The following provides a brief outline of the labors of our Brazilian fellow bishop, The Right Reverend Hermes C. Fernandes. Bishop Hermes is the Presiding Bishop of the REINA family of churches based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He also heads up the CCI Apostolate for the Nations department that is developing protocols for ministry among Portuguese speaking people around the world.
Now to some of what Bishop Hermes is doing these days.
Social projects in Rio favelas
The Hidden Treasures Project conducted by the REINA family of churches in 30 needy communities in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, aims to care for the “hidden treasures” of the poverty-stricken and crime-laden shanty towns Brazilians call “favelas.” Who are the hidden treasures? They are the children of the favelas. To reach and rescue these hidden treasures, the Hidden Treasures Project distributes food, clothes, and school materials. It also conducts free courses in literacy, English, computers, music, and sports.
For more information on the Hidden Treasures Project, please see the following:
In Portuguese, go to www.projetotesouroescondido.blogspot.com
For English go to www.hiddentreasuresproject.blogspot.com
Blogs
On a per capita basis, Brazilians spend more daily time on the internet than citizens of any other country in the world. Bishop Hermes makes use of Brazilian interest in the internet through the following blogs.
* Bishop Herme’s blog has 835 subscribers and has had 108,000 hits. If you can read Portuguese, go to hermesfernandes.blogspot.com.
* The Blog Genizah (www.genizahvirtual.com) with 2700+ subscribers, has had 1,043,000 hits thus far. This is a team effort with other ministers. Its influence is significant. (See E-zine below.)
E-Magazine
Along with associates from several different denominations, Bishop Hermes is a key contributor to the E-zine, Revista Eletrônica Genizah. This magazine publishes three times per month and has 278,000 subscribers.
Orkut
Orkut is much like Facebook, and is very popular in Brazil. Through Orkut, Bishop Hermes connects regularly with more than 2500 people through one or more of the three below listed profiles.
* Perfil 1 – http://www.orkut.com/Main#Profile?rl=mp&uid=8985509898601005525
* Perfil 2 – http://www.orkut.com/Main#Profile?rl=mp&uid=5926657803610927761
* Perfil 3 – http://www.orkut.com/Main#Profile?uid=18306332563266724576
You can reach Bishop Hermes’ at http://witter.com/HermesFernandes. About 1200 people are connected to this site.
Communicating through Skype
Bishop Hermes is now living in the US and working on his English language skills and assisting our Communion’s development of Portuguese language ministries. So he preaches regularly to his home congregations by means of Skype. With 120 plus churches in Rio de Janeiro, and more other in other Brazilian states, the internet provides him with a vital ministry tool.
Essays and Books
An author with 16 published books, Bishop Hermes continues to work on essays, written sermons and books. He also carries on significant ministerial correspondence with many people and ministers around the world.
Final Requests
Please pray for Bishop Hermes, his family, and his family of churches. Donations for his work can be given through PayPal on the CCI site. Request that the donation be routed to REINA.
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Autor: Archbishop William Mikler
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