This archive report was first published on 27 June 2020.
Manaus, the biggest city in the Brazilian Amazon, has been one of the hardest hit by the new coronavirus. Pastor Izaias Nascimento, 49, lives and preaches in this city, where he leads a double life.
By day, Nascimento works for a municipal program called SOS Funeral, helping families living in poverty hold funerals for their relatives. The program is also assisting hospitals and cemeteries in handling the surge in deaths caused by Covid-19.
As part of his job, Nascimento goes to hospitals or homes where victims have died, brings their remains to the public cemetery, and helps lower their coffins into mass graves. He typically starts his 12-hour workday at 7am.
At the height of the outbreak in Manaus, Nascimento's team was performing up to 10 burials a day. The city's health system was on the brink of collapse in May, when the number of daily deaths jumped by 200 percent.
By night, Nascimento has a different calling. He heads home, disinfects himself, and has dinner with his family before going back out to hold services as a pastor for Reaching Lives Pentecostal Church.
Four years ago, Nascimento says he received a message from God, "You are going to care for my children when they are in need of a friendly word." The authorities have banned church services as part of their measures to contain the virus, but the faithful have been gathering at private residences.
Nascimento's voice boomed through the kitchen of the "sister" who hosted prayers one recent night in her small brick house. Wearing face masks, he and his flock lifted their arms to the sky and gave thanks to God, the pastor's words resonating through the night.
