History and Beliefs
Who we are
The Help for Reformation Brazil is a non-profit Brazilian organization under the authority of the Puritan Reformed Church of Brazil and in coordination with the Malleus Dei Institute (an institute founded by members of the Puritan Reformed Church to fight for Reformation in Brazil).
What is the Puritan Reformed Church
The seed of the Puritan Reformed Church was planted at the end of 19th century, by Rev. Robert Reid Kalley, a member of the Church of Scotland and a warmly sympathizer of the first movements that led to the formation of the Free Church of Scotland. He translated the works of John Owen, John Bunyan and other Puritans into Portuguese, and drafted a short Calvinistic confession of faith named the 28 Articles of a Brief Exposition of Christian Faith, and established a "Free Church" or "Nonconformist Church" called the Brazillian Evangelical Church. Some years after his departure, however, Darbists slowly infected the newly founded denomination. After decades of battles, in December, 2008, a group of three congregations seceded from the Brazillian Evangelical Church (then called Evangelical Congregational Church) to form the Puritan Reformed Church and to rescue the Puritan and Reformed heritage given to us by our first founder. Today we have eight congregations and, each day, we receive more and more contacts from people in Brazil and South America that want to know the Reformed Faith and want to join a "Puritan" Church.
Besides that Brief Exposition, and our own Symbols of Faith (a collection of three Brazillian Calvinisict documents), we adhere, as the most fundamental statement of the Biblical faith, to the Westminster Standards and we respect the Westminster Directories. We have our own Book of Discipline and Church Order, and it is fully compatible with the Westminster Form of Government.
Our hope and needs
Our hope in Christ Jesus is to find brothers and churches that would provide help to the Puritan Reformed Church of Brazil, and to our other works here (we have a little publishing house, an online Seminary and we are planning to start Confessional Schools). We really need this help, so that our people may grow to maturity and prosper in living and preaching the true Gospel of our Lord throughout South America.
Brazil is a continental country, with disproportionate political importance among the countries closest to us. It is really the door to South America. But, also, it is a land of poverty - spiritual and material poverty. There are no Reformed churches in entire States, States that are larger than European countries. The historical Reformed churches (Presbyterian, Baptist and Congregational) fell from the Truth and were poisoned with Arminianism, Modernism, Postmodernism and Charismaticism, sometimes in a very peculiar and bizarre way. Our heart really cries for Reformation, for Biblical Doctrine, for Christian community, for a Christian government. The fields are whitening here, and there is a lot of work for just a few of us. We really hope to find brothers and churches, sent to us by God, who will fight this battle with us.
So, please, we beg you, support the building up of the Kingdom of Christ here. Pray for us, we ask. And call your congregations to this task too. Write to us. Live with us. As our Lord teaches, be one with us.
Purposes
Establish well prepared ministers to serve those who have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and seek to live in obedience to Him;
Help the people by creating educational confessional resources - 80% of our people are illiterate; since they can't understand what they read, they are easy prey to the sects and superstitions of those who twist the Bible.
Piously manage and apply financial support received through donations;
Develop our Free Online Seminary;
Assist and financially aid the poor members of our congregations that need secondary studies so that they may be able to find jobs, and also create projects that may improve household incomes - 70% of our people do not have a formal job and earn less than US$200/month.
Establish a network of relationships between the international Reformed and Puritan brothers and churches, and our local congregations, so that we can have a strong fellowship with them - our members are usually "isolated" in our congregations, because in the cities where they are there is no other Reformed and Puritan Church. We hope, also, that our elders and deacons grow in the faith by contact with experienced officers of well established churches.
Achieve cooperators and missionaries to work with us.
Receive other useful donations, like Puritan literature.
