has been attracting more and more families that celebrate the date with the Word of God. Also focusing on young people, the organization will launch in 2014 the project School for Parents – We Design with Love. The initiative aims to publish a biblical booklet with the same title of the project. The publication will be used by a multidisciplinary team to train parents and school leaders to become multiplying agents, both at their homes and congregations, who will spread teachings that can help young people to get closer to God and, above all, stay away from drugs.

“This goal of this project is the prevention of drug use. We hope to work with about 200 churches, and reach more than five thousand young people,” explains the General Secretary.

Another novelty for 2014 is the launch of a calendar featuring images associated to a selection of biblical texts. The material is being prepared to reach families that already know the message and the power of God’s Word and those that do not.

“When facing ethical and moral changes within our society, new challenges make us develop new products with tools to meet those needs,” observes Mr. Gonzalez.

URUGUAY • Capital: Montevideo • Location: South America The only land border is with Brazil • Population: 3.5 million people, of which 1.8 million living in the Greater Montevideo Area • Area: 68,037 sq. mi.

• Language: Spanish • Religion: Christianity 64.6% (Catholicism 44.5%; Protestantism 13.7%; Others 6.4%); No Religion 27.5%; Atheism 6.3%; Others 1.6%

• Bible Society of Uruguay http://www. sociedadbiblica.org.uy/

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TRANSLATION

NEW TESTAMENT IN WAJÃPI OF AMAPARI The dialect is spoken by one of the three groups of the Wajãpi people living the State of Amapá, Brazil.

New Testament in Wajãpi of Amapari will be available in the first half of 2014.

“The Word of God gives us wisdom, because it tells us how the Son of God came and died to redeem our sins. I’m very happy to have the Word in my language because when we read it or hear it in our language we understand it.” The touching statement was made by Takuro Wajãpi, a member of the Wajãpi people, who helped Arthur and Cheryl Jensen, a couple of American missionaries, with the translation of the New Testament into the dialect spoken by his people, called Wajãpi of Amapari. Developed through a

joint effort between Bible Society of Brazil (SBB), SIL International, New Brazilian Tribes Mission and the Presbyterian Transcultural Missions Association, the publication will be available to its target audience in the first half of 2014.

A call from God made the couple of missionaries leave, a little over 30 years ago, the comfort of their home to live in the Amazonian rainforest. This mission proved to be a great challenge since the beginning, because the Wajãpi people occupied a vast

Photos: SBB File

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area (delimited by the basins of the rivers Jari, Oiapoque and Araguari) located on the border of Brazil and the French Guiana.

On the Brazilian side, the Wajãpi people is subdivided into three independent smaller groups, each one with its own dialect: the Ipitinga group that lives isolated; the Jari group; and the group from the Amapari region, in the State of Amapá. The first contact of the missionaries with the Wajãpi people was with the Jari group that speaks the Cuc dialect. This group, with at least 30 speakers, was the first one to have the Word of God translated into their language, which resulted in the publication of the New Testament in 2003.

Arthur and Cheryl decided to take on a new challenge: to bring the biblical message to another group of the Wajãpi people that lived in the Amapari region and spoke the Wajãpi of Amapari dialect. According to the 2010 Indigenous Census, published

by IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), approximately 900 speakers of this dialect live in the area. “We had to start the translation from scratch, because we felt some tension when we first arrived at the community and started to speak the Cuc dialect from the Jari group. We understood that there were historical conflicts between the two groups (Jari and Amapari), in addition to noticing numerous linguistic differences between the two dialects,” explains Arthur Jensen.

Over the years, several setbacks almost prevented the completion of the New Testament in the Wajãpi of Amapari language. “We wanted to give up, but we trusted the promise that God’s Word would reach their hearts.

It wouldn’t be possible to continue our mission without the support from our colleagues,” tells Cheryl Jensen.

The situation changed in mid-2012.

About 200 people, including indigenous

people, started to participate in the translation process. “Without the engagement of the Wajãpi people we wouldn’t be able to complete the New Testament,” says the translator. Takuro Wajãpi acknowledges the difficulties faced by the missionaries: “In the past, not many Wajãpi wanted the Word of God. But today, a lot of indigenous people, from several villages, are waiting for it. We really want it!,” he reveals.

Paulo Teixeira, SBB’s Translation & Publications Secretary, quotes a statement from the South African leader Nelson Mandela to emphasize the relevance of bringing the biblical message to Brazilian indigenous peoples in their native language: “‘If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart’. By saying those phrases, Mandela pointed out that by valuing one’s mother tongue ensures the survival of one’s culture,” he concluded.■

The Wajãpi are looking forward to having God’s Word in their language in order to teach it to their children.

