I was listening to a Brazilian journalist in August who was comparing numbers of the violence in Iraq and in Rio de Janeiro[1]. Rio de Janeiro is one among 26 States in the Federation. The rate of killings was higher in Rio de Janeiro than in Iraq in the beginning of 2008. As he was saying, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count website, from January to May 3458 Iraqis – both militaries and civilians – were killed. For the same period in Rio de Janeiro, according to official records from the Secretaria de Segurança Pública, there were 2441 homicides, 87 deaths by thievery, 17 episodes of bodily harm followed by death and 6 policemen killed in action, yielding a total of 2551 assassinations. Considering that the population of Iraq is twice bigger than that of Rio de Janeiro, one can say that Brazilian’s death toll is higher than Iraq’s.
In the Gospels, Jesus, who was poor and lived as poor, summarizes his ministry as he reads the book of Isaiah in the Synagogue:
"'The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.'" (Luke 4.18,19)
Indeed, in the Kingdom described by Jesus, the poor and those who hunger are happy. The ministry of Jesus was full of miracles in favour of the marginalized by the society of the day.
We accepted a call made by Mustard Seed Network to send examples of 20-somethings living alternatively, so we shared with them the story below:
Our names are Kelly and Marcelo, both of us are 28 years old and we have been married for 18 months. Currently we work with children at a squater building downtown São Paulo, Brazil, near a region called "Crackland". Once a week we gather to share stories, play games and have fun with the kids. We try by all means to share God's love to that community and it is awesome how we ourselves have been blessed during the times we are there. Each smile, each hug, each gesture makes us one before the Father. We know that we are not able to change these kids' present situation. Unfortunately, social inequality in our country drives dozens of families to streets every week. But our heart are lit with fire as we share the love of God and help in any way to those kids formation through Christian principles that we try to share even if the results will be noticed only in the future.
Friday night. I am in Crackland for the first time at night. Even though I have been coming here ever since we established a missionary community in the region three and a half years ago this is the first time I will go out with Matheus on a Friday night outreach. The team of young people (I'm the oldest among them) listen as Matheus gives the assignments: two girls who are volunteering for the first time will go with Bradley and Caetano to meet the street kids at Anhangabaú; Nigel will go with Mariana to visit with the transvestites and homosexuals in different "points" in the area; Alex and I will go with Matheus to Crackland. We pray and get read to go. We are told to leave all our belongs at the house and take only our ID cards with us. Wedding ring, cell phones, and wallets stay behind as we head towards the streets.
At th 2006 Ancient Evangelical Future conference, historian Martin Marty commented briefly on the Atonement theories proposed by the early church. Did the church fathers hold to penal substitution, Christus Victor, or Anselm's view of the Atonement? Yes. All of the above.
Panelists pressed Martyr to declare one view or another the "right" one. Whatever one thinks, he responded, the reality is that the church held to multiple versions.
ReJesus - capítulo 1
