Hélio Tinoco Reis (photo) was born in the Brazilian city of Campos de Goytacazes and lives in Vila Velha, in the state of Espírito Santo. He is a retired oil exploration technician. He is a prolific Spiritist speaker and member of the União Espírita Cristã Spiritist Centre, where he coordinates the study groups. He comes from a different religious background and became a Spiritist in 2008, as he explains in this interview:

How was your process of change from your original religion towards Spiritism?

My parents were always Roman Catholics, even though I found out later that they had clear links with Spiritism. My maternal grandmother was a practicing Spiritist. I followed Catholicism until I was 17, when I was invited by a friend to attend a service at a Baptist Church. I ended up staying with the new religion for about a decade. Later, I moved to the city of Leopoldina, in Minas Gerais state, and joined a Christian Evangelical church (Pentecostal). Later in life, more mature in the city of Juiz de Fora, I finally found Spiritism, which provided a logical answer to all my inner questions.

What aspect of that process towards Spiritism has left a stronger impression on you?

What became very clear to me after finding Spiritism is that very few followers of Jesus know him profoundly… Perhaps guided by blind faith and looking for miracles, they refrain from making their own choices. In their search for peace and happiness, they spend too much time on external ceremonies. Spiritism came as the result of an honest search for a close relationship with Jesus and God. That becomes very difficult when you believe in a God whom we may fear and who is capable of punishing and castigating us.

How did you become a Spiritist speaker?

As a member of the Baptist Church and later the Evangelical Community in Leopoldina I used to take to the pulpit to deliver talks, but not very often. Later, I spoke to groups dealing with alcoholics, like the AA and Al-Anon. It was a natural transition for me to become a public speaker when I joined the Spiritist Movement. When I attend talks and lectures I used to say to myself: “He could added this or that to give more credibility and density to his talks…” I was invited for the first time to give a talk ono November 28^th, 2010, at the Maria de Paula Brandão Spiritist Centre in Cachoeiro do Itapemirim and I haven’t looked back.

How did you reconcile your previous religious knowledge with what you found in Spiritism?

Spiritism revisits the biblical teachings in a much deeper way, explaining them clearly and logically. It uses a rational approach to explain aspects that were not until then properly understood by humankind, such as: who are we, where do we come from, where will we go to and why do we go through pain and suffering. The Gospel According to Spiritism says on chapter 1, item 7, that “We have not come to destroy the Christian Law but to carry it out. It leaches nothing contrary to what was taught by Christ. Rather it develops it, explains it in a manner that can be understood by all and completes that which had previously been known only in its allegoric form.” Future generations will understand the Bible in the light of the Spiritist teachings. That will be a natural development and it is up to us, the current generation of workers, to help disseminate this information.

How do you feel as a person after these years in Spiritism?

Much, much better! I am more enlightened and I have been able to overcome problems that I until now found very difficult to deal with. The explanations that Spiritism gives about the global dynamics of life bring us comfort and peace. I am very happy!

Which aspect of Spiritism means the most to you?

Its rational logics and the fact that its teachings can be checked and questioned, as it was these Divine Teachings were brought to humankind by the Lord’s Spirits in order to provide enlightenment and unite the human race.

Is there a particular event or memory that comes to your mind now and that you would like to share with our readers?

Without a shadow of a doubt, it was the first time I went to a Spiritist Centre, in Juiz de Fora, at the Garcia Spiritist Study Group. I was invited and couldn’t really say no. But I warned them: “I will go, yes, but I will go there only to show you what’s wrong there.” I had always heard that Spiritism was linked to the devil, but that’s not what I found there. The explanations I hear there were refreshing and brought me relief and enlightenment, even though they were not part of the framework of biblical knowledge of I had then. I asked them where those words came from and they mentioned The Spirits’ Book. I bought a copy and studied it in depth for nine months, reinforcing my conviction and my decision to follow this new pathway towards my personal encounter with God.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I would like to challenge the readers to study in depth all aspects of these Teachings that bring about consolation trough enlightenment and to invite all of you to read and study Spiritism continuously, regularly and in solitude as Allan Kardec suggests in the item 8 of the Introduction of The Spirits’ Book.