Feb 5, 2025 A Nightmare, Turned Into a Dream

Suddenly, Adrian awoke, panting heavily while trying to catch his breath. 

A nightmare woke him up, a nightmare that would forever change his life.

Adrian is a 13-year-old boy from Sergipe, Brazil. He comes from a home that, despite its brokenness, is filled with a tremendous amount of love and support. 

“In my dream, everyone I loved and knew was inside a Seventh-day Adventist Church building,” explained Adrian. “I was looking in from the glass door but couldn’t get in. I tried pulling at the door handles, knocking on the window, yelling for help, but no one could see me. Immediately, I realized when I woke up that in my dream, I was left outside because I hadn’t made a decision.”

Before this dream, Adrian’s first encounter with the Adventist Church was through his cousin, Diogo. 

Diogo had just recently been baptized, so he and Adrian’s two sisters started attending church. 

“Since they were going, I became curious and started researching the Seventh-day Adventist Church online,” said Adrian. “I noticed many young people attended this church and that made me really excited to learn more.

“With the help of my grandmother, I attended a local Pathfinder club’s campout, and after that, even though I enjoyed it, I stopped going to church for a while. But I never forgot what I learned. My mom encouraged me to keep attending, and even when I didn’t go, I remembered everything I had seen there. I started reading the Bible at night, which one of my grandmothers encouraged me to do.”

After Adrian awoke from his dream and realized what it had meant, he went to friends and family for advice. 

“My grandma wanted to ensure my decision wasn’t emotional but sincere,” said Adrian. “I assured her it was. Even my cousin Felipe reminded me, ‘You know what it means to be baptized, right?’ I told him I understood and wanted to be baptized with a clear conscience, determined to be a better person. The old Adrian used to fight a lot, but I wanted to change.

“I decided to be baptized to set an example for my parents. I wanted my dad to be proud and to join me at church.” 

Adrian was baptized with two other younger boys on the final weekend of our evangelism series. Their excitement and joy were contagious; tears of happiness were shared amongst the young believers and their families, and the new church family embraced them with open arms.

“After my baptism, my mom told me she felt I had changed,” Adrian said. “I told her it wasn’t just a feeling—I knew I was different. I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.”

What an inspiring story! A 13-year-old boy, with so many options for his time, decided to research what the Church was about, read his Bible every day, and strive to become an example to the rest of his family. His hope is that one day, they may also feel the weight lifted off of their shoulders when they accept Jesus to be their personal Lord and Savior.