A profound spiritual transformation is unfolding in the Amazon rainforest. For centuries, the Catholic church held a near-monopoly in the region. Today, evangelical Christianity is reshaping the Amazon’s spiritual fabric, leading to new converts and churches.
SCRIPT:
REVIVAL IN THE AMAZON RAINFOREST
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by George Thomas Sept. 2024
INTRO:
A profound spiritual transformation is unfolding in the Amazon rainforest.
For centuries, the Catholic church held a near-monopoly in the region.
Today, evangelical Christianity is reshaping the Amazon’s spiritual fabric, leading to new converts and churches.
CBN News’ George Thomas reports from Northwest Brazil.
PACKAGE:
LINGER ON THE BANKS OF THE AMAZON RIVER…
…AND YOU’LL UNCOVER MORE THAN THE RICH TAPESTRY OF LIFE AMID THE NATURAL SPLENDOR. FOR MANY, SUCH AS RAMOS, THE RIVER ISN’T JUST A BACKDROP; IT’S A SANCTUARY.
RAMOS, Lives in the Brazilian Amazon
(“My family and I all grew up here. My grandmother, grandfather and my parents lived and died in this house. I was born in this house and I’m also going to die here.”)
AS AN 83-YEAR-OLD RESIDENT OF THE AMAZON RIVER, RAMOS REFUSES TO TRADE HIS FLOATING BAMBOO HOUSE FOR LIFE IN ANY BRAZILIAN CITY.
RAMOS:
(“It’s so much cooler here than in the city. You cannot walk freely in the city. It’s very dangerous, many cars, many people. I’m free here. I keep my windows open. The doors are always open. At my age, I’ve never faced danger.”)
SPANNING MORE THAN 6 MILLION SQUARE MILES OF SOUTH AMERICA, SIXTY PERCENT OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST IS IN NORTHWEST BRAZIL. THE APPROXIMATELY 30 MILLION AMAZONIANS CURRENTLY LIVING HERE ARE EXPERIENCING UNPRECEDENTED EVANGELICAL REVIVAL.
RAMOS:
(“God is everything for me. God is my father and without Jesus I’m nothing.”)
RAMOS EPITOMIZES THIS SPIRITUAL SHIFT. GROWING UP CATHOLIC, HE REMEMBERS WHEN THE FAITH DOMINATED HIS RIVERSIDE COMMUNITY. NOT ANYMORE.
GEORGE THOMAS, The Amazon River, Brazil (standup)
“The Amazon River here in the northern part of Brazil is filled with hundreds of these small tributaries that in essence snake through the jungle and over the many years evangelical Christians have been traversing these waters in an attempt to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the Amazonian people.”
JOSUÉ BENGTSON, Belem Foursquare Church
(“Those early days were definitely much, much more difficult than today.”)
JOSUÉ BENGTSON HAS SPENT DECADES TRAVERSING THE RIVER’S INTRICATE NETWORK, FIRST AS MISSIONARY THEN AS PASTOR SPREADING THE EVANGELICAL MESSAGE.
JOSUÉ BENGTSON:
(“Back when we started evangelizing in this region, we had just a few workers and, in some municipalities, pastors had to walk 10 to 15 km to open a congregation. Today, almost all medium-sized churches in the Amazon have a small boat.”)
BENGTSON HELPED ESTABLISH ONE OF THE AMAZON’S FIRST FOURSQUARE CHURCHES. TODAY, HE SAYS THE EVANGELICAL PRESENCE HERE IS UNDENIABLE, WITH 3,200 FOURSQUARE CONGREGATIONS ALONE FLOURISHING ACROSS THE REGION.
JOSUÉ BENGTSON
(“In the first six months of this year we baptized 14,500 people. Our goal for this year is to baptize over 30,000 people.”)
THE VIDEO CAPTURES A REMARKABLE MASS BAPTISM IN THE AMAZON RIVER, WHERE HUNDREDS INCLUDING—MEN, WOMEN, THE ELDERLY, YOUNG ADULTS, AND CHILDREN—PUBLICLY PROFESS THEIR FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.
