Bishop Macedo,

News that the book Nothing to Lose (in the process of being translated to English) was going to be released in Manaus reached indigenous villages deep in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. I am a Baniwa  Indian and I help pastors from The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God evangelize in the remote areas of São Gabriel da Cachoeira (Saint Gabriel of the Waterfall), border with Colombia and Venezuela (*).

To reach the villages in Manaus, we have to travel during four days by boat on the Rio Negro River. We face the humid weather, bugs, heat and other forest dangers. Usually, we only do this when an Indian gets sick and is on the verge of dying.

For us, the distribution of this book, which tells your story of faith, is spiritual help that goes far beyond the physical body. Our people are finding eternal salvation through the experiences mentioned in your book.

I often gather some Indians in tents or around the campfire, and read excerpts from the book, which I translate to Nheegatu, our tribe’s dialect.

Many suffer from illnesses, which were brought by the white man, like drugs, alcohol and violence, but like any other human being, want to find inner peace. I was a victim of such things. When I arrived at the UCKG in Saint Gabriel, I was an alcoholic, to the point where I hit my wife every day. Five years ago, the Gospel changed my life and today I am an assistant.

Thank you for remembering the Amazon during your book release tour throughout Brazil. Our mission is to take large quantities of the Nothing to Lose book to our other Indian brothers.

The good news of salvation is coming here. Quietly, without drawing too much attention, souls are being saved in the farthest places of the Amazon jungle.

The Spirit of God is at work in our villages.

Yhee pakaperi whaa, Bishop Macedo! (“We are in the faith”, in Nheegatu).

Assistant Dzawini, 42, Baniwa Indian, Northwestern Amazonas