Rather than retreat in the face of injustice and wickedness, AmazonVida believes that Christians should engage the lost world with the life-giving gospel. That is exactly what we do with our Água da Vida (Water of Life) campaign.
During the last weekend of every June, the city of Parintins hosts a world-famous festival called the "Boi Bumbá." This festival attracts dozens of thousands of people from around Brasil, South America, and the world. The basic premise is that two teams compete with elaborate theatrical presentations of ancient Amazonian myths and legends. Many of these artistic expressions highlight the beautiful and creative local culture. However, the teams allow large amounts of demonic influence and activity to permeate their performances. In fact, each team has professional witch doctors who summon demons to possess the performers before each act. Equally concerning is the magnification of domestic abuse, sex trafficking (especially of minors), drunkenness, and neglect of minors. Because of the tourism influx and drug and alcohol consumption, these injustices become more pronounced in the city.
We believe that all of these injustices are symptoms of broken lives and broken relationships with God. And we believe that the solution to this brokenness is the good news of redemption through Jesus. That is why we organize a large ministry campaign during the entirety of the Boi Bumbá. This year, during the weekend of June 24-26, AmazonVida mobilized more than 160 volunteers from our partner church in Parintins. They divided into evangelism teams throughout the city, handed out thousands of free water bottles, and employed various forms of creative evangelism. The church's dance team and theatrical/drama team performed numerous times throughout the city, attracting many people that saw and heard the gospel message.
We were thrilled to see God move mightily through our work. More than 400 people placed their trust in Christ and many more were blessed by our love and care. Please continue to pray with us for those new believers and others that we impacted.
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