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GUIDED BY FAITH Colporteurs, missionaries, church leaders and volunteers devote themselves to initiatives that help to spread the Word of God across Brazil. Many of them expand their activities to other countries.

The Word of God has been made available to society in several ways, reaching teenagers facing situations of social risk, substance abusers, prison inmates, people hospitalized, and indigenous and gypsy communities. Missionaries, colporteurs, church leaderships and volunteers hit the streets guided by faith in order to spread biblical teachings, and, often, offering shelter, food and clothing. There are several examples of individual and group initiatives, supported by Bible Society of Brazil (SBB), that are changing lives.

Children and teenagers are the target audience of Jeame Ministry, which operates in an area of São Paulo known as “Crack Land” (due to its high consumption of crack cocaine) and in 16 Youth Detention Centers run by the State of São Paulo. “Our work is to bring the Word of God to those troubled minors,” says Vilma Ramos Alves, Evangelism Coordinator, who counts on the

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partnership with SBB for the distribution of Bibles. She points out that, in most cases, the minors face a social problem. “We don’t want to give them a free pass, but rather challenge them to change,” she says.

The dream of the 12 members of this ministry is to have a house in “Crack Land” to give shelter to pregnant teenagers addicted to crack. Vilma is eager to resume the project “Papo de Responsa” (Cool Talk) in 2014, which uses the language of the homeless in worship services. The coordinator recognizes the scope of the challenge: “We believe that the Gospel represents the whole human being, that is, the emotional, the spiritual and the physical aspects. If we don’t meet the needs of these boys and girls, we won’t be able to go very far,” she concludes.

In the town of Passos (State of Minas Gerais), the Salt & Light of the Earth Association combats crime, violence and

drug use through outreach projects that targets prison inmates, in addition to supporting their families and children. The organization has 40 volunteers who help by teaching handicraft and music classes, distributing meals and giving talks. One of the projects supported by SBB with the provision of Bibles is called Freedom – Bringing Life to Prisons and it is developed each quarter in a different correctional institution.

“Without the Word of God it’s impossible to verify the true transformation of behaviors of our target audience,” points out Vanessa de Oliveira, the Association’s Secretary, adding that they intend to increase the reach of the projects in 2014.

EVANGELIZATION AT DAWN The NGO “Angels,” from Curitiba (State of Paraná), has a group of 18 volunteers who provide support to prison inmates and their families. “We do evangelization work overnight, and, on Saturdays, we distribute fruits and vegetables to 60 families, seizing the opportunity to bring the Word of God to them,” says Oscar Moreira, the

organization’s Director.

Whenever possible, the Angels provide assistance to substance abusers. As there is a growing demand, the organization intends to expand its facilities in 2014 by building more rooms for lodging, a kitchen and dining halls, bathrooms and other areas. According to Mr. Moreira, it is worth the effort: “Nothing we do for God is in vain.”

The Salvation Express provides assistance to impoverished populations, mainly in places hit by disasters, such as droughts or flooding, is also supported by SBB. Headquartered in Ouro Fino (State of Minas Gerais), but reaching as far as Paraguay and Bolivia, the organization has once been part of the Light in Northeastern Brazil project by recruiting volunteers to help flooding victims.

In 2012, it distributed more than de 100 tons of donations.

“We bring not only material food, but also spiritual food, thanks to SBB that has been helping us with biblical literature,” says Alexandre Barbado Freitas. As Coordinator of the Salvation Express, he estimates that more than six thousand

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COVER Bibles have already been distributed.

One of the activities scheduled for March 2014 is the distribution of food in the São Francisco River Valley region. Hence the organization has already received over ten tons of donations. Mr. Freitas also says that they will try to establish partnerships with missionaries from the United States by offering them logistical support and transportation, since the organization has a bus for 42 passengers and a motorhome.

Photo: SBB File

The Brazilian Interdenominational Christian Chaplaincy Association operates abroad, for instance, in Lubango, Angola.

FROM HOSPITAL TO SCHOOL The Samuel Project was created in Belo Horizonte (State of Minas Gerais) as an interdenominational initiative with the goal of offering biblical material to children.

Today, it is present in hospitals across Brazil, in addition to some orphanages.

In October and December, the kits they distribute include the Tiny Tots Bible Story Book, published by SBB. “Many parents cry, and are grateful,” reveals Valdemir Alexandre da Silva, known as Pastor Miro.

