REVIVAL NEWS FROM

 BRAZIL

07-99                       SPECIAL REPORT ON GOIANIA - BRAZIL

Intercession movement changes Goiania

Local intercession leaders report that the number of evangelical Christians in Goiania, a city with 1.2 million inhabitants near Brasilia, has grown from 8% to 45% in the last 6 years. Previously, the city had been a bastion of spiritism. Many local pastors attribute the phenomenal growth, in which hundreds of thousands of people found Jesus in only a few years, to intense prayer led mainly by Christian women. It started over 10 years ago, when a small group of some 5 women began praying for the city. Elizabeth Cornelio, housewife, mother, and one of the movement's initiators, was then told by her pastor not to pray with Christians from other churches. "Members of other churches are not spiritual brothers and sisters, they are at most spiritual cousins," he said. Around 6 years ago, Elizabeth invited Christians from various churches to meet to pray in unison for the city; for this 'sin', she was expelled from her church. The 850 who attended the first meeting have now become one of the world's largest intercession networks, with 188,000 women praying every morning for the city. They are linked together through a radio programme moderated live by Elizabeth Cornelio and her close co-leader Elizabeth Albernaz.

372 new churches in one month

Every church in the city has grown, and many new churches have been planted, they report. The intercessors, mainly women, regularly pray in people's houses for their deliverance from demonic powers, intercede and pray prophetically, or pray on the street for an as yet unreached part of town. They often experience that a new church is planted in the area where they prayed within a day. "Prayer," they say, "makes people incredibly open to the gospel, and is therefore inseparable from church planting, because it is prayer to the one who said 'I will build my church!'" Christians from one denomination prayed and fasted for 40 days at the end of 1998, and planted 372 new churches in January 1999 alone.

Who are the real key leaders?

Even if some pastors still have problems working with other Christians, the women have achieved something which many leading pastors considered impossible: they now work with over 80 of the local denominations, have trained over 5,000 prayer leaders and given God's people a vision for the spiritual transformation and salvation of an entire city: a flame which has already started spreading to many other parts of Brazil, and other nations.

"Prayer prevents bloodbath"

Some time ago, a dramatic breakout and hostage-taking at Goiania's prison had the police at their wits' end. They approached the intercessors, asking them to pray for the derailed situation. Elizabeth Cornelio not only mobilised thousands of intercessors, but was also given a direct telephone line into the prison, so that she could target the prayer. The whole town saw live how the drama was turned around, ending without bloodshed at exactly the prophesied time, 5pm. The headlines in the local newspapers then proclaimed "Prayer prevents bloodbath!"

Gold dust on hands and faces

In Goiania, they have recently been experiencing a peculiar phenomenon (also reported to be occurring in Switzerland, Israel and South Africa): following prayer, the women often have a fine, clearly visible gold dust on their faces and hands. Initially astonished, the collected some of the dust and took it to a local jeweller, who declared it to be the purest gold he had ever seen. The intercessors see this as an inexplicable manifestation of the Biblical phenomena in which some people, such as Moses, had "radiant faces" after meeting God. They warn against an emphasis on external phenomena: "Jesus alone suffices!" A large intercession conference will take place in July 1999 in Goiania, during which 50,000 people are expected to attend a night of prayer in the local stadium.

Brazilian intercession leaders: what does God say about Switzerland?

As a quick glimpse into the intercessors' lives, here is an extract from one of their (prophetic?) prayers for Switzerland: "God seems to be saying 'I am preparing a great army in Switzerland.' We can already hear the soldiers marching; they are Christians going into peoples' houses looking for the lost. The time of estoteric and New Age is past. I see mothers praying for their children, that God's fire will burn in their hearts, reaching whole schools and universities through them... Now is God's hour for Switzerland - many Christians must learn to clean their ears and listen for God's voice again. There will be a spiritual earthquake, affecting whole churches, denominations and fellowships. The population will have to be shaken, God is waking the supposedly revived, who are sleeping. The pains are as in labor... In Switzerland, says God, I did not find many to pray for the nation, but I have found them in other nations. They will join you. I will bring Christians from other nations, spiritual midwives, praying for Switzerland.... There is not much time, hurry, hurry, hurry... It is not time for your house, but for mine, says God. All I need is your open heart and willingness to obey me from now on."

