Missionaries are secretly evangelising uncontacted Amazonian tribes by planting Bible-reciting audio devices in remote rainforest, probe reveals
According to reports, solar-powered devices with audio recitals of Biblical passages in Portuguese and Spanish have been spotted among the Korubo people.
The tribe, who live in the Javari valley, near the Brazil-Peru border, are under strict protection by the Brazilian government.
Military police stationed near the protected region have also reported mysterious drones flying overhead, according to a joint investigation by The Guardian and Brazilian newspaper O Globo.
Sgt Cardovan da Silva Soeiro said he was ordered to shoot them down but was unable to.
He said: 'I aimed my rifle, but the drone fled at high speed. It seemed very sophisticated.'
He also reported the presence of missionaries believed to be associated with Jehovah's Witnesses in nearby towns.
Before the pandemic, a group of American and Brazilian evangelicals were accused of plotting to reach the Korubo using seaplanes to map trails and locate their settlements.
A court order barred them from entering Indigenous land.
The small yellow and black devices are distributed by In Touch Ministries, with one reciting a line from Philippians that encourages listeners to reflect on the death of Apostle Paul.
The evangelical group's head, Seth Grey, has confirmed that the devices are indeed meant for indigenous groups and are loud enough to be heard by up to 20 people.
They feature inspirational talks by an American Baptist and can even work off-grid, due to their solar-powered nature.
Locals say that seven devices, called Messenger, have been discovered so far. But only one has been photographed.
A message on the device says: 'Let's see what Paul says as he considers his own life in Philippians chapter 3, verse 4: "If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more".'
Grey has claimed to have delivered 48 of the devices to another tribe, but says his organisation do not enter areas where contact is forbidden.
He added that he is aware of missionaries who wander into places where they are prohibited.
The Brazilian government prohibits any form of proselytising in Indigenous territories unless the community initiates contact.
The Korubo are considered a recently contacted group and remain highly vulnerable to outside influence and disease, against which they have no immunity.
As a result of their recently contacted status, missionary groups are keen to make contact and preach the gospel to them.
The device is now in the possession of Mayá, the matriarch of the Kurobo community, who has refused to hand over the device to authorities.
For years, missionary groups have tried to convert indigenous people to Christianity.
One of the most infamous cases of this is that of John Allen Chau, who in 2018 was killed by the Sentinelese people after going into the territory in an attempt to preach to them.
In April, Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, an American tourist, was arrested for trying to make contact the the same group that killed Chau.
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