This initiative will be expanded in 2014 due to its success. Pastor Miro celebrates:

“Hospitals recognize the importance of our work and request more volunteers with the same profile.”

And the Brazilian Interdenominational Christian Chaplaincy Association, also headquartered in Belo Horizonte, operates in public hospitals in the State of Minas Gerais and in one in the State of São Paulo. The organization stands out for offering courses for Interdenominational Christian Chaplains at churches. It has already trained 541 chaplains, and some of them work in Lisbon, Portugal, and in Lubango, Angola.

With plans to establish a recovery center for substance abusers, the organization is preparing itself to train more collaborators in 2014. “We do a difficult, but very gratifying work,” says Maurício de Castro Lacerda, who considers the Christian literature donated by SBB as tools that facilitate the contacts with those benefited.

Rosânia Santos, volunteer and VicePresident of Life – Christian Hospital Chaplaincy Association, says that the organization, created four years ago in Belo

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Horizonte, today is well-known by hospitals and churches. “Obviously, what makes us go ahead is announcing the Gospel of Reconciliation, the immeasurable love of God and the vicarious work of Jesus Christ,” she says, adding that the partnership with SBB has been fundamental for the recognition and the success of the work carried out by the volunteers.

Another chaplaincy project, from Pelotas (State of Rio Grande do Sul), was started in 2008 by local communities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil. The work is carried out by Pastor Adelar Munieweg, in charge of the spiritual assistance, together with the Multidisciplinary Home Care Program of Federal University of Pelotas’ School Hospital, which provides home care to oncology patients. “Delivering a pamphlet, a booklet or a copy of the Holy Bible to the sick and their caregivers makes a huge difference,” he assures.

Pastor Munieweg also visits hospitals, holds meetings with patients’ families, and, for the next few years, plans to expand the teams of volunteers. He explains that there is a lot to be done and that the needs of the families of those who are sick goes beyond reading a biblical text, distributing literature and administering medication.

However, he stresses the importance of the missionary material offered by SBB: “No one we contact on a daily basis is left without something to meditate on the Word of God.” In Curitiba (State of Paraná), Chaplain Mario José Steffen, from the Worker’s Hospital Ecumenical Chaplaincy, chose the materials produced by SBB as the only one to be used by the entire team.

“The person is frail, with depression, but is touched by the God’s Word,” he says.

As with many others chaplaincies, the expectation for 2014 is to increase the number of volunteers, always training them to offer solace and friendship to patients.

The chaplaincy work also shows positive results for students in the State of Paraná. Chaplain João Fernandes Siqueira often visits schools in Fazenda Rio Grande, Curitiba and Mandirituba, where he distributes pamphlets, Bibles and other publications supplied by SBB. In total, more than seven thousand students receive the biblical message.

“Dozens of students have already accepted the Lord as their Savior, in addition to some teachers,” celebrates Mr. Siqueira, who started his missionary work in 1984 with several cases of lives saved by the Word of God. In 2014, he intends to intensify the activities of drug use prevention.

INDIGENOUS & GYPSY POPULATIONS Ka’egso Hery, a son of German missionaries who was born among the Kaingang people, began in 1995 the translation of the Old Testament, supported by a team of 20 people, in order to make the Word of God available in the language that speaks to the hearts of that tribe. The publication was launched last year by SBB in an experimental version, complementing the New Testament published in 1977.

Bringing the Word of God, as written in the Bible, to a people with an oral culture, such as indigenous tribes, poses challenges. So Ka’egso had to create what he calls an integral mission, which includes not only meeting the spiritual needs, but also the physical ones, of relationship and knowledge. “I see it as communicating the Gospel, the love of God in all areas,” explains the missionary.

Ka’egso lives in the Queimados indigenous settlement in the town of Ortigueira (State of Paraná), and he has been attending meetings in the neighboring village of Barreiros, in the town of Tamarana, to introduce the Old Testament.

Approximately 60 people attend regularly.

He wants to keep up this work in 2014, so that he can form a new team the following

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Photo: SBB File

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The missionary Ka’egso Hery works to bring the Word of God to the Kaingang people.

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year in order to produce the final version of the translated work.

According to the missionary, the Kaingang society is going through times of changes, of destructuring, but the bible work has been providing a living relationship with God and preventing the extinction of their language, as it occurs in communities in the States of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. “The experimental version of the Old Testament is the tool we are using to make the Kaingang people closer to God’s history with humankind. In the future, maybe we can publish the full Bible in just one volume,” expects Ka’egso.

