Brazil (MNN) — For decades, Brazil has been steeped in corruption. As a recent Bloomberg article put it, "Corruption is as deeply rooted in Brazilian political and business life as samba and soccer are in its social life."
Most recently, several Brazilian politicians have been accused of engaging in illegal financial transactions with Carlos Augusto Ramos, a Brazilian businessman better known as Carlinhos Cachoeira, or "Charlie Waterfall." Cachoeira has been in prison since March for running illegal gambling operations, among other things.
In 2005, a similar case arose in which lawmakers were accused of receiving monthly payments from the ruling party to vote for certain legislation.
With corruption around every corner, Operation Mobilization has been able to make several loud statements about the state of not only corrupt men in the public sector, but of humans everywhere.
Recently, the students of OM Brazil's missions training protested against corruption on the Afonso Pena Square in the city of São José dos Campos, where OM is based. They made posters with messages against corruption, dressed up as clowns, and went up and down the streets.
"The clowns' clothes implied that the politicians have seen voters as clowns, because they steal what they want and nobody does anything to stop it," one of the students, Rafael, later told OM.
People on the streets were very interested in the subject, Rafael said, and many stopped to say something against corruption. "When people said that politicians were corrupt, we asked if they were not corrupt like them," Rafael explains. "I talked with a man who claimed he was not corrupt, but then I asked him if he had ever bought a pirated DVD. He said 'yes' and agreed with me that he also deserves condemnation."
That was where the gospel came in. "So I said that Jesus came into the world, to die for us and pay the price for our sins, and now we aren't condemned anymore."
The students are thankful for the opportunity to talk about God's love. "It was an interesting subject for people," said Rafael. "I hope to do this more often."
Pray for lasting impact in the lives of these people and for positive change in society.
