Jackson Almeida Moura (photo) was born in the Brazilian city of Itaberaba, in the state of Bahia, and lives in Vicente Pires, Taguatinga, in the Federal District. He is a chemical engineer with a very active role in the Spiritist Movement. He is a Spiritist speaker and is the coordinator of talks and lectures at the Comunhão Espírita in Brasília, as he explains in the following interview.

Please tell us about your experience in the Spiritist Movement.

I study and read a lot, but I fell that I don’t do enough material charity. My goal for this year is to work on that, as Mother Theresa of Calcutta asks all Christians to do. I remember that I was quite materialistic when I was at university in Curitiba. Spiritism only became part of my life 20 years after that. And I’m very happy that I found these consoling Teachings that Jesus had promised to send.

How did your experience as a Spiritist speaker begin?

Eu fazia o estudo sistematizado e um dia visitando o Nosso Lar, órgão de que a Comunhão é mantenedora, o Sr. Ercilio, então presidente da casa, pediu-me que fizesse comentários sobre a vida de Batuíra. Foi minha primeira fala I was attending one of the courses at Comunhão and was visiting one day its charity, Nosso Lar. Ercilio, who was then president of the Spiritist Centre, asked me to say a few words about the life of Batuíra. That was my first speech. I then went through an oratory course, began helping people prepare their talks and was eventually listed to speak. My first talk then focused on “Blessed are the meek”. I make some self-criticism and liked what I said. I try to hand myself to the Spiritual Benefactors at every talk. I take this with a great deal of love and responsibility. I do all the preparation when I am given the subject I will talk about. I study and read a lot. And before I enter the venue, I pray to Jesus asking for protection from his from my mentors and I let them guide me through the talk. Sometimes I prepare to go in one direction and I catch myself speaking about other issues or in a different way. I now understand that they, more than anyone else, know what each person in that venue need to hear and we are used to serve that purpose.

What is your assessment of the level and quality of Spiritist talks and studies in general?

When I enrolled in 20116 in the oratory techniques course organised by the Spiritist Federation of the Federal District I met many speakers who were there to recycle. And even though I have spent the past 20 years speaking about the Teachings of Jesus, I learn more and more every day that goes. Each speaker has their own style. But Bezerra de Menezes has sent repeated messages advising speakers to focus more on the Gospel of Light of Christ and to use simple words. The world needs comfort and Jesus says Spiritism needs to comfort this beleaguered world as much as it can.

What are the main challenges lying ahead?

I need to carry on, more and more, reading the Spiritist literature and to put the Teachings into practice. I feel that people need to be touched more often in their hearts. 

What measures should be put into practice in the coordination and organisation of Spiritist talks in order to avoid problems?

We, the coordinators, need to know well our speakers, the content of their talks, the issues they like to address. I think speakers are often left to roam freely, without any guidance. I am in of having two directors and two speakers sitting at the table during talks, for several reasons. They will be able to analyse their colleague’s talk and to advise him or her if they make a mistake. I watch the talks of other colleagues to learn from them and I often find very serious mistakes. Selfishness and vanity, if put together with pride, will destroy any speaker, as well prepared as he or she is. I also find that serious grammar errors happen all the time.

Leave us your final message to our readers.

We know that the number of Spiritists has grown a great deal. Brazil is the nation of the Gospel and we need to make Spiritism grow. We need to use simple, plain words, so that everyone can understand us. I like to remember that before being crucified, Jesus was in that fateful Thursday in the house of Maria Marcos, the sister of Simon Peter. In the Last Supper, among the many wonderful things he did, he called the dear John, who was still a teenager, and told him in his ear that he would go back to His Father and would ask Him to send the Promised Consoler, the Spirit of Truth: Spiritism. Our Teachings were therefore announced by the purest person who stepped on the Earth and he is our guarantor. Let’s all follow “God, Christ and Charity” and strive to, without imposing of proselytising, put our loving Teachings in the hearts of those who don’t yet know Jesus.