As killings climb, evangelical ministers try gangs’ methods to stem the carnage.
Former gang member Janderson Viera, 23, learned a rival gang planned to execute him. He called the Rev. Arnaldo Barros. By Marina Lopes Marina Lopes Email Bio Follow May 17 at 2:00 PM RIO BRANCO, Brazil — As the sound of gunshots grew closer, Janderson Viera knew that the rival gang that had taken over his neighborhood was coming for him.“I want to convert,” he said.
Gang violence has made Brazil one of the most dangerous countries in Latin America — killings nationwide reached a record 64,000 in 2017, and the death toll remains high. Making converts has long been Barros’s business. As the death toll mounted, so did the calls. But it was a challenge spreading the message that the new Christians were out of the game in time to save their lives.
Barros, pastor of Rio Branco’s Igreja Geração Eleita — the Elected Generation Church — saw these videos circulating on his feeds and decided to co-opt the approach. The social media savvy televangelist began to film gang members’ conversions and post them online to declare that the new converts were off limits. Other pastors in Acre have followed his example.
Oliveira, 60, spent nine years behind bars for armed robberies and drug dealing before he converted himself 20 years ago. Now he helps prison inmates who are looking for a different life. Standing before bullet-pocked buildings — and often bullet-pocked themselves — they state their names, code names and ID numbers within their gangs. They list their crimes, the number of people they have killed and announce they are now men of God:Barros places a hand on their shoulders and pronounces them free: “In the name of Jesus, you are officially unaffiliated.”
Of course, conversion by video is no guarantee that a gang member will stay straight. But converts who return to their gangs face serious danger. Viera, 23, managed to escape both Comando Vermelho — the Red Command — and his own gang, Bonde dos 13. He’s staying at a rehabilitation center run by Barros’s church while looking for a place to live.
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