The Friends of the Gypsies Mission has been operating in the States of Paraná, São Paulo, Santa Catarina, Goiás, Bahia and Ceará since 2002. Its goal is to communicate the Gospel to gypsies in a culturally contextualized manner; therefore, one of the pillars of the Mission is translating the Word of God into the language of the Calon clan, to which about half of the 30 members of the team belong.

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Pastor Igor Shimura, the Mission’s President, reveals that many gypsies have already been baptized, but they preserve their ethnic identity while adopting a culture of love for the fellow human beings and justice. “The camp now is a special place where we can notice the presence of God,” he says.

Inspired by Antonio Pereira, the first Evangelical Calon gypsy translator in Brazil, today five members of the group devote themselves to the translation. SBB has already published the biblical Book of Ruth, and, in 2014, it will publish a book about the Gospel of Luke, which will be the theme of a film as well. The plans of the Friends of the Gypsies Mission also include a missionary training course and projects abroad focusing on Eastern Europe.

The Bible is the only rule of faith of the Alabastro Evangelical Community of Feira de Santana (State of Bahia), an interdenominational mission that provides services in the town of Feira de Santana and surrounding region, with four focus areas: hospital chaplaincy; support homes for families of hospitalized patients; shelter

DOOR TO DOOR Colporteurs sometimes increase the distribution of the Word through singular initiatives, such is the case of Pastor Eli Bento Corrêa e the engineer Marcello Mastrodonato, both from São Paulo. Corrêa prides himself on his Bible sales technique adopted 10 years ago: he splits with the customer the discount given by SBB. “I go to the customer, I have the pleasure of delivering the Bible to him or her, and then I do the post-sale follow-up to learn the results of the reading,” tells Corrêa, explaining that this is a kind of ministry.

The experience as a pastor during 40 years helps him to suggest the right Bible for each person.

Marcello Mastrodonato prefers to buy Deluxe editions of giant print Bibles (average of 500 each month), and then do the colportage by donating the Bibles to people he meets in his work as a judicial expert in poor communities, churches, prisons and hospitals.

Photo: Vicente Mattos

for the homeless; and outreach activities in the town and across the State.

The material supplied by SBB has been very important. “We work in a town where the rights of those less favored are still not respected, so when we approach them to offer a Bible or Bible Portions, we see the impact right away because they never had the opportunity of receiving spiritual and physical care before,” explains Matildes Silva, Alabastro Evangelical Community’s Executive Secretary.

The projects for 2014 include activities across the State of Bahia in order to register visually impaired people so that they can have access to the Bible through the program developed by SBB.

He prefers traditional Bibles, featuring black covers with gilded details, because he believes they are easier to identify. His target audience consists of people who never had contact with the Holy Book before. “When you introduce a Bible in a home, the odds of someone reading it are very high, so this constitutes a practical result,” he explains.

And he adds: “The difficult part is not joining the work of God, but rather sticking with it.”

Bible Society of Brazil has always been associated to outreach and Bible reading programs developed across Brazil. “The Word of God provides hope and solace, and we are happy to have so many partners that increase the scope of our work, thus making the biblical message reach more and more people,” celebrates Erní Seibert, SBB’s Communications & Social Outreach Secretary.■

The NGO “Angels” distributes fruits and vegetables, in addition to biblical literature, to families of prison inmates every Saturday.

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FAIR PLAY BRAZIL

SOCCER BOOSTS FAITH With the FIFA World Cup in Brazil approaching, Fair Play Brazil Movement launches a new website, in addition to other activities, to spread the Word of God across the country.

Website will have new sections to provide more interaction with visitors.

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The FIFA Confederations Cup, organized in 2013, made thousands of Christians, from several denominations, engage themselves in different and creative activities using the most popular sport in Brazil to spread the Word of God. The FIFA World Cup, which starts on June 12, is now the main focus of the Fair Play Brazil Movement, which is supported by over 900 Christian churches and organizations from different parts of Brazil. Fair Play Brazil Movement is planning a series of activities and editions of the Holy Book to spread the biblical teachings during the event. One of them is the new Fair Play Brazil Movement website (www.jogalimpobrasil.com.br), which has been completely remodeled. One of the new sections, called Current Events, includes

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news about the Movement, testimonies of athletes about their conversion and of Fair Play Brazil Movement participants who tell their evangelistic experiences, among others. The section also includes videos about the activities carried out by partners, in addition to news, schedule of events and a photo gallery.

