Antonio Augusto Chaves do Nascimento:

“Giving value to life is a must for the Christians”

 The gaucho confrere talks about the journal Seara Espírita 
that, with 50,000 copies, is distributed
all over the country

In their tenth year of life, covering all the country and also active on the internet, Seara Espírita  is owned by Spiritist Group Seara do Mestre, from Santo Ângelo (RS), institution that also have content on the main site for the Evangelization, own researches and the experiences of the group itself. Its president, Antonio Augusto Chaves do Nascimento, is our interviewed of the week. Dental Surgeon, with a degree on Bucomaxilofacial Surgery and Traumatology, and Spiritist since 1987, when he was 25, Antonio Augusto, besides being the president, is also engaged in spreading the Spiritism everywhere.

In this interview, he talks, among other things, about the reach of the journal Seara Espírita, produced by the very institution, and the outcome of this work.

O Consolador: You have been coordinating Seara Espírita, well known all over Brazil. How many copies do you print, when it was established and how it happened?

Seara Espírita has reached 50,000 copies/month in April/08, accumulating 2.150.000 issues previously distributed, since December/98, when it started as (BIS) Boletim Informativo do Grupo Espírita Seara do Mestre (a monthly report on their actions), and the first issues are kept in  CD Rom, available since August/04.

O Consolador: When was the Grupo Espírita Seara do Mestre established?

In March/89, after graduating from the university in Porto Alegre (RS), we came back to our hometown (Santo Ângelo) and wished to keep on studying the Spiritist Doctrine.  For that to happen, we started of a study group, along with my wife Liamara and another couple, Clarice and Wilson Kléber Nascimento, we took on the responsibility before the Spirituality, of establishing a Spiritist Centre. The doctrinal activities to the general public, at "Grupo Espírita Seara do Mestre", which name was taken from the book "Na Seara do Mestre", started on the 3rd of August,1989.

Located on Av. Getúlio Vargas, 1325, the group was given the building, and since then it has grown by leaps and bounds.

O Consolador: Which activities at Seara do Mestre, besides the regular ones at a Spiritist centre, would you like to talk about?

We have a group of volunteers, who work with daily doctrinal activities and several other activities such as study groups, specific activities concerning the pregnant, kids, teenagers, parents, elderly, sick/ill and social assistance, weekly visits to homes to teach them how to do the Family Reunion (based on the Gospel according to Spiritism), to hospitals, to asylums and prisons.

We also have Disque Esperança +55 (55) 3313-1553, a message service 24 hours a day, with uplifting words.

We would also like to single out the group Apoio Fraterno (Friend Support), that deals with drug addicts, according to the Spiritist Doctrine, just like Alcoólicos Anônimos (Alcohol addict) and Amor Exigente. We put together a manual with our experience.

We distribute 50,000 copies/month of Seara Espírita through subscriptions and, to spread the word about Spiritism, we send the journal to hundreds of Spiritist institutions all over Brazil. 

O Consolador: How long have you had a website?

Our website – www.searadomestre.com.br – has been up on the web since June/99. We have a team of volunteer servers to keep it up. Besides the information about our very group and the Spiritist scene as a whole, we also provide our visitors with an extensive content on the area of Evangelization. 

O Consolador: What’s the repercussion Seara Espírita is having at the minute?

We have had a very positive response, through letters, e-mails and phone calls, and we can verify how much one can contribute with a bit of effort and willingness to serve. We have sent copies of our journal to Brazilians who live in the USA and Spain, but we haven’t thought about the idea of translating it yet.  

O Consolador: You seem to have a direct link to the Evangelization section. Tell us about this bit.  

If you go online to www.searadomestre.com.br/evangelizacao you can see the work our staff has done to provide the visitors with contents.

As our Departamento de Infância e Juventude (DIJ) (Child and teenager department) would strive so much preparing classes, we decided to share our experiences online. The popularity of the internet and the presence of volunteers with expertise in the area made possible that since April/03, we have been building this space. There you can find ready-to-use lessons, sorted by subject and age, and they can be downloaded.

We receive visits from everywhere in our countries and also abroad (more than 350 visits/day according to the internet provider).Due to requests we are trying to put up translations to Spanish, German and English.     

 O Consolador: How have you guys been facing the controversial topics in the Spiritist scene? 

There is so much to be done that we can’t afford wasting our precious time with this, that is much more personal and not concerning to the doctrine.  

O Consolador: What about the controversial topics of society, do you ever discuss them in study groups?  

Yes, for the sake of the studies and search for answers we reflect on the human and social questions. We try to see them according to the Gospel, verifying that giving value to life is a must for the Christians. We know of the importance of the Spiritist Doctrine, the Spiritist Centres, trying to make people aware of it, we make the most of our resources to send out the message, through the journal Seara Espírita and the site.

 O Consolador: How is the Spiritist scene in your city and your state? 

It’s on the increase. We have seen the increase of Spiritist centres and related institutions. People are really open to the Spiritist ideas and it’s a responsibility of directors and workers to keep it up according to the Gospel and present it as good as they can, mainly through practical examples in our lives, because, as we know: "The words build, but the examples remove the mountains”. 

O Consolador:  What can one do to receive the journal Seara Espírita? 

On our site we have the link with all the information about the ways of subscription and space for registering and requests. To contact the Group you can go online – www.searadomestre.com.br – or reach us dropping a line to our e-mail that is  searadomestre@searadomestre.com.br and  searaespirita@searadomestre.com.br, as well as the phone number (55) 3313-2553 or fax (55) 3312-2377. 

O Consolador: Your final considerations. 

Let’s work together on behalf of the peace and it will be our companion throughout our journey. We thank the opportunity to learn serving.