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Evangelical Surge Transforms Amazon’s Spiritual and Cultural Landscape

by Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Staff

(Worthy News) – Evangelical missions are surging through Brazil’s Amazon, bringing medical aid, education, and the gospel to remote villages, reshaping the region’s spiritual identity and accelerating the nation’s shift away from Catholicism. Project Amazon’s Missionary boat alone treats 100,000 patients a year, fueling rapid church growth among indigenous communities.

After a weeklong outreach deep in the rainforest, some 30 Brazilian evangelicals returned home aboard the double-decker Missionary, their spirits high as the boat powered down the Negro River. Every month, similar expeditions—organized by Brazilian and U.S. churches—send hundreds of pastors, doctors, and dentists upriver to bring medical aid to the poor while spreading the gospel, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Brazil’s first census in 12 years revealed in June that the Amazon now has the nation’s highest share of evangelical Christians. Nationwide, evangelicals make up more than a quarter of the country’s 213 million people, up from just 9% three decades ago. In several Amazonian states, evangelicals now outnumber Catholics. A third of the region’s indigenous population has embraced the faith.

For Germana Matheus, a dentist who runs the Missionary, the mission is clear. “We don’t just offer them medical care. We offer them Jesus,” she told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

In communities where Western medicine is scarce, even basic treatments can seem miraculous. Villagers crowd the silty banks as the boat arrives, its lower deck converted into a floating clinic and worship hall.

In villages like Livramento—home to 350 families—the evangelical presence is unmistakable. Once served by a single Catholic church, the community now hosts five thriving evangelical congregations. Missionaries run health programs, teach Bible lessons in schools, and offer support in areas where drug trafficking and crime are rising. “The boat is one of the few blessings we have,” said Maria do Carmo, a local convert, told the WSJ.

The Missionary’s work extends beyond healthcare and preaching. At the Missionary Training Center along the Negro River, recruits learn survival skills, local customs, and strategies for planting churches in the remotest areas. Over 12 years, Project Amazon has placed some 200 missionaries in the field, establishing about 170 churches—the ultimate goal: 1,000 missionaries embedded throughout the forest.

As the Missionary returned to Manaus under the punishing midday sun, another team of American volunteers arrived from upriver. “We brought many folks to the Lord,” said Anthony Mustoe, an IT executive from Dallas. “The Bible tells us to go far and, well, that’s what we did.”

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