TJCII Brazil Trip – August 16th – Sept 3rd, 2026 – Johannes Fichtenbauer, Beni Friedman and Pavol Strezo

We are so grateful to all of you, dear Intercessors and friends, who were covering this important trip in prayer because we truly felt guided and surrounded by the Father´s hand. We felt the enemy trying us at the beginning with a broken suitcase, a traffic jam in S.Paulo getting to the airport, but otherwise the trip went so well. There were so many new doors that were opened, breakthroughs, that it is hard to know where to start. The three men were a great trio – Johannes with his sound biblical, theological foundation, Beni bringing the Jewish perspective in such a balanced manner and Pavol with his charismatic ministering gift – were an example of unity in diversity. Jew and Gentile, One in the Messiah. Many people commented on their unity.

Manaus and the Amazon

The first four days we experienced something of the incredible expanse of rivers and waterways, endless green jungle, wildlife and gentle Natives that make up the Amazons. We met Paulo and Bethany, who is a Bible translator for many tribes in northern Brazil, that are in revival, now that they have the Word in their own language! And Paulo is one of the main leaders of the Native Christian Indian Organization. We stayed with Pr. Claudio, an Assembly of God pastor who teaches his large community to love the Jewish people.

With Pr. Claudio (left) and with Paulo and Bethany (right)

Beni was amazed to see the menorah on his pulpit and feel the love for Israel everywhere we went. In the humid, 39C degree weather, the refreshing boat trips on the river and evening crocodile hunting were unforgettable. The last day we visited an Indian Seminary one hour´s drive from Manaus, where young Indian couples and singles can come for a good Biblical education and learn practical trades. They will then return to their tribes to be ministers and teachers. We had a meeting where the five tribes represented sang in their native language. The students loved meeting Beni, as they had never met a Jew before or been blest in Hebrew, the language of Yeshua.

Indian Seminary Semiraita

Rio de Janeiro

Pavol and Beni were able to go up to the famous Christ Statue with wide open arms overlooking the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro, truly a work of art from our Creator God! The first afternoon Johannes and team shared one hour each about Replacement Theology at a Catholic Ecumenical Community at a church in Copacabana, named Good Shepherd. The second afternoon they shared at an Evangelical Free Church in Tijuca. This was a smaller meeting especially for evangelical pastors.

At the end of the meeting, we prayed for the Jewish people in a prophetic act, with Beni in the middle as the pastors laid hands on him representing restoring Jewish roots as in ingrafting. We knew they had a lot of questions, but heard the next day that there was a real breakthrough! Sunday afternoon, the team spoke at a large meeting with leaders of the parish of Father Antonio, a dynamic Catholic Charismatic priest. Then, right before Mass began, Beni shared about Israel with 600 young people present. After the Mass, we were invited to a dinner downstairs with the youth leaders. You should have seen Beni surrounded by beautiful young people trying out their English, and asking questions about Israel. Many seeds were sewn there! Father Antonio also took advantage to ask Johannes theological questions and was so grateful for their coming.

São Paulo

On Monday they flew to S.Paulo, received and accompanied by Christopher Walker, our Brazilian leader, and a few other TJCII leaders. The next day, Johannes was invited to give his testimony and share about TJCII during a podcast with Pastor Douglas who has an extraordinary large Internet following. What a great oportunity to reach young people! In the city of S.Paulo (population 25 million) Johannes and team were hosted by Pastor Andre Mira, a Baptist minister in the heart of S.Paulo. He organized meetings with pastors, at his church, and at a Baptist Seminary. We heard that there were many grateful responses and breakthroughs there. And the Baptist Seminary will include Johannes teaching on Replacement Theology for all future pastors that study there! They also had a wonderful meeting with the fellowship of Israel ministries called “Together in the Olive Tree” held at the oldest Messianic congregation in Brazil, Beit Sar Shalom. Daniel Woods´s grandfather was a Holocaust Survivor and his father Emmanuel found the Messiah in New York, moved to S.Paulo, and founded the congregation in the 1950s. Prof. Daniel will be present at the Summit.

Baptist Seminary

TJCII and Encristus conference

Then on Friday, Johannes, Pavol and Beni were driven to the conference held in Sorocaba in a retreat center, two hours from S.Paulo. This was their most important ministry opportunity as Johannes was invited to be the main speaker at the conference, a combination of two yearly conferences: TJCII and Encristus. This year there were around 160 people present for the three day conference: Catholics, Protestants, free evangelical churches and Messianic Believers. The main theme was Reconciliation in the Family and the Body of Messiah, and the wonderful teachings of Johannes, Beni and Pavol circled around that theme. Johannes gave an excellent explanation of replacement theology, and the importance of church unity, reminding us of the historic meeting in 1977 in Kansas City, USA, when God´s heart was expressed in a prophetic word: “The Body of My Son is broken through disunity”.

Beni brought important information about the Messianic movement in Israel and in the diaspora, as well as an eye-opening teaching about the principles of Shabbat. God sanctified Time at the beginning of Creation, and the principle of sitting down together as an family to share, to be grateful, to bless one another, setting aside work, cellphones and worldly distractions…has the power to renew the precious blessing of family. So many of our friends have commented how much this has meant to them. On the first morning, Pavol brought a tremendous teaching about the principles of the priestly clothing of righteousness and that the veil of the Temple was torn from top to bottom, giving us access. He led a prophetic act of forgiveness for the things that separate us from the Father´s love, that brought many to tears of joy and release. It was tremendous. Pavol also explained about TJCII and led to blessing the 12 Brazilians who will be present at the Summit in October in Jerusalem. How wonderful to have a native Indian chief of the Ticuna tribe, Pastor Eli Lion going to the Summit, representing Brazil´s First Nations, as well as Pastors, TJCII team and two Jewish Messianic leaders. Several friends have shared with us that this conference has been a real turning point in their lives. And we were so happy that the amplified version Johannes Fichtenbauer´s book, “The Mystery of the Olive Tree” in Portuguese came from the publisher just in time for the meetings in the 3 cities!

Curitiba

Then Johannes and team flew to Curitiba, (410 km south of S.Paulo) . They stayed here at Canaan in Brazil, a branch of the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary. They had the guest house all to themselves to rest and have time in the lush green prayer garden and Jesus Pathway. Two evening meetings were planned. In spite of the torrential rain and drop in temperature (39 in Manaus, 15 in Curitiba! ) 50 people came the first evening and 70 the second evening. To their surprise, around 15 of those were members of the two Messianic congregations, fathered by Rabbis Joseph Shulam (Jerusalem) and Marcelo Guimarães in Belo Horizonte. We had an excellent translator, and with the smaller group, Johannes and team had complete liberty to speak to this group of Israel friends. We visited the two congregations during the day and appreciated their Torah scrolls from Jerusalem. We also visited Father Marcial Maçaneiro who is a Sephardic Jew from his mother´s side of the family. Father Marcial is a key member in the Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogue in the Vatican, as well as Jewish-Catholic Dialogue.

Canaan Garden (Left), Yohannes with Padre Marcial (Center)

Kehilat Ahavat Adonai

We really praise the Lord for all He did in so many hearts here in Brazil and we know we will see fruits of the many seeds that were sown in these two and a half weeks! Thank you so much for all who prayed for us, we truly felt the Lord’s protection, leading and blessing.

Sister Adola, Sister Nechama together with Christopher Walker and the TCII Team, and Johannes, Beni and Pavol – our TJCII Brothers.