SAO PAULO – Jair Bolsonaro has been the elected President of Brazil since January 1, 2019. Brazil’s liberals and secular humanists were unable to prevent Bolsonaro from winning his 2018 presidential campaign. Christians and conservatives rallied to support his campaign that opposed homosexuality, same-sex marriage, abortion, and drug liberalization with 55 percent of the vote.

Just four days following his election victory, and before taking office, he announced that he would move Brazil’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Later, he asked for the closure of the Palestinian embassy in Brazil.

He stirred protests on the first day of his presidency when he announced the closure of the country’s Ministry for Human Rights in favor of the establishment of a ministry for ensuring family values. He appointed Damaras Alves, an attorney and active evangelical who was a co-founder of Voice for Life.

The faith-based organization works alongside Youth With A Mission (YWAM) to evangelize the indigenous tribes in the Amazon. She has proven to be a strong advocate for abstinence of sexual relationship before marriage to curb teen pregnancy and HIV.

Liberals in Brazil raised an outcry that “They chose the worst possible (person). We are in a state of shock.”

Bolsonaro has upset the applecart once again. On January 26, 2020, he appointed Benedito Guimarães Aguiar Neto to lead CAPES, the government agency that oversees all of Brazil’s graduate education programs and funds scholarships for research.

The problem? Aguiar Neto, the former rector of Mackenzie Presbyterian University, is a creationist.

It is well known that he is a staunch believer in Intelligent Design (ID). He has publicly advocated re-introducing ID “into Brazil’s entire education curriculum as ‘counterpoint to the theory of evolution” based on scientific evidence.

Sao Paulo Institute of Bio-scientists’ evolutionary biologist, Antonio Carlos Marques, lamented that “It is completely illogical to place someone who has promoted actions contrary to scientific consensus in a position to manage programs that are essentially of scientific training.”

Pray for the faithful followers of Christ in Brazil and for these leaders who are unafraid to stand up and defend Bible teaching, principles, and morality. Pray that the Lord would use them mightily to change Brazil for Christ.

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