During the pandemic, the Seventh-day Adventist Church across the Central Plateau carried out various social actions on behalf of people directly affected by a lack of work. A group of members of the church of Vicente Pires, in the Federal District (DF), and other congregations, found Circo Portugal, the Circus, in the course of their volunteer work. It is located in Taguatinga which is the administrative region of DF.
One of the organizers of the project, Ana Ligia, explains that right at the beginning of the pandemic she was very concerned about people who were out of work, and with this, several projects were initiated to alleviate the situation. “It was then that we met the Circus [workers]. We went out to distribute [food baskets] and when we passed the Circus we started to sing for them. And one of the young women started to cry. That caught my attention ”, she recalls.
Ana says that she went home with a sinking heart. However, she collected basic food baskets and returned to deliver them at the circus. “In addition to the baskets, we took the word of God to them. We had a service as if we were in the church,” she explains.
The trapeze artist, magician, and administrator of the circus, Joice Portugal, pointed out that the religious action had a great impact on the group. “We have no words to thank you for what you have done for us. Not only for killing our hunger but for bringing the spiritual food that we were really in need of.” Joice also mentions that the group brought hope to the artists. “They welcomed us, came to comfort, teach and make people understand the true purpose of Jesus and talk about the importance of the Bible. It was inexplicable ”, she expressed with emotion.
Christ's Method
With the bonds of friendship established, the need arose to expand the study of the Word of God. Then, the canvas of the circus became the stage of the message of love and hope, and Jesus Christ was the center of attention for an entire week. The program took place from the 3rd to the 8th of May, it touched the artists and aroused in them the desire to know more about spiritual matters.
The elder of one of the participating churches, André de Oliveira, was directly involved in organizing the program and details that everything was thought out and organized with great care.
“We take bands, gifts, special baskets for mothers. And on Saturday we had a great celebration to end the week of prayer, with a special snack. Everyone was ready for a party day,” he said while pointing out that the artists asked that the schedule be repeated once a month.
Joice, the circus administrator, stressed that in 35 years of activity she had never lived an experience like this. “The circus has become a church. It was really incredible. My father, who is 77 years old and was born in the circus, had also never had such an experience. In the service, we feel something incredible, supernatural, which I cannot explain. I thank the Church for being so human and for teaching and showing so much love, empathy and faith ”, she concludes.
This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site