Source: E. Albernaz und E. Cornelio; information about the conference in July: Ueli Haldemann, FAX (+41)-52-6728678 E-mail Uhaldemann@t-online.de and www.jesus.org.uk/dawn

Plan Goiania - 1000 per day should come to Christ

In September 1999, "Goiania for Christ", a multiconfessional long-term city-wide project, will start in Goiania, a city near Brasilia with a population of 1.2 million. At least 1,000 of Goiania's over 2,000 Christian churches and fellowships will take part in the programme. The year-long project's aim, according to the organisers, is that "for every participating church, at least one person will come to know Christ every day." At the end of July 1999, visitors from over 40 countries attended a prayer conference in the city, including a night of prayer with some 12,000 participants. In October 1998, a similar conference attracted 1,800 attendees, "which shows that interest in prayer and cooperation is rapidly increasing amongst Brazilian Christians," says Ueli Haldemann, who attended the conference as part of an almost 50-strong Swiss delegation. An 'Alpha Vision' camera team was also present to document the astonishing Brazilian prayer movement led in part by Elizabeth Cornelio; their report will be broadcast on Swiss television on 4 December 1999. The broadcasting company was swamped with orders for copies of Alpha Vision's previous documentary about Argentine prison pastor Juan Zuccharelli, "When murderers pray".
Source: Ueli Haldemann and www.jesus.org.uk/dawn

What are we waiting for?

Here are some short reports and impressions from attendees of the July 1999 prayer conference in Goiania, Brazil: - There are 200 intercessors in Goiania, all women from a poor background, who go on the streets to evangelize after a prayer time every Saturday morning. Some 150 people decide to follow Jesus every Saturday; - A daily radio prayer programme now has some 200,000 listeners, mostly women, many of whom join in the prayer; - The police again confirmed the correlation between the Christians' prayers and the crime rate. In spring 1999, the radio prayer programme was unable to broadcast for 3 months. During that time, the crime rate rose 50%, and sank again when the broadcasts were re-started, partly due to police requests; - Most of Goiania's firemen are evangelical Christians; they have a band and play at conferences; - A mountain on the outskirts of Goiania has become a prayer mountain. Every evening, it is covered with praying Christians. On Fridays, up to 3,000 people join for prayer there, in addition to the prayer meetings in the city; - During the prayer conference, an 11-year-old street child high on drugs was attracted by the worship songs, and spontaneously decided to become a Christian. A Christian family decided to adopt the child on the spot; - A church planted by Rubens Cunha one year ago already has 100 members in 10 cell groups. Most of the members are new believers from the drug scene or alcoholics, and used to live 'an immoral life'; - During the prayer conference, Goiania's deputy mayor officially gave Jesus the keys to the city; - A group of 16 people were waiting 'for something' in front of the Panteao in Goiania, without knowing what they were waiting for. A group of Christians arrived and preached them the gospel, at which all 16 decided to follow Jesus. A woman from the group of 16 said "Now we know˙- we were waiting for Jesus"; - 3 members of a tour group were baptized in a river. All twelve workers in a nearby field decided to follow Jesus when the members of the tour group explained the gospel to them.
Source: Brian Mills, Interprayer, and Hildegard Schneider/Bad Nauheim and www.jesus.org.uk.dawn

Increasing spiritual openness in Goiania

As reported in a previous Friday Fax, Evangelicals have grown from 7% to 45% of the population of Goiania in the last 7 years, according to Elisabeth Cornelio, who hosts a radio prayer programme in the city. A growing number of Christians are beginning to simply bless their surroundings as well as they can. Christian midwives, for example, anoint newly borns with oil and dedicate them to Jesus; some Christians walk among the crowds in the supermarkets, praying for the people; others get up at 4am to walk through the trams, praying that everyone who use them during the day will be blessed.