AND THIS GROWTH GOES BEYOND NUMBERS, REACHING THE HEARTS OF MANY LIKE ESEQUIEL SANTO.
ESEQUIEL SANTO, Former Missionary to Amazon
(“I was 15 years old when God called me to reach the unreached peoples of the Amazon.”)
SANTO SPENT 32 YEARS AS A MISSIONARY IN THE JUNGLE’S INTERIOR.
ESEQUIEL SANTO:
(“One of the biggest challenges was the isolation and getting used to living among the indigenous or riverside communities But God was with us in the work, we saw lives being transformed, so many people heard the gospel and now we are seeing the fruits.”)
SANTO SAYS SHARING THE GOSPEL HERE CAN BE FULL OF CHALLENGES.
ESEQUIEL SANTO:
(I’m from Rio de Janeiro and back then since I couldn’t afford a plane ticket, I had to take a 6-day bus journey to Belem. From there I went by boat for another six days to the outskirts of the Amazon basin. Once I got there, it took at least 15 days by canoe, not a motorized boat, to paddle up the Solimões River and the Purus River, until we reached the remote communities where we worked. Sometimes it would take 35 days just to get to these remote areas.”)
JOSÉ EUSTAQUIO ALVES, A LEADING BRAZILIAN SOCIOLOGIST, SAYS EVANGELICAL CHURCHES HERE BENEFIT FROM LONG TERM PASTORS OR MISSIONARIES LIKE SANTO WHO, FOSTER DEEP COMMUNITY TIES AND GROWTH.
JOSÉ ALVES, Brazilian Sociologist
(“The Catholic Church has a lot of difficulty in training new priests, so it is very common to see Catholic Churches in the Amazon but not enough priests to lead congregations. A priest goes once a month or once every semester to the Amazon and is often far from the community. Evangelicals, on the other hand, quickly train pastors who integrate into the community and for a long time.”)
TODAY, SMALL EVANGELICAL CHURCHES LIKE THIS ONE ARE SPRINGING UP IN REMOTE RIVERSIDE COMMUNITIES.
DAMARES REGINA ALVES, Brazilian Senator
(“I think that the revival that we have been waiting for here in Brazil is happening in the Amazon.”)
BRAZILIAN SENATOR, AND EVANGELICAL PASTOR DAMARES REGINA ALVES SEES THIS MOVEMENT AS A MIRACLE THAT’S NOT ONLY RESHAPING SPIRITUAL PRACTICES BUT ALSO FOSTERING A SENSE OF COMMUNITY AND EMPOWERMENT.
DAMARES REGINA ALVES:
(“For many years, people looked at the Amazon and only saw rivers and trees. Today, people are beginning to remember that there are people living there who need to be taken care of, need to hear the gospel and whose lives need a transformation. The church is making this revolution happen.”)
EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS OFTEN MUST RELY ON SMALL CANOES OR MEDIUM-SIZED BOATS TO HOLD CHURCH SERVICES AND OTHER MINISTRY ACTIVITIES AS THEY REACH REMOTE REGIONS.
MEANWHILE, CHURCH TEAMS FROM BRAZIL’S MAJOR CITIES SEND VOLUNTEERS HERE TO CONDUCT EDUCATIONAL, HUMANITARIAN, AND MEDICAL MISSIONS. THIS OUTREACH OFTEN HELPS INTRODUCE PEOPLE TO THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
THESE PASTORS, MISSIONARIES AND MANY OTHERS LABORING IN THIS VAST EXPANSE BELIEVE THE SHIFT IS MORE THAN JUST A CHANGE IN RELIGIOUS PRACTICE; IT’S A MOVEMENT THAT PROMISES TO REDEFINE THE REGION’S SPIRITUAL AND SOCIAL LANDSCAPE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.
GEORGE THOMAS, CBN NEWS, REPORTING FROM THE AMAZON RIVER IN NORTHWEST BRAZIL.
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