I was at one of the events at Sao Paulo on Saturday 8 February. The SEND BRAZIL actually attracted 200,000 Christians in 4 stadiums including the Brazilian President who wept when he entered the arena because of the reception of love he received! The Send Brazil was focused on stirring believers to action, especially in missions.

At the event 10,000 responded saying they wanted training as missionaries, 7900 wanted to reach their universities with Christ and 24,000 wanted help following a Bible plan.

There was actually a Send School before the Send for 4 days. It gave more space for the Holy Spirit to move. There were a number of powerful times of receiving. One morning Jean-Luc Trachsel preached on prayer, and we prayed but nothing really happened. Was some more worship and the next speaker came on and sensed a spirit of intercession, and so didn’t preach initially but declared what God was doing. Then a powerful spirit of intercession fell. Was lots of weeping and crying out to God in prayer. It was totally unexpected, not stirred up by man, but by the Holy Spirit.

So here’s my evaluation:

1.It’s not revival but it’s moving in the right direction

The Saturday event was focused more on worship and encouraging people to get involved in missions and action in general. However, the Send School was designed to stir people up to pray, readiness for revival and action now. There were some powerful moments of worship, prayer and receiving from God.

2.It just lacked preaching on repentance

No-one preached repentance directly, although there was a preaching of the Gospel at the beginning of the Saturday event. The difference was that this was mostly directed at people who had never made a commitment and not to see renewed brokenness and humbling amongst the believers.

Repentance is vital to see revival.  2 Chron 7:14 says:

“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Duncan Campbell, who preached in the Hebrides Revival of 1949, said:

“If you want revival, get right with God!”

3.It was very equipping

The organisers didn’t want just a great event but to train believers to impact lives. So They trained us to pray for healing and to hear God for others.

Also every afternoon they sent us out to witness and pray for people on the streets and in the shopping centres. I was impressed with the many stories of God working in lives each afternoon and how many young people saw God use them.

4.The Key is the Follow-up

Big events like the Send Brazil are great for mobilising, encouraging and challenging but don’t train or disciple. The organisers understood this and put people who responded into contact with many different training opportunities. For most of these you have to pay. So only time will tell how many people will be trained to make a difference. Let’s pray of an abundance!

5.The Biggest Message was a Call to action

We can’t blame everyone else for the state of our nation. It starts with us.

So the event focused on calling Christians to act. Jesus said to his disciples, “You are the light of the world”. A lighthouse shows the ships the way and how to avoid the dangers. When the lighthouse isn’t shining then there is trouble. In the same way every Christian is called to shine in the workplace, at home, at university and in their family. When we hide our light, it cannot impact society.

To see the whole event online click here on The Send Brazil.

For more information see my book GRACE OUTPOURINGS: 21 DAYS REVIVAL DEVOTIONAL for a great devotional on how to prepare and get ready for this global missionary movement.