Every Sunday, the Rev. Moacir Weirich asks the group of Brazilian immigrants attending church services in Newark to say a few words about what they're praying for. For Weirich's first three years as pastor, they prayed mostly over the trials of everyday life. "My sister Maria is sick," Weirich recalls a typical petition. Or, "I can't find a job." About five years ago, he says, things began to change. One man asked God to help his friend, who was locked in a house in Mexico until he could pay off the smugglers he had hired to take him to the...