Blast From The Past

Speaking Their Language

“What language do they speak in church? I don’t understand it?” The preceding question was posed one morning to my wife by one of the young boys who studies English with her. To understand the question one has to grasp the complete dominance of “sign gift” theology here in Brazil. Most certainly he has been…

Blast From The Past

The Tyranny of “Almost There”

Several months ago I wrote a piece about the Succeed in Life Church located in Houston, TX. This church is actually a part of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, a Brazilian “prosperity cult”. It is pastored by Renato Cardoso, son-in-law to IURD founder Edir Macedo. The post I wrote about them has…

Blast From The Past

Introducing Acampamento Elim

And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters. Exodus 15:27 Ever since before we arrived Brazil, we have been aware of the great need of our churches in São Luís for a camp. As it stands right now, when…

Brazil

Meet Me in São Luís: Alcântara

This post is part of an ongoing series which seeks to introduce the readership of this blog to the many fascinating aspects of one of Brazil’s best-kept secrets–the city of São Luís. About an hour–by boat–from downtown São Luís is a little peninsula called Alcântara. Although seemingly unimportant when seen on a map, the history…