DAWN Fridayfax 1999 #09

Brazil: Intercession movement changes Goiania

Local intercession leaders report that the number of evangelical Christians in Goiania, a city with 1.2 million inhabitants near Brasilia, has grown from 8% to 45% in the last 6 years. Previously, the city had been a bastion of spiritism. Many local pastors attribute the phenomenal growth, in which hundreds of thousands of people found Jesus in only a few years, to intense prayer led mainly by Christian women. It started over 10 years ago, when a small group of some 5 women began praying for the city. Elizabeth Cornelio, housewife, mother, and one of the movement's initiators, was then told by her pastor not to pray with Christians from other churches. "Members of other churches are not spiritual brothers and sisters, they are at most spiritual cousins," he said. Around 6 years ago, Elizabeth invited Christians from various churches to meet to pray in unison for the city; for this 'sin', she was expelled from her church. The 850 who attended the first meeting have now become one of the world's largest intercession networks, with 188,000 women praying every morning for the city. They are linked together through a radio programme moderated live by Elizabeth Cornelio and her close co-leader Elizabeth Albernaz.
372 new churches in one month
Every church in the city has grown, and many new churches have been planted, they report. The intercessors, mainly women, regularly pray in people's houses for their deliverance from demonic powers, intercede and pray prophetically, or pray on the street for an as yet unreached part of town. They often experience that a new church is planted in the area where they prayed within a day. "Prayer," they say, "makes people incredibly open to the gospel, and is therefore inseparable from church planting, because it is prayer to the one who said 'I will build my church!'" Christians from one denomination prayed and fasted for 40 days at the end of 1998, and planted 372 new churches in January 1999 alone.
Who are the real key leaders?
Even if some pastors still have problems working with other Christians, the women have achieved something which many leading pastors considered impossible: they now work with over 80 of the local denominations, have trained over 5,000 prayer leaders and given God's people a vision for the spiritual transformation and salvation of an entire city: a flame which has already started spreading to many other parts of Brazil, and other nations.
"Prayer prevents bloodbath"
Some time ago, a dramatic breakout and hostage-taking at Goiania's prison had the police at their wits' end. They approached the intercessors, asking them to pray for the derailed situation. Elizabeth Cornelio not only mobilised thousands of intercessors, but was also given a direct telephone line into the prison, so that she could target the prayer. The whole town saw live how the drama was turned around, ending without bloodshed at exactly the prophesied time, 5pm. The headlines in the local newspapers then proclaimed "Prayer prevents bloodbath!"
Gold dust on hands and faces
In Goiania, they have recently been experiencing a peculiar phenomenon (also reported to be occurring in Switzerland, Israel and South Africa): following prayer, the women often have a fine, clearly visible gold dust on their faces and hands. Initially astonished, the collected some of the dust and took it to a local jeweller, who declared it to be the purest gold he had ever seen. The intercessors see this as an inexplicable manifestation of the Biblical phenomena in which some people, such as Moses, had "radiant faces" after meeting God. They warn against an emphasis on external phenomena: "Jesus alone suffices!" A large intercession conference will take place in July 1999 in Goiania, during which 50,000 people are expected to attend a night of prayer in the local stadium.
Brazilian intercession leaders: what does God say about Switzerland?
As a quick glimpse into the intercessors' lives, here is an extract from one of their (prophetic?) prayers for Switzerland: "God seems to be saying 'I am preparing a great army in Switzerland.' We can already hear the soldiers marching; they are Christians going into peoples' houses looking for the lost. The time of estoteric and New Age is past. I see mothers praying for their children, that God's fire will burn in their hearts, reaching whole schools and universities through them... Now is God's hour for Switzerland - many Christians must learn to clean their ears and listen for God's voice again. There will be a spiritual earthquake, affecting whole churches, denominations and fellowships. The population will have to be shaken, God is waking the supposedly revived, who are sleeping. The pains are as in labor... In Switzerland, says God, I did not find many to pray for the nation, but I have found them in other nations. They will join you. I will bring Christians from other nations, spiritual midwives, praying for Switzerland.... There is not much time, hurry, hurry, hurry... It is not time for your house, but for mine, says God. All I need is your open heart and willingness to obey me from now on."
Source: E. Albernaz und E. Cornelio; information about the conference in July: Ueli Haldemann, FAX (+41)-52-6728678 E-mail Uhaldemann@t-online.de