Churches start in many unique ways, often in small spaces and cramped quarters. For Silvia Santana in West Flanders, Belgium, it was around a coffee table. Christian Community is home to a Portuguese-speaking community that is growing in that country.
The church started as a small group of women who would read the Bible and pray with one another around a coffee table. Gathering together to read the Word of God aloud in a language they understood was essential. Praying for one another in their native tongue was a lifeline.
Most of the congregants are immigrants who rarely get to speak Portuguese. The cultural differences between Belgium and where many of them come from make them yearn for moments of shared cultural artifacts. Some Christian Community members drive 70 to 80 kilometers to connect with other believers.
“For us, everything is completely different: the language, the food, the houses, the weather.” Silvia chuckled and continued, “The weather is very strange for us.”
Their group grew, and eventually, they gained access to a building to meet in and are in the process of getting a pastor to lead them. In the meantime, much of their community is fostered through WhatsApp chats and coffee.
For immigrants like Silvia around the world, finding a church community that speaks their language is vital. But oftentimes, finding resources for spiritual growth and development is a significant hurdle.
Not only do the congregants feel isolated due to the stark cultural contrasts between home and Belgium, but they have also found that their community is transient. Some members only live in one place for a short amount of time, and many people travel home for the holidays. This makes the community rely even more on spaces like WhatsApp to stay connected to their beloved community.
When the Advent season was approaching, a Brazilian pastor ministering in France knew Silvia and her church were looking for material in Portuguese to use as a Bible study. He connected her with Marianna Albuquerque, CT’s global project manager, who sent Silvia the Portuguese version of last year’s CT Advent devotional.
“When the pastor reached out and said Christianity Today has a Portuguese devotional, I was like, ‘Wow! Christianity Today?!’” Silvia said. Silvia had been a passive follower of CT mainly because of her love of Philip Yancey’s content, but her engagement with CT was renewed when she found content in Portuguese.
Translating articles and devotionals into other languages has become a practical way for CT’s Global Initiative to serve and equip the global church. For many like Silvia, these translations provide new opportunities for spiritual growth.
“We’re reading together every day,” she described. “One person reads to the whole church. The messages are beautiful and very special, and they make us think about things we don’t usually think about! It has already contributed immensely to the challenging time we have been living through.”
CT’s Global Initiative started publishing translations in 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the task began outside of Christianity Today: Giselle Seidel loved Sy Garte’s testimony in the March 2020 issue enough to translate it into Spanish herself to share with family in Mexico. She then reached out to Christianity Today to offer her services, and the translation team was born.
Since 2020, the team has grown, producing over 1,350 translations of original articles in 2024 alone. Today, 38 percent of CT’s audience of readers lives outside the US.
Translating the Advent devotional has become a tradition for the organization. In 2024, CT published translated versions of that year’s guide, A Time for Wonder, in nine languages: Spanish, Portuguese, French, Indonesian, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Korean, Arabic, and Russian.
Because of this effort, the members at Silvia’s church could embody the text and personify the devotional readings. Each day, participants were asked to read the daily devotional along with its corresponding Scripture passage in a creative way and share it in WhatsApp.
Some people made videos while walking, others with Christmas music in the background. One teenager read the passage alongside her mother.
“What was really special was reading the details that really affected people,” Silvia said.
She told a story about one of the families at the church who had been founding members but had recently moved back home. Shortly after, the husband experienced health complications and passed away unexpectedly. The wife did the reading for Luke 1:18–20, “Zachariah’s Furnace of Transformation,” by Christina Gonzalez Ho.
Silvia reflected on that sacred moment when the church lamented together. The details and sensitivities of the text and its reflection gave the church a moment to grieve together. Even though the family was far away, the community was brought closer together through the devotion.
“I appreciate the way CT talks openly about faith, and as the name says, about what is going on ‘today,’” Silvia said. “I believe this is their biggest impact. Christians sometimes think that God’s acts are in the past or in the future, and they don’t look for the impact Christianity has in other places right now that are outside everyday community. Christianity Today facilitates contact between Christians, and for us, it is by being able to read articles in English or Portuguese.”
