José Aparecido dos Santos, our interviewee this week, was born in Catanduva, in the state of São Paulo. He lives now in the city of Auriflama, also in São Paulo, where he is a civil servant. He became known as Zé, from Rede Espírita Amigo, due to his work as a coordinator of the network, gathering people from many countries. He also plays an important role in the dissemination of the doctrine, by recording Spiritist talks and lectures and making them available through the Internet. José Aparecido dos Santos works as a volunteer at the Spiritist Centre Caminheiros do Bem, in Auriflama. In this interview, he talks about his early days as in the Spiritist Movement

and the importance of disseminating the Doctrine:  How did you get to know Spiritism?

I found the Doctrine through pain. I was a medium since I was aged 19 but I was unaware of that. I was experiencing a number of phenomena connected to my mediumship, and yet I chose to ignore it. What I really wanted was to enjoy life. Around that time, in 1985, I was advised by friends to go to a Spiritist Centre in my home town for some magnetic treatment, some healing, after a spirit communicated through me. But I had then an eventful life, I move to a different city, and it was only 10 years later that I went out to look for Spiritism – or rather, the Spiritual World made it happen. In 1995, I embraced the cause of Spiritism and began to serve the Doctrine and Jesus. It was only then I realised how much time I had lost. 

You are the coordinator of Rede Amigo Espírita. Tell us a bit more about the network and its goals. 

It was set up in February 2009. Rede Amigo is a social network for Spiritists willing to find out more about the Doctrine and to keep in touch with each other. It is based on other social networks, such as Facebook and Orkut. We decided to create something an altruistic network to encourage us to make new friends and to gather new knowledge, in the light of the Spiritist Doctrine. There is big demand for it, as in today’s globalised world many people who are eager for more knowledge fail to find the time to attend regularly to meetings at Spiritist Centres. Rede Amigo goes to places where there are no Spiritist groups. It takes the Spiritist Centre to the home of each one, with lectures, talks, studies, forums, articles, chats and a lot more… Our motto and main goal is TO DISSEMINATE, TO EDUCATE, TO UNIFY. To disseminate the Spritist Doctrine in all possible way, making use of all means available, audio and video, to record all events associated with Spiritism. To educate the members using common sense and avoiding being patronising, without sticking to the dogmas with the past, that hamper our spiritual development, and showing a secure road to progress. To unify is something difficult but not impossible. The aim is to unite everyone behind a single ideal, without forcing anything. It is about making the Spiritist Movement stronger and better known through the union of all Spiritists. It is not about saying what each group is doing, it is not about reinforcing our pride. The aim is to show that we are walking together, learning with one another and helping create the new world of Regeneration we’ve craved for. 

 How do you access and sign up to the network? 

It is now an open network, available to everyone. It used to be a private network, but we came to the conclusion that it would be selfish to keep the knowledge restricted to a small group of members. Even those who are not Spiritist are in many occasions willing to find out more about the Doctrine. Also, some older people had trouble filling in the form online to join the network. Therefore the material is now available online. But we encourage people to sign up, as they will get our emails and will be allowed to take part in chats, to download files and post comments. Our web address is www.amigoespirita.ning.com. For those who want to sign up, they will need to fill a form and add a photo. Each member will have their own page and will be able to invite friends and interact with everyone. But we of course have rules that cannot be broken and we are aware that we keep an eye on the theoretical content of everything that’s published on the site. 

You also record the talks by many Spiritist public speakers? Tell us more about that. 

That is how our project began. I felt we needed to record what was taught in all those events, public speeches, lectures. They are unique moments that should be shared with everyone else. Recoding those events and making them available in the Internet was mixing work with pleasure, it was working and at the same time learning the Spiritist Doctrine. Another important point is the fact that all the material can be accessed free of charge. We can’t let all that knowledge be restricted to a few people; we have a duty to offer it for free. “Freely you have received; freely give,” that is the Christian principle. We now get invitations from other regions to take part in other events and record them. We have more than 200 tapes available, including talks and seminars, with more than 90 Spiritist speakers. Not to mention other short videos of meetings, musical events etc. 

How did you get the recording equipment? 

As I don’t really have much money, I use what I have and what I’ve managed to buy. But of course we need to improve the equipment to meet the new technological demands. And thank God some friends have come up and are now helping us get new equipment and carry on with the job.  

What are the biggest joys in your work so far? 

They are so many and difficult even to describe. The joy of serving is gratifying, no matter area you’re in. It brings us joy knowing that we’ve done our duty, that someone somewhere has benefitted from what we’ve done, however small it seems. It’s very gratifying to know that you have helped someone wake up to the need of changing. Is there any better than the joy of being surrounded by the fraternal vibrations of peace from incarnate and discarnate friends? I have received many emails from people who say they received the light in their lives through our site, that the message reached them at the right time. Even the children, recorded in meeting and musical events, get delighted when they find out that their image is in the Internet. That smile on the face of a child is another source of joy for us. These are small things, often overlooked, but often missed in our lives. 

Do you face big challenges to meet the demands of that job? 

Oh, yes, many. Challenges will always be there, for as long as we are here as incarnates. Material challenges, spiritual challenges, obstacles that come in our way so that we lose heart and give up. But would we be where we are now without those challenges, without all the troubles? Perhaps we would be lost along the way. Would we have changed, abandoned the world we’ve lived in for centuries, inebriated in the same vices and errors? We must be thankful for the challenges, which will always come up at every cycle of our lives. The more challenges we face, the more we will be able to overcome them, provided we face them with patience and wisdom. We must think ‘that won’t be a challenge, but only the foundation for a better life towards the search for the spiritual being who one day will come into being in fullness.’ 

Is there any particular anecdote you would like to share with our readers? 

There was an interesting case, two souls who met again through Rede Amigo. Two friends lived in the same house for a few months, but they lost touch after one of them moved to another city. They met years later after one of the girls so the photo of the other on the member pages of Rede Amigo. They are now in touch, with email and phone, reviving a friendship that was all but lost. One of them lives in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais while the other one is in Spain. 

Your final thoughts… 

I would like to thank you for the opportunity and to invite all to get to know Rede Amigo Espírita and to join us in the effort to create a better world, by disseminating the message of the Doctrine to all of those who are eager of knowledge. We have an opportunity here to liberate and shed light on the lives of so many.