A PERSEVERANÇA DOS SANTOS -- Antonio Abuchaim

Antonio Abuchaim, commonly referred to as Pastor Abuchaim (Itajobi, São Paulo, October 23, 1919 – Recife, July 8, 1992), was a Brazilian Reformed Baptist preacher. Centered on the New Birth through the work of Christ on the Cross and on a Christ-centered life, he focused on topics such as prayer and revival in his sermons and books. He was known for his emphasis on preaching the word of the cross: "Which brings the revelation of the inclusive death of Christ on the cross, where He drew all to Himself in His death, bringing about the death of the old Adamic creature and promoting the new birth through the resurrection of Christ." Born in Itajobi in the state of São Paulo, the son of Lebanese immigrants, he worked as a merchant with his father until he was 17 years old. It was at that time that he encountered the Gospel and received the call to pastoral ministry. He was expelled from his home because of his Christian faith. In 1941, he was ordained a pastor and took over the church in Lavínia, São Paulo state. Years later he went to the state of Mato Grosso, where he worked in itinerant ministry, planting churches. After some years, he went to pastor in the state of Paraná, beginning an evangelistic work with riverside communities via waterways, remaining in this work for 28 years, serving about 130 islands in the Paraná River, where families lived deprived of almost everything. Later he moved to the city of Londrina, where he continued to work as a missionary. The great change that would revolutionize Pastor Antonio's life and ministry occurred in 1949. He was pastor of a Baptist church in Bauru, and had a missionary from Latvia as his co-pastor. At that time, Pastor Antonio Abuchaim, still young, had great conflicts regarding sin, as he believed that man was capable of freeing himself from it. Through Pastor Arvido Ackmann, who heard and understood Romans chapter 6 for the first time. After reading Romans 6:1-2, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" The text of Romans unfolded before him, and then he could believe in the power of the Gospel. Pastor Antonio Abuchaim began to experience the death of the old man and live a life of victory, based on the life of Christ. Little by little, he freed himself from the logic of religion that dominated his life and ministry and discovered the riches of grace. He wrote about this in the book "Clay in His Hands." Among those influenced by Abuchaim are Glenio Paranaguá, Sinval Teófilo Silva, and Elizeu Olak.