Brazil: Women Believing Behind Bars

Source: Haggai Ministries, March 22, 2023

Every Saturday, you’ll find Renata da Silva Sousa in prison. No, she isn’t an inmate, but she goes to spend time with the women there who are. Her goal is to be a listener and an encourager for those women. Renata always has a word of comfort to share with the people in her life—and whenever possible, she introduces them to Jesus. In the prison, that is through planting seeds of hope and renewal, where otherwise it would be hard to find.

“My personal mission is to reach this generation of women, equipping them to grow and reach their full potential, so that others in that community will join our churches,” said Renata, an accountant and financial analyst for a large company by day.

A few years ago, Renata joined the leadership team of Projeto Bellas, a group of women who travel to the prison every weekend to disciple the women there. They pray for them, pray with them, and distribute Bibles. Currently, they’re ministering to approximately 50 women, with plans to baptize 19 of them as soon as they’re granted permission by the prison board to release these women for the duration of the ceremony. Today, they are working on expanding to include recovery houses and shelter homes for abandoned children or those who have been abused.

Read the full story.

On a related note, a reader asked if we had any news about a revival in the prisons of El Salvador. We found Reform and Revival: Gang Members Find Christianity in El Salvador Prisons (Washington Post, 2019). Have newer news? Let us know. El Salvador now has the world’s highest incarceration rate, with nearly 2% of the population imprisoned (GZERO Media). The country just built what is expected to be the world’s largest prison.

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