April 2004

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

The story of a young man who wants to transform a city of God: Pentecoste.

As many of you may know, the Brazilian movie “City of God” was nominated in four categories for the Oscar this year. Brazil was expecting its first Oscar as the best foreign movie. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

The movie’s title comes from the name of a ghetto (“favela”) in Rio de Janeiro. The movie tells the cruel story of the gang members who control this ghetto; it also tells about a young man who has a passion for photography. The community is so difficult to control that even the police are afraid to be involved in it—police are present in the community only in the support they give members of a gang.

“City of God” brings to mind the story of Ricardo Monteiro, a seminary student who graduated last year. Ricardo was born and grew up on one of the 700 ghettos in the city of Fortaleza, an aggressive and violent environment where prostitution, drugs, poverty, corruption, malnutrition, and robbery are common.

When Ricardo was born his parents were going through a difficult situation. Ricardo’s greatest disappointment about her husband was his machismo. This attitude led the couple to end the marriage in divorce. Though Ricardo’s mother had a strong inclination toward Catholicism, she started visiting a Presbyterian church near her house.

Due to the financial situation of his family, Ricardo was obliged to work from an early age. He worked in a market from 7:00 to 11:30 a.m., then went to school from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., and then back to work from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. His mother became a housekeeper and sometimes took Ricardo on Saturdays to help her clean houses.

Though Ricardo’s early life was difficult, he never stopped going to church on Sundays. He always wanted to become a pastor. After finishing high school, Ricardo’s passion was to study at the seminary and become a pastor. He began to realize his dream when he started to work seminary’s library. After two years working in the library, Ricardo registered to study theology. In four years he obtained a bachelor’s degree in theology. (In the context of the Presbyterian Church in Brazil, a bachelor’s degree in theology gives a person the right to be considered as a candidate for the pastorate.) After graduation, Ricardo was commissioned by the Presbytery of Ceara to begin a new church development in Pentecoste, a city of 37,000 people in the interior of the state, a two-hour drive northeast from Fortaleza.

Ricardo’s attitude reminds me the words of Jesus when he commissioned the seventy disciples and said to them: “Carry no purse, no bag, no shoes.” (Luke 10: 3a). He told me that on his first day in Pentecoste, he was walking around and stopped in a restaurant and told to the owner that God had sent him to begin a new church in Pentecoste, but he had no money to eat that day. The owner agreed to give credit to Ricardo to eat in his restaurant.

After three months, Ricardo meets every Sunday with a group of young people in the house he rented. On Sunday evenings he leads a Bible study for 15 or 20 young people. The group also participates of a brief worship service.

At 24 years of age, Ricardo has decided to devote his life to God, and his passion to serve people in such special ways is the mark of his Christianity. This young man, who grew up in a very rude environment, put himself in God’s hand with the intention of transforming the lives of many young people in a city of God called Pentecoste. Please keep Ricardo in your daily prayers. Pray for his ministry, his life, his family.

Yours in Christ’s service,

The Greens’
Ricardo, Reyna, Kerry, Ashley and Richard

The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 146