{"id":345055,"date":"2025-01-24T20:21:15","date_gmt":"2025-01-25T01:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/?p=345055"},"modified":"2025-01-25T14:40:19","modified_gmt":"2025-01-25T19:40:19","slug":"a-message-from-bishop-macedo-and-marcia-pires-to-those-who-think-they-have-been-abandoned-by-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/post\/a-message-from-bishop-macedo-and-marcia-pires-to-those-who-think-they-have-been-abandoned-by-god\/","title":{"rendered":"A Message From Bishop Macedo and Marcia Pires to Those Who Think They Have Been Abandoned by God"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.universal.org\/en\/bispo-macedo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bishop Edir Macedo<\/a><\/span> recorded a video alongside Marcia Pires, wife of Bishop Marcelo Pires, responsible for the evangelistic work of The Universal Church on the African continent, to share a message of faith and hope aimed at women and all those facing moments of affliction.<\/p>\n<p>In the video, the bishop stated that in moments of anguish, it may seem to the distressed person that God is distant. However, the bishop emphasized,\u00a0\u201cWhether we are in sin or not, God is always present when we call upon Him with all our hearts.\u201d\u00a0He also emphasized M\u00e1rcia\u2019s testimony, a powerful story of triumph that will be elaborated in a book.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>The Testimony of Marcia Pires<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Marcia shared her life story, which has been filled with challenges since her childhood. She revealed that she was raised by her maternal grandparents after her mother, seeking to fill a void in her life, chose to have a child on her own but struggled to cope with motherhood.<\/p>\n<p>During her school years, M\u00e1rcia felt different from other children because her parents were absent. This created feelings of inadequacy and deep sadness. During her pre-adolescence, she faced an even greater trauma: abuse by an uncle. M\u00e1rcia reported feeling guilty and unable to find happiness or success in life.<\/p>\n<p>Today, she shares her story as an example\u2014that it is possible to overcome pain and find peace with faith as the foundation. Check out the full video with Marcia\u2019s testimony:<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding: 182.76% 0 0 0; position: relative;\"><iframe style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;\" title=\"I Will Open Rivers in Desolate Heights, That They May See and Know, and Consider and Understand\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1050222922?badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/api\/player.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Special Prayer<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>On Sunday, January 19th, Bishop Edir Macedo held a special prayer for all distressed women. The event was broadcast from the ruins of Shiloh in Israel, where Hannah, a biblical character, prayed fervently to overcome her bitterness (1 Samuel 1-2). In every temple of The Universal Church worldwide, this prayer for the afflicted women was broadcast during the Sunday morning service. The congregations united in prayer and cried out to God in faith, along with the bishops, for those in distress.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Hanna\u2019s Story<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Hannah, as recorded in the Bible, lived in deep anguish because she was unable to have children while being constantly humiliated by another woman. Her pain led her to cry out to the Lord in prayer. Hannah is an example of faith and perseverance, showing that, even in times of suffering, the search for God can transform lives.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em><strong>And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish. (1 Samuel 1:10)<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Special Invitation<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Women who are struggling emotionally or spiritually are invited to come this <strong>Sunday, January 26th, at 10 AM<\/strong> to <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/locations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Universal Church<\/a><\/span> for the <em><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/post\/cry-out-for-troubled-women-with-the-anointing-of-the-oil-of-joy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cry Out For Troubled Women With the Anointing of the Oil of Joy<\/a><\/span>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Additionally, participants can bring a bottle of their favorite perfume, which will be blessed during the meeting, in memory of the woman who poured perfume at the feet of Jesus, as recounted in the Gospel of John 12:3-8.<\/p>\n<p>If you are distressed, know that God understands your pain and can bring comfort and renewal. All are welcome regardless of religion or background. Come as you are. <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">For locations, please\u00a0<\/span><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">click\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/locations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">here<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">For more information, please\u00a0<\/span><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">call\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"tel:18883324141\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">1-888-332-4141<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">or\u00a0<\/span><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">text to 1-888-312-4141.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">For those who live in areas without a location of The Universal Church, you may also connect to our\u00a0<\/span><strong><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/ulfn.org\/virtualchurch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Virtual Church<\/span><\/a><\/strong><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/ulfn.org\/virtualchurch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> via Zoom Conference<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Bishop Edir Macedo recorded a video alongside Marcia Pires, wife of Bishop Marcelo Pires, responsible for the evangelistic work of The Universal Church on the African continent, to share a message of faith and hope aimed at women and all those facing moments of affliction. In the video, the bishop stated that in moments [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":248,"featured_media":345058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[323,10,377],"tags":[210,6163],"site":[],"class_list":["post-345055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-school-of-faith","category-events","category-women","tag-testimony","tag-women"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/248"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345055"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":345073,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345055\/revisions\/345073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345055"},{"taxonomy":"site","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/site?post=345055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}