A Story From the Americas
Antonio, a Chibi-speaking Bible translator, and his brother Cicero were the first to arrive with their families in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Joyful and expectant, they had come for a large wedding that would reunite Chibi people traveling from many different states to celebrate. Within a few days, things took a dark turn: Police raided the camp and discovered weapons. Cicero identified himself as the group leader, so the police took him out into the street and beat him until he passed out. When his mother tried to defend him, they beat her too.
Unfortunately, this is the kind of treatment the Chibi people have come to expect. They are outcasts who endure constant distrust, discrimination and violence. Fear motivates many to carry guns. The police took Cicero to the station and booked him as a drug and arms dealer. The weapons were not his, but he was prone to drinking and fighting. Imprisoned there, he remembered the Chibi-language oral Bible stories that Antonio had told him, and he asked God to take over his life.
“He believed God would take him out of there,” Antonio says. “He thought that when he got out, he would go to the churches and speak of what God would do for him.”
Cicero preached the Word to other prisoners. A gifted musician, he got a guitar and wrote a beautiful hymn of praise. A prison official heard him singing and transferred Cicero to another cell, where the leader of another faction was confined. The official was bent on inciting violence and demanded that Cicero beat people from the opposing factions who came to see the other leader.
But Cicero refused. “I gave myself to God, and I will not bring this embarrassment to my missionary brother.” Overcome by this testimony, the leader of the other gang joined Cicero in refusing to commit violence.
A year and three months later, Cicero was released. Chibi Christians discipled him, prayed with him, baptized him and successfully appealed to the judge for absolution.
“Today, he is a gentle-hearted man who speaks the Word of God and is a follower of Christ with a joyful heart,” says his thankful brother. “From disgrace to a blessing, and it is through the power of the Gospel in the heart language that this happens.”