City asks Christian radio station to restart transmission

The devaluation of the Real put many Brazilian companies under pressure, including the radio station from which the prayer programme rented its air time. The programme, led by Cornelio, had some 200,000 listeners each day. The radio station's owner wanted to charge a much higher price, which the prayer movement was unable to pay, so the programme ceased from March until May 1999. After three months, the city sent a delegation including the Mayor and Chief of Police to Cornelio, asking her urgently to restart the broadcasts. The city's crime rate had risen 40% in the 3 months the programme had been off the air, and the radio station's had also dropped from 3rd to 17th place. Since May, the programme has been back on the air - for the old price. Every month, the intercessors receive a report about the latest criminal trends so that they can pray more accurately. Some people claim - quite seriously - that it is no longer the Mayor who rules the city, but the intercessors.

Mobile prayer teams start churches

Mobile prayer teams go from door to door in Goiania, offering prayer. Every Saturday, some 150 people come to believe, and a new church is started most weekends. The prayer also changes the spiritual atmosphere, and with it peoples' openness for the gospel. One day, a number of women, including Elizabeth Cornelio, were standing in front of a bar in which some 20 men were drinking. "At first, they made jokes, asking us if we wanted a glass of milk," says Elizabeth. "No, we want to preach the gospel to you," the women replied. "Then, a man started to weep quietly, and we could preach the gospel to them all. That evening, all 20 men decided to follow Jesus." "Jesus, here's the bus. Please use me!""Jesus, please use me during this bus trip," Elizabeth prayed before a trip which would take several hours. The seat beside her, though, remained empty. After a while, a none too pleasant man sat next to her, and a conversation developed. Once he had understood the gospel, he began to confess his sins aloud in the bus and gave his life to Jesus. "Then he returned to his seat, and a woman came to sit next to me," says Elizabeth. She had been following the previous conversation, and also wanted to give her life to Jesus. She too was soon confessing her sins aloud. After her came a young girl who had also heard the previous conversation. During a break, the bus driver asked Elizabeth to come forward to the cab. He also wanted to confess his sins and be saved.
Source: Elizabeth Cornelio, Goiania and www.jesus.org.uk/dawn

Miracles through radio broadcast in Brazil

Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1999

Rubens Cunha Jr. rubenscj@internetional.com.br reports from Goiania, Brazil: "God touched many people during our miracle crusade in Goiania last week. Every day we had a radio program broadcasted from 11:00-12:00 am. We shared a simply gospel message followed by an invitation to receive Jesus and then prayer for the sick and oppressed. At the end people were encouraged to make phone calls to the radio broadcaster sharing about what God had done for them. The testimonies are simply countless! A paralysed lady stood up and walked as the power of God touched here during the prayer, another woman was healed of a tumor in her breast against which she was fighting in vain for more than 6 years. A 9 years old boy had a growth in his chest that disappeared as his mother laid hands on him during radio prayer time. An old woman recovered sight as she was delivered of cataract. A man named Edmilson was in the Intensive Care Unit in coma, Doctors thought he would die. However his wife interceded for him as we prayed in the radio. As soon as the prayer was finished the telephone rang. It was from the hospital: "Mam, we don't understand what happened but your husband has just woken from the coma!" A 14 years old boy had wandered away from the Lord and was living in prostitution. That day he decided to leave home. Yet, his mother didn't give it up. She cried out for Him as we were praying in the radio and in that very moment the boy had a vision with Jesus. As a result of that vision, he was convinced of sin, he repented, asked forgiveness to his mother and decided to come back to the Lord. Many many other miracles happened. Tumors vanished, paralysed members recovered movement, demon possessed were delivered, people received angel visitations... And the most important: Salvation reached hundreads in these days. The week previous to the crusade was used to challenge Christians to invite their friends, neighbours and family to listen to the Miracles Crusade on the Radio. With an estimated audience of 180,000 all over the city we hear the testimonies of those who gave their lives to Jesus during this crusade.

Source: www.joelnews.org

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