Recently, my wife Marion and I left Glasgow for Brazil. We had been invited by two ministers, Dr Paulo Brasil and Dr Christopher Vicente. I got to know Paulo when I first visited Brazil in 2008. I had been invited to give lectures for the Puritan Project and spoke both in Belem and Recife. Paulo invited me for a church anniversary in 2018 and then I was back speaking for the Puritan Project in 2019.

Christopher, I got to know more recently. He had contacted me several times to ask advice on various questions and about books he would publish. As well as being minister in Natal he is involved in running Editora Nadere Reformatie. He and his team translate good Puritan and Presbyterian books into Portuguese and publish them. Their books include writings of William Perkins, John Owen, William Binning as well as modern authors such as Dr Joel Beeke and Terry Johnson. I was honoured in that they translated and published my recent book, A Sublime Salvation. This time I was invited for the 14th anniversary of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Recife and the 7th anniversary of the Manancial Presbyterian Church in Natal.

Some of the Natal Presbyterian Church (Igreja Presbiteriana Manancial) with Mr & Mrs Macleod at the back.

The Brazilian Presbyterian Church is very large with almost a million members. Within that relatively broad Church there is this group who are mockingly called the “Neo-Puritans”. Wikipedia describes them as numbering 15,000 members in 150 churches. My friends informed me that they thought that number rather optimistic.

Mr Macleod with the Natal Presbyterian Church minister Dr Christopher Vicente.

In 2010 Dr Paulo Brasil planted his own congregation which has now grown to number some 300. Since I last visited in 2019 they have built a beautiful new church but it is already full to capacity so they have begun two church plants and employed two half-time ministers and one full-time to lead these church plants. It is truly remarkable to see the way the church is growing in Brazil both numerically and in depth. They love to sing the Psalms and listen to long biblical and experiential sermons. 90% of the congregations are under the age of 40. What a contrast these vibrant churches are to the church here in Scotland! But it shows what God can do today. Many are highly educated. In the Recife congregation there were ten doctors, twenty lawyers and a large number of software engineers. But some of the poor are also to be found among them.

Natal is about four hours drive north of Recife and the church there was planted in 2017. The minister who started the church gathered twenty-eight members. Christopher came the following year. Over a period of time half of the original members left as they did not like the emphasis of the new ministry. But others came. There are now 155 baptised members and the attendance when I was there was about 200.

I gave four lectures in each place. Speaking through an interpreter the lectures took about an hour and a half but no one complained. They are so keen and love the word of God. They showered us with kindness and pleaded with us to return soon. We felt greatly encouraged during our visit. God is working mightily in Brazil.

Some of the Recife Presbyterian Church (Igreja Presbiteriana Da Aliance), who have pastor Dr Paulo Basil as their minister.

Brazil is a country of contrasts. It is very wealthy in resources. There is a large gap between the rich and the poor, with only a small middle class. Bright colours are seen in nature, dress and foods. There is a huge variety of fruits with wonderful tastes, many of which we had never seen before. People are very affectionate and greet one another with a hug whenever they meet. The weather was beautiful with temperatures of 30C plus. It was a shock to return to sleety rain in Glasgow!

Prayer points:

Give thanks for the growing flourishing churches in Brazil.
Pray for the growth of the Puritan movement.
Pray for the many deceived by the false promises of the “health and wealth gospel” of the Charismatics.
Pray for the many, almost half the population, still in the darkness of Romanism.