Good Friday Messages in a Brazilian Hospital

A couple in Brazil experienced a difficult Easter weekend but an experience with ReFrame Ministries’ Portuguese outreach improved their situation.

“We were both stricken with a new strain of COVID-19 and had to stay in the hospital,” Delmo shared a few days after Easter. “It’s just me and my wife, Márcia, so I have lived the last few days in a real valley of tears.”

Delmo has been listening to audio programs and watching videos produced by ReFrame’s Portuguese ministry team for many years, so he was happy to find a new video on Good Friday. ReFrame Ministries is the new name of Back to God Ministries International.

Oxygen mask still in place, he listened to the message from Rev. Hernandes Dias Lopes, ReFrame’s Portuguese ministry leader from his hospital bed.

“Jesus Sees You”

Lopes’ Good Friday message was based on Luke 7:11-17, when Jesus raises a widow’s son from the dead. In the message, Lopes acknowledges the pain that COVID-19 has caused the world, and specifically Brazil, where more than 350,000 deaths have been recorded.

Lopes also specifically addressed those in the hospital right now—people like Delmo and Márcia.

“Maybe you're in the hospital with your heart heavy because of your future, your tomorrow,” Lopes said. “Jesus looks at you, he sees you, and he knows you. He knows your name and he knows your past.”

These words from Lopes lifted Delmo’s spirits.

“At that moment I had the strength to want to continue to live and continue fighting the good fight,” Delmo said.

Continued Prayers

Delmo ultimately spent 10 days at the hospital, and most of his savings. Márcia is still in the intensive care unit and Delmo has been relying on ReFrame’s Portuguese ministry team to lift him up.

Join Delmo and ReFrame’s Portuguese ministry team in praying for his wife, Márcia.

“In my prayers there is a mixture of hope and fear, which pushes me to despair,” Delmo shared with the ministry team. “For this reason I ask for your help in prayer.”