The Materials section enables visitors to download, free of charge, biblical pamphlets about Fair Play Brazil, in addition to checking the Movement’s publications already available to help plan activities. “The goal of the new website is to enable more interaction with visitors, in addition to inspiring evangelization actions by sharing different experiences,” says Márcia Carneiro, Bible Society of Brazil’s Communications Manager, in charge of remodeling the website.

Regarding the development of publications, there is a new booklet produced

by Gospel Publishing Mission (GPM), an American publishing house specialized in biblical literature. Bible Society of Brazil (SBB) is in charge of both translating the material into Portuguese and distributing it across Brazil. The expectation is to distribute 1.1 million copies of the booklet during the FIFA World Cup. “The initial idea is that São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the two largest Brazilian cities, will each receive 300 thousand copies.

The other ten host cities will each receive 50 thousand copies of the booklet,” according to Eude Martins, Fair Play Brazil Movement’s General Coordinator.

The bilingual edition of the booklet will contain a timeline about the history of soccer and the World Cup, in addition to profiles of

FAIR PLAY BRAZIL great soccer players whose experiences with faith and the Word of God will be highlighted.

The publication includes curiosities and a quiz about the sport as well.

Mr. Martins also points out that the participation of GPM will not be restricted to the production of the material. “After the beginning of the World Cup, a team of about 30 volunteers of Christian churches and organizations from the United States will come to Brazil every ten days. In total, three teams will devote themselves to spreading God’s Word through these booklets,” he predicts.

And customized editions of the “Holy Bible – The Secret of Victory” will also be produced on demand with illustrated covers featuring typical images of the 12 host cities. Christian churches, institutions and organizations interested in acquiring this material can already place their orders with the closest SBB’s Regional Office.

Another important publication is the Gospel of John that will be available in nine languages: Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Arabic, Mandarin, and Japanese. “With this initiative, SBB accomplishes its mission of bringing the Bible to everyone, for a price people can afford, and in a language they understand,” concludes Eude Martins.

It is important to mention that the Fair Play Brazil Movement is an initiative coordinated by SBB in partnership with the following organizations: Brazilian Coalition for Sports; Amme Evangelization; Christian Athletes; and National Evangelical Social Outreach Network. These organizations are also preparing several activities for the period of the World Cup. One of them is the National Evangelical Social Outreach Network’s Ball Hits the Net campaign. According to Débora Fahur, the organization’s Outreach Programs Director, it includes activities such as distribution of pamphlets, theater performances, and other activities on the streets and close to the stadiums. And there are plans to create a Vacation Bible School, in partnership with local churches, in order to communicate the Gospel of Jesus and raise awareness of violence.

Marcos Grava, Christian Athletes’ President, also listed the activities the organization will develop until the 2014 World Cup. “From January to April we’ll offer several training sessions at churches and theological seminaries. In May, we’ll offer the 2nd Sport Chaplaincy Course, and, in June and July, the months of the World Cup, we’ll help with Fair Play Brazil Movement’s practical activities that are still being planned.” ■

BEYOND NATIONAL BORDERS Bible Society of Brazil’s activities during the World Cup will not take place only in Brazil. The Ministry with Brazilians, a partnership between Bible Society of Brazil and the American Bible Society, launched the Fair Play Brazil–USA campaign last year. The goal of the American edition of the movement is to encourage Brazilian churches in the United States to carry out prayer and evangelization activities during the World Cup. Therefore, there are two large events planned for June: the Prayer Vigil, on June

6, and the Evangelistic Action, on June 14.

On June 14 there will be a wide distribution of biblical pamphlets and copies of the New Testament to the population.

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Brasil teen Connections: SPECIFICALLY FOR THE YOUTH Bible Society of Brazil (SBB) launched through the Ministry with Brazilians the Teen Connections project, developed for teenagers up to 18 years old. Its goal is to connect the new generation to God by offering interactive activities suitable for the profile of this audience.

It is based on foreign exchange trips that put young people in contact with different cultures, but mainly with the universe of the Bible. The pilot project will target young

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Brazilians who will visit Orlando, Florida (USA), for nine days. Developed in partnership with the agency Universal Travel, the trip will take place from October 10 to 18, 2014, including talks on the Bible and a visit to The Holy Land Experience, a theme park about the Holy Book, as well as to the main theme parks in the area. For more information contact Universal Travel through www.universaltravel.com.br or call: (+55-21) 3958-0818 and (+55-11) 3711-9174.