UCB International Blog

Hello, Silva here from UCB Brazil, hope you are enjoying these posts!

Thought you might like to know what our latest news is…we are really excited about this :

The first Christian devotional magazine in the ‘Ticuna’ dialect is already being distributed in the Amazon region.  “The Word for Today” translated by volunteers in the North of the Country was launched with the purpose of being an instrument for building the Body of Christ. Crossing borders, the dialect is spoken also in some parts of Peru and Colombia, what gives this devotional  the potential to reach 26,500 Ticuna Indians.

“We have very few materials in ‘Ticuna’ to learn about the Word of God, and there are some here who only speak the Ticuna dialect. ‘The Word for Today’ has come to fill this need”, states Clauber Quadros, a missionary who is developing social projects among the inhabitants of that region.  Clauber, together with Marcela Sant’Anna – the Coordinator of UCB Brazil’s Ticuna Project – were the lecturers at the release ceremony of the devotional in the Alto Solimões region, in an event that gathered together all church leaders in the region on July 27th. Representatives from Brazil, Colombia and Peru were present. The Idea of translating “The Word for Today” to the Ticuna dialect started when missionary Clauber started to receive some testimonies.  One of the sisters in Leticia, Colombia, took one magazine to 60 missionaries. They started to use that issue regularly. Finally, they had to handle it with special care, because pages were so worn out that they were getting loose”, Clauber tells us.  Since then, the magazine has been used even in Bible studies at local Churches, such as the Regular Baptist Church in Benjamin Constant. According to Marcela de Sant’Anna, having a devotional life with God will help people in the Amazon region to see many new things through the preaching of the Word of God. She says, “It was a tool the Lord used so that I could have more time with Him.  It came to us in the same way: we prayed that the meditations would be translated to Portuguese and they were, and now, it is the time for the Ticuna people. The devotional is getting there to bless many lives.”

TWFT will be distributed at the same time as the Old Testament translation to the Ticuna dialect is being launched. Our brothers and sisters will have access to the soulfood reading, a daily reading program included in the devotional, in order to help them in the reading and understanding of the Bible.

In the opinion of Silvia Calmon, UCB Brazil’s Executive Director, this is a unique opportunity to preach the Gospel. “We are involved in a pioneer work taking the Gospel to the Ticuna people in a contemporary and totally new form to them, since this is the first Christian study material besides the Bible to be produced in the Ticuna dialect”, she celebrates.       

Pastor Atos Vasquez and Maria Aparecida Beato, who have encouraged the Project of translation to the Ticuna dialect, and who are the leaders of a local Church, are developing projects using the devotional among different groups of people. “We are using it with several classes in our Church, and it has been a great blessing.  We have used it with the ladies and with the youth. It’s a material that came to complete our search for the Word of God, it’s like the dessert that God has sent to us. We thank every brother and sister who have blessed us with this gift”, the couple explains.

Júlia Calmon, a member of TWFT’s team, who also travelled to participate in the release of TWFT in the Ticuna dialect, tells us of the importance of being part of this work. “I was impressed with the willingness of those who work for the Kingdom of God in that place, people that, although they do not have the necessary structure to perform their projects, try to focus on what can be done, and do not sit and wait for better circumstances”. 

CUAGÜ PATAÜ SCHOOL

Besides his involvement with “The Word for Today” in the Ticuna dialect, missionary Clauber Quadros is responsible for a missionary school that assists approximately two hundred children in Benjamin Constant, in the Alto Solimões region, in the Amazon, for the last 4 years: the Cuagü Pataü Alternative Education and Bible School. This ministry has the mission of taking the teaching of reading, education and study of the Word of God to the Ticuna children and young people. “It is very important to share the Bible and ‘The Word for Today’, but the main challenge we face among the community is the teaching of reading”, says Deonora Quadros, Clauber’s wife.

The work of this couple, however, is not restricted to the walls of the school. A follow-up is made with the students’ families, aiming at preaching the Word of God and providing some of their needs. “Children’s performance at school depends on the support of a good family structure”, says Clauber. Therefore, the school offers meals in the morning and in the afternoon to the students and their families. For some of them, the meals at school are the only meal they will have during the day.

The youth of the Cuagu Patau School represent the largest group of readers of “The Word for Today” in the Amazon region. Every Saturday they meet to share one verse or one meditation, which frequently ends up by taking all the time of the meeting.

Besides teaching itself, several activities are also offered, such as dancing and singing lessons, etc.

The school started with the help of a Norwegian missionary responsible for the building of its initial structure. Later, Pastor Noel Quinlan, from the Latin American Ministries, has made available the necessary resources to complete the school building. 

Recently, the Cuagu Patau School added a library, and a nurse’s surgery to its facilities.  Financial help from some of UCB Brazil’s partners in Petrópolis, RJ made this possible.  Psychologist Naíde Teófilo Firmo,  provided the didactic books, and  the “Templo Novo” Church, represented by Pastors Walmir and Cláudia Leite, paid for the delivery of the books and  also for medicines.

Presently, the School plans to improve its infrastructure, increasing the number of desks, since the present ones are not sufficient for the number of students enrolled, and building a special area for the dance and choir activities, which nowadays are performed in the school kitchen. The ministry is also praying for the construction of a sports court for the children.

The Word for Today is now distributed freely!  We have followed God’s direction, believing in His provision to enable us to maintain the present publication of ten thousand copies.

We will use this powerful evangelism tool to bring the Word of God to homes and prisons, as well as 3.400 hospital beds and 4240 churches and ministries over the whole Country.  Please pray for us and become our partner.