Despite Early Onset Of Alzheimer’s, Former Soccer Star Still Preaches Repentance
Rivaldo Café distributes food to a family in need in rural Brazil. (Photo provided by Leila Café )
The Great Supper is the name Christians in Brazil’s northeastern state of Paraiba give to their annual gathering. And this year, the 25th Great Supper brought 120 believers, representing 14 Churches of Christ, to the city of Cajazeiras.
They shared more than a meal, said Mike Pruitt, a longtime missionary in Recife, a coastal city about 340 miles east of Cajazeiras.
Pruitt spoke on the event’s theme, “Hear and Obey,” using the story of Christ washing his disciples’ feet in John 13.
“Knowing he came from God and was returning to God, Jesus stooped to wash the disciples’ dirty feet,” Pruitt said, “leaving us an example of selfless service to follow.”
The event gave Pruitt and his wife, Aureni, the chance to catch up with Rivaldo Café, an evangelist who exemplifies Christ’s selfless service, the missionary said.
“When I first met him at his conversion, he was a professional soccer player,” Pruitt said of Café. “God called him from winning games to winning souls.”
Café’s decision to leave futebol, as it’s called in Brazil, was unexpected, said his wife, Leila. When missionaries invited him to study at a Bible school in Recife in 1988, Café had just received an offer to play for a team in Portugal.
“He was waiting for the businessman to arrive with the club’s documentation so he could discuss the contract,” Leila Café told The Christian Chronicle, “and he gave it up, to everyone’s surprise. He was a true athlete of Christ, who called him to preach the Gospel.”
The Cafés and the Pruitts worked together to plant a congregation in Paulista, a northern suburb of Recife.
Paulista now has two Churches of Christ. The churches are among more than 20 launched in the Recife metropolitan area since missionaries arrived in 1980, Mike Pruitt said.
About 20 years ago, a mission team invited the Cafés to help them plant a church in Cajazeiras, a city of about 63,000 people. There, Rivaldo Café created a futebol program for impoverished communities, “rescuing young people and children from the world of drugs,” said Rebecca Café, one of Rivaldo and Leila Café’s four daughters, “and so he brought many young people to be servants of Christ.”
The Cajazeiras Church of Christ now has about 80 members.
“We were never rich, but we had God’s love, and that was enough to never give up as a family,” said Rebecca Café, now a medical student in Argentina, “and we never gave up on saving people for Christ.”
Mike Pruitt recalled one example of Rivaldo “washing feet.” A family in Cajazeiras had a sick infant who required treatment in Recife.
Rivaldo made the journey, which takes a full day each way, multiple times as he drove the parents and their 5-month-old son to the doctor.
Sadly, the child passed away, Pruitt said, but the love Rivaldo showed led to the baptism of the baby’s grandmother, “who was deeply moved by the church’s unwavering support and love.
“The families involved often express profound gratitude for a type of love and support previously unknown to them, exemplifying the profound impact of Christ’s example.”
Rivaldo, now 60, suffers from early onset Alzheimer’s disease, Mike Pruitt said.
“Though his memory is failing him, he remains a sweet and loving servant of our Lord,” the missionary said. “He is a beloved figure in the community. His enduring, kind nature and the unwavering support from Leila, their four daughters and the congregation underscore the themes of fellowship at the heart of the Great Supper.”
Despite memory loss, Rivaldo has “just one speech” that he repeats regularly, his wife said: “Repent and be baptized to be saved and live with Jesus eternally.”
“He goes out on the streets,” she said, “handing out candy to people and saying, ‘Jesus loves you and your family and wants to meet you.’”
This story has been republished with permission from The Christian Chronicle.
Erik Tryggestad is president and CEO of The Christian Chronicle. He has filed stories for the Chronicle from more than 65 nations.