BRAZIL: Team of missionaries provides support and aid to Indigenous Xavante people
Salesians have lived and worked in São Marcos for 7 years
BRAZIL
(MissionNewswire) Father José Marcos de Oliveira led a mission of 14 people to help support the Indigenous Xavante people in the Salesian Indigenous Missions in Mato Grosso, Brazil. The team went to São Marcos, a place where the Salesians have lived and worked for seven years. The missionaries brought with them about 120 baskets of basic foodstuffs, along with clothes, shoes and toys.
Missionaries visited people who are sick and got to know the community, including close to 100 youth who attend the oratory. The missionaries also distributed clothes collected in the parish, as well as food baskets to three of the local villages.
One of the volunteers was José Nivaldo, age 21 and a parishioner of St John Bosco Church. He said, “After experiencing everything that was presented to us there, now that I return to routine, I can state that it was a wonderful, unique experience. It is as if Jesus really took us away from the daily grind and took us to a mountain full of work, prayer and deep experiences.”
Nivaldo added that he did not imagine that he would enjoy the experience so much. The people who shared Mission Week made a difference including the friendships he made along the way. The smiles he witnessed and the games he played with the children brought joy and transformed his outlook.
Just over 15% of Brazilians live in poverty, with the majority living in the rural northeast of the country, according to the World Bank. While Brazil is making positive changes, there are still large gaps between the poor and the rich, and issues of income inequality and social exclusion remain at the root of poverty.
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Sources:
ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)
Salesian Missions – Brazil
World Bank – Brazil
