SEISMIC SPIRITUAL SHIFT IN THE WORLD’S LARGEST CATHOLIC COUNTRY

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Brazil is witnessing a seismic shift in its religious landscape that’s rapidly reshaping the country’s spiritual and social fabric. Evangelicals are poised to outnumber Catholics as the largest faith group there. In the heart of Brazil, amidst the rhythmic beats of samba and the vibrant colours of carnival, something spiritually profound is unfolding. “We are on the verge of a religious change in Brazil’, said Brazilian sociologist Dr. José Alves. If there’s one image that symbolizes Catholicism’s influence here, it’s Rio de Janeiro’s 98-foot-tall Christ the Redeemer. Inaugurated in 1931, the iconic statute celebrated the country’s rich Catholic heritage. There’s also the beautiful blue Cathedral of Brasilia – one of the largest Catholic churches in Brazil’s capital city.  But despite these historical landmarks, Alves says the faith’s dominance is rapidly declining. “In 1950, 93 percent of Brazilians identified as Catholics. The Church was losing about 1 percent of followers every decade,” said Alves. “However, from 1991 onwards, the Catholic Church started to lose 1 percent of followers every year, resulting in a dramatic drop.”

Evangelical Christianity, once a minority faith here, is now growing at unprecedented levels. The surveys show that what was once the world’s largest Catholic nation, will be overwhelming evangelical by 2030. Signs of this growth are everywhere—mega-churches dotting the landscape, filled with thousands of worshippers each week. That includes Andre Fernandes’ church in São Paulo. “We are living in the fulfillment of a promise,” said Fernandes, who pastors Lagoinha Church. “For many decades, we have heard that Brazil would experience a wave of revival that would be exported around the world, and I believe that this is what we are experiencing at this moment.” It also includes Lourival Pereira’s congregation in the Amazon region—boasting more than 10,000 members across roughly 600 cell groups. “The foundation of our growth is these cells,” said Pereira, pastor of a Foursquare Church in Belem. “The real revival is taking place outside the church walls. Every day, people are meeting in small groups in homes; it’s the biblical model.”

Then there’s J.B. Carvalho’s church in the capital city of Brasília. “We started the church in 2003 with only 25 people. Today, we have about 12,000 people in Brasília alone,” said Carvalho of Community of the Nations Church. “We also have another 15,000 people in Fortaleza. Our churches are spread throughout Brazil.” And Silas Malafaia’s church in Rio de Janeiro is one of the largest and most influential Pentecostal churches in Brazil with more than 100,000 members. “In the next seven years or so, we will be the majority in the country,” declared Malafaia of the Assembly of God Victory in Christ church. “Today, we make up about 35% of the population, and God’s Kingdom has influence in every corner of Brazilian society.” Marcelo Crivella, a well-known evangelical pastor turned politician, once served as mayor of Rio de Janeiro. He says that, years ago, evangelical Christians hesitated to get involved in politics—but that’s no longer the case. More than 30% of the country’s legislators are now evangelical. “We are more than 140 deputies and more than 20 senators,” said Crivella, a Brazilian Congressman.

Many of them gather each Wednesday in the halls of Brazil’s Congress for worship and prayer. Celina Leão, the vice governor of Brasília, said that God is also at work in other branches of the government. “I used to participate in those prayer meetings when I was in Congress,” Leao said. “Now, every month in the governor’s office, we meet for prayer, and people come to my office. It’s a wonderful time to see friends and be in communion.” The country’s first evangelical church opened in 1922. By 1990, the number had grown to more than 7,000 congregations. Nearly 30 years later, it grew to almost 110,000. The growth is so staggering that one study found 17 new evangelical churches opening every day across Brazil. “Now in Brazil we have 550,000 churches,” declared Crivella. Ezenete Rodrigues says this dramatic transformation began, as in many great movements, with the most profound of practices: prayer. “I’ve always believed that prayer is like planting: You plant, plant, plant, and at some point, it will sprout, and then the explosion will come,” Rodrigues told CBN News.

Rodrigues is one of the country’s most well-known intercessors. She has organized countless prayer rallies nationwide, urging her fellow countrymen to turn to God. “Brazil has been hungry and thirsty for God, and the key has been intercession—bending our knees, seeking God, and letting the Spirit of the Lord guide us in everything we do,” said Rodrigues. “Today, we can look back and see so many beautiful fruits of this commitment.” Those who have been tracking the explosive growth of the evangelical movement here in Brazil say worship has also played a monumental role in the church’s growth. And one Christian artist, above all, has been at the centre of it all. Her name is Ana Paula Valadao. “Even growing up, I had glimpses of crowds, of multitudes worshipping the Lord,” Valadao said. From the late 1990s to the early 2000s, her group’s music became synonymous with a powerful worship movement that emphasized intimacy with God, passionate worship, and personal revival. “As I was songwriting, the whole idea was about transformation, was about changing the nation.” Valadao said.

