Amid what felt like an intense discussion, Caio posed a strange question: “Which is more important,” he asked me, “to know what is in between the covers of the Bible or to have a pristine Bible?” When I saw the worn-out Bible with no covers in his hands, I understood why he had asked. He had found his “new” copy of God’s Word in the streets of São Paulo, Brazil, where it had been thrown away. I was sure that tattered Bible had a long story to tell; but its story now is that it has found a new life in the hands of Caio.

I told him he was right: yes, it is more beneficial to know the content of the Bible than to have a beautiful unread Bible. His face lit up with a victorious smile. I did not know my answer would settle this spirited argument we’d been having. Caio then turned his attention to my companions and me to show us his find. His Bible, he pointed out, included a hymnal. He started singing some of the hymns, and I must admit I thought, Caio is a strange fellow—but in a good way.

Caio is 21. He has lived in the streets of this city of more than 11 million people since he was  15. We know hardly anything about his family. During one of our conversations, he learned I had been a parish priest before starting to work in the streets full time. He asked if I was pastoring a church in the city. I told him no.

“When I had to choose between parish ministry and working the streets, I gave up parish work,” I said.

When he heard that, he turned around and said, “That’s not true.”

I was a little taken aback by his answer. But then he looked me in the eye and said, “We are your church now!”

Caio likes to listen to those crazy street preachers who jump up and down and shout curses at anyone they think is condemned to hell. Most people avoid them or just stare in disbelief at their behavior. Caio is different. He hungers to know the truth. Jesus said He would send the Holy Spirit to guide us into the truth and reveal it to us, and all the yelling, screaming, and thumping of the Bible doesn’t make Caio think these preachers cannot speak the truth. He believes sincerely that the truth can be revealed through whomever the Holy Spirit wishes to inspire. He is right.

Caio is open to the Holy Spirit and able to perceive spiritual things other people ignore. He saw an old Bible without covers discarded in the street. Most of us would have viewed it as trash. Caio saw it as an opportunity to read and know about the truth. Many here see us as a bunch of well-intentioned people working with homeless children. Caio was able to see in us a new way; that through us, God is bringing the church into streets. What Caio said to me is something the Holy Spirit has been speaking to us for some time: God wants us to be a church in the streets.

We don’t have to put up any buildings to do this. We don’t have to operate like we’d have to in a regular church. This is a new learning experience for us. And as Caio is learning to discern the truth while living in the streets, we are discerning what it means to be a church in the streets. The first step of all Christian action is prayer. The most powerful thing about prayer is that it is not limited by geographic location.

For more about Caio, go to spmercyministry.com/2016/02/25/we-are-your-church.