Fernando Maurício Peron (photo), an actor and newsreader from the Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo, has worked since 1999 as a volunteer at the Spiritist Group Paz e Amor (www.neapa.org.br). He’s currently in charge of a project to provide advice and encourage families to do the Gospel in the home. He also carries out a number of other activities, such as healing, and providing material and spiritual help for the homeless and the poor. Fernando Peron is also a short story writer and poet.  How did you begin your work as an

Even though no one in my family was involved with the arts, I develop an interest in acting from a very early age. It was very clear in my mind, even as a small child, that the actor has a social responsibility, as he can touch people’s hearts and minds. After taking part in a number of plays at school, I got on stage for the first time when I was 20. Three years later, in 1995, I became a professional actor and did, in the same year, my first dubbing work for a foreign language film. The year before, 1994, I had my first work on the radio. For me, working as a broadcaster on the radio was part of my work as an actor. I worked in many commercial radio stations and produced and presented on the Spiritist Radio Network, Boa Nova, a programme with messages written in trance by Chico Xavier, called Ponte para a Luz (A Bridge Towards Enlightenment). 

Tell us more about that programme. How did you come up with the idea for it? 

The first idea came up in 1998, and we had a different name for the programme. The aim was to use the arts to disseminate the work of Chico Xavier. It took us three years of hard work till we finally had the first programme on air, in December 2001, on Radio Boa Nova. The year after, based on the same idea, we began broadcasting audio messages by Chico Xavier on the website Universo Espírita (www.universoespirita.org.br).  

How about the audiobook Viajantes? Again, how did you come up with the original idea? 

During our efforts to put together the radio programme, Ponte para a Luz, it occurred to me that it would be a good idea to produce CDs and audio books. They would certainly help publicise the amazing work of Chico Xavier. After ten years of very hard work, we managed to get Viajantes published (by Vinha de Luz Publishing House). I did a meticulous job, from the selection of the messages to the sound effects, editing, all the printing and the artwork. The love and the huge respect I have for the work of Chico Xavier gave me the strength to go ahead with the project. Before the triumph that was to publish this first audio book, the obstacles were many, they seemed huge and were there for a long time. But they were finally overcome due to the determination and the invaluable assistance from the Spiritual Benefactors, who never abandon us. The audio book is available in many bookshops in Brazil and through the publishers website, www.vinhadeluz.com.br. 

Where does your admiration for Chico Xavier and his messages come from? 

It comes from years of serious, in depth studies of his life and his work. I get tears in my eyes as I speak of Chico Xavier, as I remember all the passages in his life as a missionary, his remarkable capacity to love and to produce, his amazing mediumship and all the phenomena he helped produce proving once again the existence of the Spiritual World. And all that was done in an atmosphere of simplicity and humility, without a trace of pride. Chico Xavier had an amazing brain, huge cultural and scientific background from many previous incarnations… Without any exaggeration, his greatness is not something you come across very often in History. Those who know little about him, those who don’t bother to study his work and his life don’t have a clue of who he really was and how much his life and his work represent for the future of Humankind. 

Is there a website you can recommend for those interested in getting further information about Chico Xavier? 

We are working to set up this year the website Projeto Saber e Mudar. We send one message by Chico Xavier a day for those who sign up. The website will have an archive of all messages sent so far, in Portuguese. For those who want to get the daily message, just get in touch through the email saberemudar@gmail.com. It’s only a message a day, seven days a week.  

Is there anything else you would like to add? 

I would just like to say that it’s a great joy to know that so many fellow Spiritists are working harder in Brazil and other countries to live according to the teachings and to disseminate the enlightening message of Spiritism. And as Chico Xavier used to say, “May God bless us”, all of us, without any distinction of religious affiliation or beliefs. And I leave you with the link for the launch of the audio book:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk8F8iiH3_E&blend=21&lr=1&ob=5.