Paula’s songs played across Brazil, helping many experience a deeper connection to their faith. “It was about healing the land, and we started seeing amazing salvation numbers,” said Valadao. She held concerts in strategic locations, drawing millions of people, many of whom were Catholics. “Like the carnival sight in Rio de Janeiro and in the soccer stadiums, Jesus broke every record, gathering more people than any soccer tournament,” Valadao recalled. Because of her songs, many Catholic services in Brazil today have embraced a more evangelistic style of worship, shifting away from traditional liturgies to incorporate contemporary music. Father Antonio Luiz Catelan Ferreira, who leads the Cathedral of São Sebastião in Rio de Janeiro, says the change is part of an effort to encourage former Catholics to ‘come home.’ “People are attracted to environments where worship celebrations and moments of prayer are done in a more charismatic way,” Ferreira said. “Today, a growing number of Catholics are returning precisely because prayer meetings are conducted in a more Pentecostal style.”

The Bible refers to Jesus’ judging the nations, and mention is made of sheep and goat nations. Hopefully, Brazil will be a sheep nation going into Jesus’s Millennial reign on this Earth.

CHRISTIANITY’S HUGE GROWTH DESPITE PERSECUTION

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Chris Worthington, a Gen Z filmmaker and founder of Every Nation Will Bow, has unveiled his latest documentary, “Multiplied,” offering a stirring glimpse into what he describes as a “modern-day Jesus Revolution.” Look at the trailer below it will cause you to praise God for what He is doing.

The film, in theaters through Fathom Events on May 20-21, follows the 24-year-old filmmaker as he travels across Brazil, Ghana, and Nigeria, documenting the vibrant, multifaceted expressions of Christianity around the globe. Compare this with the apostate church in the west which is in rapid decline.

This groundbreaking film brings viewers behind the scenes to witness the spiritual fervor of evangelistic events worldwide, led by renowned evangelist Daniel Kolenda.

From a 140,000-strong Gen Z gathering in Brazil to a 400,000-person Gospel event in Nigeria, “Multiplied” captures Kolenda’s mission to reach every corner of the globe, dispelling misconceptions about waning interest in faith while offering an inspiring message of hope. 

“Christianity is exploding, especially in Africa,” Worthington told The Christian Post. “I saw it for myself and got it all on camera. It’s about showing the reality that it’s not just about a few famous evangelists anymore but about an entire generation preaching the Gospel. It’s about you and me; it’s about the normal person. I think that’s how Jesus wanted it from the beginning.”

Kolenda is the successor to Reinhard Bonnke, the legendary preacher known for drawing vast crowds during his ministry’s campaigns. Kolenda, as head of Christ for All Nations (CfaN), continues Bonnke’s legacy, presiding over some of the world’s largest evangelistic events and cultivating a global movement that “Multiplied” seeks to document.

Filming the events didn’t come without challenges. Worthington shared how while Christianity is popular in Brazil — “everybody wants to be on a massive stage and preach to 80,000 people” — his experience in Nigeria was much different.

“In Nigeria, it’s the exact opposite … we went from flying on private jets to actually getting shot at in Nigeria. My life flashed before my eyes. I didn’t realize [there was] persecution over there. It was insane,” he said. 

“One week before we got to Nigeria, we were informed that a terrorist organization had killed a pastor and his entire family, and we were doing a 500,000-person Gospel event right there,” he said. “On the way, we got trapped in a dust storm, so we couldn’t fly and had to go on a really dangerous highway. We met a guy … who pulled out a silver Glock. I’ll never forget it. He knew who we were; he pointed straight at us, right at my head. I saw the evil in his eyes, and at that moment, I thought, ‘I guess this is where it ends.”

Worthington said he and his team were driven by a deeper purpose despite the dangers and challenges faced during filming. 

“The more you get attacked, the more things that try to go wrong, things that are obviously spiritual warfare, the better you’re doing. So just keep pushing through it, because you’re going to change the world that way,” he said.

Worthington, best known for “This Is Living,” had his own spiritual awakening in 2013 at a worship concert in Tampa, Florida, which he told CP sent him on a mission to document faith in its rawest form. “Multiplied,” he said, emerges as the culmination of this vision.

“All of these films that I make, it’s just an endeavor to point people to Jesus Christ. If it’s not doing that, it’s all in vain,” he said.

“It has no meaning if it’s not pointing people to Christ, if it’s not for that, it’ll be burned with the chaff, because the fire comes to everything, to every ministry,” he said. “The fire is going to come, and it’s either going to just be burned or it’s going to withstand the fire. And the ministries that are going to withstand the fire are the ones who have pure motives that are actually doing it to point people not to themselves, but to Jesus Christ. And that’s why any film that I make, I make it to point people to Jesus Christ.”

Amid reports of faith’s declining influence, Worthington said he hopes “Multiplied“ offers an eye-opening perspective that reveals the profound impact of evangelistic work.

“Film is a huge tool for evangelism. The new crusade field is the living room,” Worthington said, citing the success of films and shows like “The Chosen” and “Jesus Revolution” in reaching hearts and minds across America.

“I think that a Christian film Renaissance is happening right now, and I think that’s how God wants to reach America because you are going to reach America with your phone, with your Smart TV.”