Derni Oliveira (photo) is a volunteer worker at the Ernesto Dantas Spiritist Centre in his hometown, Vitória da Conquista, in the Brazilian state of Bahia. He has a degree in Portuguese and is the editor of Nosso Lar (Our Home) Spiritist magazine, which is published in Portuguese, English and Spanish. He is also the editor of Deus Conosco (May God Be with Us) magazine, as well as a public speaker and presenter of the radio programme “Na Frequência do Evangelho” (On the Gospel’s Frequency), which is broadcast on Deus Conosco Web Radio. 

How and when did you come in contact with Spiritism for the first time?

When I was 19 years old (38 years ago), I one day came across The Spirits’ Book “by chance.” Actually, I had borrowed a few books from a work colleague and, among them, there were two by Allan Kardec and one by Divaldo Franco. I found the answers to my questions in those books and that fulfilled me in such an unexpected way. To give you an idea, I was very proud and full of myself as a young man. In the same week that I began reading those books, however, I changed and began to show so much humility (albeit quite unnatural at that stage) that it drew the attention of some colleagues and family. But it took some time for those ideas to mature inside me. I eventually moved to work in Salvador, then in Rio de Janeiro and it was only when I returned to my hometown that I became actively involved in Spiritism. 

When and how was the Nosso Lar magazine founded?

After a while working as a volunteer in Spiritism, in this new, more mature phase of my life, I decided to open a Spiritist Centre. I accepted a suggestion from the local Spiritist federation and founded the Ernesto Dantas Spiritist Centre at a location where they already maintained a shelter -- Abrigo Nosso Lar. The name Ernesto Dantas paid tribute to the first Spiritist journalist and campaigner in our region. In 2018, I founded the Nosso Lar Spiritist Newspaper and a year later changed it into a magazine. The coronavirus pandemic, however, showed us that we would need to start a virtual version of the magazine, so that people would be able to access it from their mobile phones, tablets or computers. 

Tell us a bit more about the production and distribution of the magazine. 

The lack of human and financial resources is evident and it affects the outcome of our work. But despite all the challenges, we manage to distribute the magazine free of charge to the local Spiritist Centres. On the positive side, someone has recently donated a colour printer, which has helped improve the quality of our work. The articles we print no longer deal exclusively with issues of the local Spiritist Movement. We began looking for new partners to send us articles, as well as stories and journalistic reports from other publications in the Spiritist media, which we have also been allowed to publish.  

How about the use of digital platforms?

We were only prompted to rethink and consider those alternatives after the pandemic began. In other words, we realised that a magazine with a minimalist design would have a better reach at a lower cost. Social distancing and lockdowns have also made people spend more time on the internet, which has had a positive impact, expanding the reach of our magazine beyond our borders. 

Where can you find the magazine?

Well, Revista Espírita Nosso Lar has gained autonomy and we are now on Instagram (@revistanossolar), where there is a link where people can access each edition for free. On that Instagram account, we also do live interviews, focusing mainly on the stories and articles of each edition. We always prioritise the three aspects of Spiritism: Philosophy, Science and Spirituality. 

Tell us about the translated content that you have on the magazine.  

The Spiritual Benefactors have certainly helped us, by inspiring fellow Spiritists from all parts of the world who have come up to us volunteering to help disseminate Spiritism. So we thought it would be a good idea to have versions of the magazine in other languages. We have an English language version (@spiritmagazineour) and a Spanish version (@revistanuestrohogar). We are helping disseminate Spiritism around the world in our own Brazilian way. The stories and articles available in English and Spanish are largely the same as those published in the Portuguese version. 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

This new phase of my life has taught me that we truly live in a world without borders. The publication of Spiritist magazines, like “O Consolador,” are good examples that Spiritist ideas can be shared at any time and anywhere, expanding the interaction between people on both sides of life -- the Spiritual and the material world.