EBM MASA Community, Hilfe für Lateinamerika, Pastor Carlos Waldow
Social Centre in Diadema – Brazil
Vitor – Help reaching those in need Vitor is 7 years old. His mother spent several years in prison and has no longer any contact with him. He lives with his father, grandmother and aunt. His father is an alcoholic and drags Vitor to the bars till late at night.
His aunt takes him to spiritist Afro-Brazilian cult rituals, where he is forced to eat the meat of sacrifices. We can easily notice that he is under a tremendous spiritual strain. For some time now, he has been cared for at the Diadema Social Centre. He also regularly comes to Sunday School at the church, but whenever the Bible stories are told, he becomes very restive and aggressive. However, he is slowly being transformed! We have full confidence and believe that Jesus will deliver him. At the Centre, he is now offered the chance of living a dignified life.
There are thousands of Vitors in Diadema and in all of Latin America. In the daytime, they are usually left to themselves because their parents – if they exist at all – have to go to work. We provide them the opportunity to leave the streets, the drugs scene and crime behind them. We are happy that we can convey to many of them God’s love and mercy, sources of deliverance. We have good reason to thank Him! In Diadema, we now care for some 200 children and teenagers, with the possibility of increasing this number in 2010. They get food and help with their homework; they are taught sports, music and many other things, but most important, they experience God’s love in a very specific and practical way.
In addition to the work with the children, there are further offerings and social assistance: Computer courses, seminars on themes such as “health care and hygiene”, and vocational guidance. People in need receive visits and advice.
Since the beginning of this year, Simone de Almeida and Gilson da Silva have been in charge of the Social Centre, and we are pleased with their good and blessed work.