I was born and raised in the metropolitan area of João Pessoa, in the state of Paraíba, Brazil, in a simple community on the outskirts of the city. I grew up in a Christian home, and from a very early age, faith was part of the environment around me. My grandparents were missionaries, so I grew up around the church, Christians, and the language of the Gospel. However, even though I knew many things about Jesus, it was only during my teenage years that I personally understood my need for Christ and experienced a real transformation in my relationship with God.
I have always been someone who asks many questions. From an early age, I wrestled with deep questions about existence, the meaning of life, God, and the purpose of being here. When I was 15, during a season when many of these questions were on my mind, I experienced a moment that changed my life.
I was with a friend when I suddenly began to cry deeply. In that moment, many of the things I had heard throughout my childhood about Jesus, sin, grace, and the Gospel came back to my mind.
I ran home and went to my grandmother, who was a missionary. At her feet, I prayed, confessed my sins, and gave my life to the Lord Jesus. From that moment on, my relationship with the church completely changed. I was no longer there simply because my family was Christian or because going to church was part of our family routine. I wanted to know Christ, study the Scriptures, and understand God’s purpose for my life.
While I was still very young, I began sharing my testimony at small Christian gatherings in homes. Not long afterward, I also began preaching in churches. Looking back today, I would not recommend that someone take on certain ministry responsibilities at such a young age without proper preparation and guidance, but that experience is part of the way God led my story.
It was also during this season that the Lord placed a mentor in my life who became a close friend and remains one of my confidants to this day. Through him, I was introduced to Reformed theology and to pastors and theologians who would have a significant influence on my formation.
During my teenage years and early adulthood, I began reading and listening to men such as Charles Spurgeon, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Augustus Nicodemus, D. A. Carson, Steve Lawson, Paul Washer, and John Piper. Over the years, I also had opportunities to meet and build relationships with pastors and preachers who contributed to my theological and ministerial formation.
MISSIONS AND CHURCH PLANTING
My involvement with missions and church planting also began at a young age. For approximately three years, I participated in a church planting work about 400 kilometers from my hometown. On weekends, I would travel to a small village where I served primarily through preaching and missionary work.
Later, I became Presbyterian and began to become even more directly involved in church planting. I participated in Restore Brazil, connected with Acts 29, and began serving in church planting projects first in my region and later in João Pessoa and other places.
For more than ten years, I served at Igreja Presbiteriana do Bairro dos Estados in João Pessoa, under the leadership of Pastor Renan Dias. Much of my ministerial formation happened there in a very practical way, through the everyday life of the local church.
I served as a Sunday school teacher, youth leader, and youth pastor, while also assisting my pastor and the pastoral team in different areas of ministry. I participated in church planting efforts by preaching, discipling people, helping develop leaders, and starting small groups.
Throughout this period, I helped develop small groups for young people, couples, and adults while maintaining my relationship with and interest in the church planting movement connected with Acts 29.
The local church became much more than simply the place where I preached. It became the primary environment in which I was formed. There I learned that ministry is not only about the pulpit. Ministry involves discipleship, relationships, patience, service, caring for people, and long-term commitment to a community.
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND AND COMMUNICATION
Alongside ministry, I continued investing in my education. I completed my seminary training in 2021 and also earned a degree in Economics. Over the years, I also began specializing in communication.
This opened another area of work and ministry in my life. I founded a communication-focused project in Brazil that eventually grew into an online community of approximately 500,000 followers across social media.
Although much of my content is technical and focused on communication, I seek to approach my work from a Christian worldview. For me, the Christian faith is not limited to Sundays or explicitly religious activities. It should also shape the way we think about work, culture, communication, vocation, and public life.
Although my professional and digital work has become an important part of my journey, the local church and church planting have never stopped being central to my heart. Planting churches, preaching the Gospel, developing people, and participating in the growth of Christian communities continue to be some of the greatest passions of my life.
FAMILY AND MINISTRY
God has also given me a companion in this ministry journey. I have been married to Ana Carolina, Carol, for seven years. Over the years, she has also developed her own calling to serve the church and has become deeply involved in ministry.
Carol is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Theology in the United States at a Baptist seminary, and she has also specialized in biblical counseling. Because of this, our ministry journey has increasingly become something we pursue together as a family, seeking to discern where and how we can best serve the Church of Christ.
MOVING TO THE UNITED STATES
In 2025, we moved to the United States. Our decision was connected to my desire to improve my English, continue our theological education, deepen relationships with partner churches and ministries, and gain further experience in church planting.
The first chapter of our journey in the United States took place in Texas.
For approximately one year, we attended The Village Church in the Dallas area, pastored by Matt Chandler. This connection also came through relationships that had been built over the years. My pastor in Brazil, Renan Dias, connected me with Scott Zeller, who later introduced me to the church and helped us establish relationships there.
While living in Texas, I again became involved with initiatives related to church planting and ministry among Brazilians in the United States.
However, through conversations with Samuel Vitalino and Samy Anderson, I received an invitation to consider a new ministry field: serving Brazilians in Florida.
After prayer and many conversations, my wife and I came to believe that the Lord was leading us in that direction.
FLORIDA AND A NEW CHAPTER
We moved to Florida and became members of Tampa Bible Presbyterian Church, a Brazilian church in the Tampa area.
Not long afterward, we were presented with a very specific ministry opportunity: to contribute to the revitalization of an American congregation, Suncoast Bible Presbyterian Church, while at the same time developing a church planting work initially focused on reaching Brazilians in the surrounding region.
The vision was that these two movements could strengthen one another: that a new community reaching Brazilians could bring renewed missionary energy to the area while also encouraging and strengthening the existing American congregation.
Since then, we have been seeking to build relationships, reach families, disciple people, open homes for Bible studies, and proclaim the Gospel.
Once again, God has placed us in the kind of ministry that has been present throughout almost my entire Christian journey: people gathering around God’s Word, relationships being built, disciples being formed, and a church being born and strengthened through the Gospel.
When I look back at my story, I see a journey that began in a missionary family in a simple community on the outskirts of João Pessoa, continued through small gatherings in homes, missionary trips, pulpits, church planting, seminary, communication, and entrepreneurship, and eventually brought us to a new mission field in the United States.
I still believe I am only at the beginning of this journey.
My desire remains simple: to know Christ more deeply, care well for my family, faithfully serve the local church, preach the Scriptures, and dedicate my life to developing people and planting and strengthening churches wherever the Lord opens the door.
If there is one thread connecting every chapter of this story, it is the conviction that my life belongs to the Lord Jesus and that it is worth spending it in service to His Church and in the proclamation of His Gospel.
