Rio 1558. Now I know what you're all thinking. You're all thinking shouldn't it be Rio 2016?

Wasn't it just this summer that the eyes of the world were upon Rio as they played host to the Summer Olympics.

And probably like you, I too was captivated and found myself enjoying the Olympics very much

and enjoying Rio 2016. But I want to take you back to Rio 1558.

And there's a slight backstory here, so let's pick it up.

In 155555 a French colony was established in modern day Rio de Janeiro.

Then it was simply known as the Guanabara Bay. That original French colony had a number of

Huguenots and other Frenchmen committed to the Reformation. The colony was originally open to them and then it became entrenched

in its Roman Catholic identity and it expelled the Huguenots. 15 in total

boarded a ship to return to France. Shortly after

pushing off the Brazilian coast, five of the 15 took a small boat, lowered it

down over the ship's edge, and rode their way back to the shores of

Brazil.

They were intent on being missionaries.

Now these were not clergy.

They were skilled craftsmen and laymen. They were not trained. They had sat in

churches and had received solid teaching from the reformers and especially from Calvin students, but these were laymen.

And four out of five of them were arrested by the leaders of the colony there in Guanabara, they were put into prison and they were required

to write out a confession of their faith. This was not simply a confession of faith. This would serve to be their death warrant.

The names of these four men have been lost to us, but we need to recover them.

Their names are Jean de Bourder,

Matthew Vernayou, Pierre Bourder,

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