A Place Where Rainbows Are Despised

By Dan Hopkins

Northeast Brazil is caught in a five-year drought, resulting in many deaths in the interior regions, and massive migration to the coastal cities. We live in the city of Recife, where water is available for only three hours on most days. Television and magazines tell of miserable conditions in the interior where people eat rats and a type of cactus normally fed to livestock.

Ingazeira is a city of 1,500 with another 2,500 on the outskirts. This interior city is plagued with shortages: food, water, medicine, and jobs. This is predominately an agrarian society, but the drought has wrung every drop of moisture from the ground, so trying to grow anything is hopeless.

The Pajeú River used to be one of the largest rivers in the northeast. Twelve years ago it was practically impassable during the rainy season. Today it has disappeared or been reduced to a few large puddles. Ingazeira has no hospital, bank or bus stop, and the three small stores often have only empty shelves.

On May 29, 1998, our church, along with others in the Regular Baptist Association, joined over 100 volunteers for an evangelistic and drought relief project called "Operation Invasion." We had a truckload of donated clothes, 200 boxes each containing 75 pounds of food, plus medical and dental supplies. We were escorted by Military Police due to recent attacks by robbers on relief efforts like ours. A medical team accompanied our group, and during the next day and a half doctors saw 300 patients while the dentists extracted 70 teeth. Our most important work, however, was presenting the gospel in 225 homes.

Before I left home, two of my children, *Davey (10) and Hannah (7), went through their toys and chose some for the children in Ingazeira. In all the homes Emanuel Cesar and I visited, we never saw any toys, so before we shared the gospel, I gave each child a toy. Their faces lit up and they jumped up and down. I felt wonderful and sad at the same time.

We were incredibly happy that 71 people responded to the Gospel, but as we rode away I felt we were abandoning them. I prayed God would enable us to follow up these new converts.

Soon after embarking on the 381 km return trip to Recife, we were treated to a beautiful rainbow arching over the city. I remarked that the rainbow is always a symbol of hope. One man said, "Not here. This is a place where rainbows are despised. Occasionally a small part of the sky clouds up, a rainbow appears, and a few drops of rain fall. It's never enough. The people in Ingazeira feel that in the rainbow God is mocking their suffering."

Almost five years ago, ABWE missionaries Faith Williams, Suzanne Spaulding, Dan and Kelly Cook, and Roger and Marcy Smith planted Koinonia Baptist Church in Recife. Those missionaries worked to establish a missionary mindset in the members, so we were overjoyed when Marcos and Carlos said the Lord had burdened them to follow up the new believers. These men and their wives traveled to Ingazeira every other weekend in Carlos' beat-up Ford to teach classes and strengthen relationships with the community.

Marcos Damasco, a Bible school graduate, told me he knew that he had to return to Ingazeira and establish a church. After four months of follow-up, and much prayer, Marcos and Lenny left Recife for Ingazeira. Koinonia Baptist Church took on two-thirds of their support needs. The Damascos were the featured couple in our first missions conference. Two weeks after our conference, they participated in a three-day missions conference in one of our sister churches where ABWE missionary Sue Lodico serves. Igreja Batista de Jordaõ is not a large church, and its membership is made up mostly of working class people. The church set a goal of raising 1000 reias (US $578) for the Damascos, but by the last meeting they had received only 850 reias. The pastor said he and his wife had contributed as much money as they could, so they decided to give their wedding rings. Others removed watches and rings and jewelry, placing them in the offering plate. One woman put the title and registration to her Volkswagen in the plate, giving her car to the Lord. After the items were sold, the church gave 1,600 reias and a VW bug for the work in Ingazeira.

Marcos and Lenny are in the early stages of a church plant. Their home is a small house on a narrow, dirt and cobblestone street and is the nucleus around which believers gather for Bible study, prayer and fellowship. Adding Sunday school stretched their home to the bursting point. They hope to build a church building as soon as they have funds. For $5,000, they could purchase a lot in town, all the materials, and pay for the labor to have it constructed, but Marcos says their greatest need is prayer to establish a strong testimony in the community, demonstrating through word and lifestyle that he is a true servant of God.

People in northeastern Brazil suffer from a lack of water, but the thirst in their souls is far more serious. Jesus Christ has chosen to use a young ABWE church plant to carry water to this dry and thirsty land. A couple of weeks ago we received news that it was raining in Ingazeira. The river was not flowing, but the puddles were bigger and the reservoirs had some water in them. I suspect that when the rainbow appeared, someone smiled.

* These are the children mentioned in the booklet How Many More Barneys? telling the joys and trials of the Hopkins' adventures during their pre-field ministry. Click here to learn more about this booklet written by Dan and Cindi Hopkins.