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Such proximity to criminals has caused police distrust, and da Silva was investigated after police learned that two brothers of the drug dealer Marcos Nepomuceno, one of the most notorious in Brazil, attended the church. Da Silva's church has also been suspected of receiving money from drug trafficking, but nothing has been proven against either the church or its leader.

Da Silva emphasizes that he has a "calling from God" to evangelize and to spiritually free criminals. "When I go up to the slums," said the pastor, "I look in the traffickers' armed eyes and order the demons to leave in the name of Jesus. They fall to the ground and are free at that moment."

Now he hopes that the sudden fame as a penitentiary negotiator will open the door for a spiritual goal: preaching to the most influential drug dealer in Brazil, Fernandinho Beira-Mar. The pastor, who said he has already visited the criminal, needs a special authorization to see him at the Presidente Bernardes Jail in Sao Paulo State, where no visitors are allowed.

George Guilherme is a senior reporter for Globo TV, a major television network in Latin America, and a correspondent for Eclesia magazine.

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Other news coverage of the prison rebellion includes:

Brazil officials try to ID riot victims | Officials lowered the death toll to 31 from 38 as they identified bodies, that also included a prison guard — Associated Press (June 2, 2004)

Rights agency to sue Rio State after jail massacre | Government says police barred human rights observers from the prison for their own safety—Reuters (June 2, 2004)

30 inmates and guard die in jail revolt in Brazil | Astirio Pereira dos Santos, the head of Rio's prison authority, said the death toll would probably have been much higher if the Rev. Marcos Pereira da Silva, a pastor who is popular among gang members and has become known for mediating prison riots, had not intervened — The New York Times (June 2, 2004)

Brazil's 'medieval' prisons | Both the government and rights groups agree that poor conditions in Brazilian jails are a critical factor in the country's notorious record of regular uprisings - which all too often end in blood and death — BBC (June 2, 2004)

Thirty dead in worst Brazil jail riot in 12 years | Inmates at a Rio de Janeiro prison killed at least 30 people, beheading half of them, in three days of gang war anarchy that marked the worst jail violence in Brazil in more than 10 years — Reuters (June 1, 2004)

Slide show: Brazil Prison Riots — Yahoo

Earlier Christianity Today articles on Brazil include:

River Deep Mercy Wide | A medical journey on the Rio Negro in Brazil's Amazon Basin. Photos and essay by Gary Gnidovic (Feb. 6, 2004)

Inheriting the Cracked Earth | In remote Northeast Brazil, evangelicals are extending their outreach despite extreme poverty (Apr. 2, 2003)

Brazil's Christian Roots | Since the 1600s, the number of Protestants has risen to more than 27 million (Apr. 2, 2003)

Evangelicals Grow as Political Force in Brazil | New interest in public policy fuels election wins (Nov. 15, 2002)

Jesus for President | A Brazilian election judge sues Jesus for early campaigning (July 22, 2002)

Brazil's Surging Spirituality | Churches of all stripes have been growing for decades, as have the controversies and challenges facing evangelicals (Dec. 21, 2000)

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June (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48