(Eagle News) — Brazil’s Ambassador to the Philippines Rodrigo do Amaral Souza paid a courtesy call to Iglesia Ni Cristo Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo on Wednesday, April 11, becoming the second Latin American ambassador to visit the INC Central Office.
Ambassador Souza arrived at the INC headquarters minutes before 11 a.m.
The Brazilian ambassador is the second Latin American ambassador to visit the INC Central Office, after Panama’s Ambassador to the Philippines Rolando Guevara Alvarado.
“His Excellency, Ambassador Rodrigo do Amaral Souza’s visit to Executive Minister Brother Eduardo V. Manalo was because of his growing interest in the Church of Christ,” Brother Joel San Pedro, an INC minister and the INC Central Office Protocol Officer, said.
The Brazilian Ambassador himself described the INC’s growth in places where there are not a lot of Filipinos such as Africa and India as a “miracle,” as he also noted all the magnificent houses of worship he saw in his trips all over the Philippines in his capacity as Brazil’s head of mission in the country.
Ambassador Souza also expressed interest in helping in the migration of Portuguese-speaking ministers, from the United States mostly, to Brazil, in anticipation of the continued expansion of the Church there.
There are INC members in 142 other nations around the world.
During the visit, Ambassador Souza also extended the gratitude of the thousands of families in favelas who benefited from the INC’s Ayuda Para A Humanidade or Aid to Humanity held six months after the Executive Minister’s visit to the Latin American country on January 7, 2017.
More than 20,000 parcels of free food were distributed to families and residents in the Rio de Janeiro communities of Recreio dos Bandeirantes, Portuguesa, Vila Isabel, and Rocinha during the four-day event.
“During (Ambassador Souza’s) visit to the Executive Minister, he expressed his interest in learning more about the INC, more about the Church of Christ history, as well as developing a strong relationship with the Church,” San Pedro said.
After the courtesy call, Ambassador Souza, accompanied by Brother Eduardo, was warmly welcomed by several ministers and volunteer workers who waved small flags of Brazil and of the INC at the Central Office’s lobby.
San Pedro said a number of ambassadors from different countries in Latin America were also lined up to visit the Executive Minister. (With a release from the INC-Public Information Office)
