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‘The Bible is the most important book there is’ BRAZIL — Valdir Costa has a clear mission. “I want to help people to see the spiritual side of life,” he says. “It doesn’t matter to me whether they join my church. I just want them to join Jesus.” Mr Costa’s ministry began on a very small scale, but now he is thinking big. A 38-year-old technology specialist and volunteer journalist for a Christian newspaper in Limeira, he has a deep love of the Bible. “It’s the most important book there is,” he says decisively. “It plays a fundamental part in my life, guiding my steps and illuminating my deeds. I have already read the whole Bible seven times and I would not exchange it for any other book. It alone can supply my needs as a Christian.” Fervent desire Mr Costa has an equally fervent desire to share God’s Word with others. “One day at church, the pastor asked if we had ever imagined how the world would change if we could put a Bible in the hands of every big businessman. He meant that, if businessmen read the Bible and came to know God’s Word, they might decide to improve the world. I thought that this would be a good idea. But then I also started to think about giving a Bible to people close to me. “The next day, I gathered together some young people from the church and asked them to carry out research among all the homes in the local area. There are around 1,200, mainly owned by middle-class families. The aim was to find which homes did not own a Bible. 22 homes “The young people found 22 homes where there was no Bible. I acquired 22 Bibles and the group delivered a copy to each home. People generally responded very positively. They had simply never thought about how important it is to know the Word. I don’t know whether all the Bibles will be read, but at least the opportunity is there now. Many people are thirsty for life but they don’t know how to get to the source. “The results were so encouraging that we decided to carry on. We turned our attention to a working-class district where there are 250 homes. Here we distributed 39 Bibles. We will carry on with this work in another district soon. My mission “I think I have found my mission. If at least one person finds Jesus and achieves eternal life as a result of what we are doing, that would be good enough for me. If that doesn’t happen, then at least I’ve done my part and I’m happy about it.” Based on an article in A Biblia no Brasil, the magazine of the Bible Society of Brazil, April-June 2006. (WR 405/10 - 09/10.06) [1 photo] |
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