(April 30, 2014 - by Ruth Pike)  Eliete, a Brazilian riverside dweller, wanted to hear God’s Word, but she was illiterate and mentally handicapped.

Aurélio, another Brazilian living in a remote community along the Amazon River, had always liked studying the Bible, but his health prevented him from going to church.

Today, thanks to Reach Beyond’s solar-powered, MP3-like audio players known as “Players of Hope,” they are grateful they can listen to the audio Bible and devotionals.

The handheld devices are preloaded with some 1,500 hours of programming—the Bible, teaching programs, Christian music and children’s stories produced by TWR, MegaVoice and HCJB-Brazil, a Reach Beyond World Office. Missionaries hand out the players to individuals in riverside villages in the Amazon basin, and every few months the chips in the players are swapped to provide new programming.

“[Aurélio] is very happy to be able to hear great teaching from the Word,” said Cassio Fereira de Souza. He and his wife, Mariana, serve as missionaries with Services of Evangelism and Assistance to the River People of the Amazon (SEARA). They work in nine different communities along the Paraná and Urariá rivers, tributaries of the Amazon.

“He liked the Bible studies very much,” Cassio added. “He also liked the fact that the [Player of Hope] has a solar panel because he doesn’t have access to electricity…. [Eliete] really likes the studies, but most of all she likes the audio Bible, [enabling her] to hear God’s Word.”

SEARA runs a “floating seminary,” ministering to many riverside communities in Brazil’s northwestern Amazon region. However, this is challenging work in an area where remote communities are only accessible by boat. And since so many people in the jungle can’t read or write, oral culture is predominant.

The decision to use Players of Hope, purchased with funds from Reach Beyond donors and distributed by national missionaries, was born out of a vision shared by SEARA and Reach Beyond after attempts to obtain a license for a Christian radio station in the area were unsuccessful. Also, missionaries only had time to provide Bible teaching once or twice a month.

“With the players, [Brazilians are] being able to be fed and witnessed to on a regular basis,” said Matt Parker of Reach Beyond (formerly HCJB Global), whose parents founded SEARA.

“We know God is using these players,” added Mariana. “Not only are they feeding others, they are feeding us as well. These players have been a key piece of our ministry. Many of these communities haven’t let us preach or teach the Word to them.”

“So we’ve been using the players as a strategic tool to open up these doors,” she continued. “We give these families players ... and let them listen. Then they can talk to us and ask us questions about what they heard.”

“I had expected this tool to be used more for discipleship, but God has used it hugely for evangelism,” said Parker. “It had a much larger impact than I expected … because people are being able to listen at their own pace.”

“In a couple of these communities, we didn’t even expect others to listen to the programs [other than the Christian family we gave it to],” shared Mariana. “But when we came back to visit and saw the player dangling there while they were making farina. It was so exciting!”

As community members made farina, their staple starch, from ground manioc (cassava) in their hut, they listened to the Player of Hope, enjoying the programs so much that it quickly became part of their daily routine.

Parker is working with SEARA missionaries to develop three new streams of programming: for non-Christians, for new believers and for teenagers. Evangelistic programs will offer a beginner’s walk through the Bible while programs for new Christians will go through the Bible in more depth. The package for teenagers will incorporate music, dramas and modern-day stories to tackle topics that teenagers may struggle with such as abuse, drinking and drug use.

While Parker will continue to support the ministry in Brazil, his vision is for it to be managed by SEARA with more programs produced by national missionaries on the ground.

“In the future it will be run by SEARA,” he explained. “They’ll take ownership of the project and they’ll be producing their programs.”

On his last trip to Brazil, Parker led a training session with missionaries on producing programs for Players of Hope. On his next trip, a team of missionaries headed by Brazilian Marcelo Davino will begin producing programs in Portuguese.

Staff members at the HCJB-Brazil office in Curitiba are also in the process of transitioning from radio to the more cost-effective audio players.

Additionally, Parker is supporting missionaries in Colombia on a consultancy basis to begin a similar ministry to reach prisoners and people in vulnerable communities. This summer he plans to visit Colombia for meetings and training sessions with missionaries.

“I just see the Players of Hope ministry expanding,” said Parker. “I see it as an extremely useful tool.”

Sources: Reach Beyond, SEARA