Nov 20, 2024 “God Was Knocking on My Heart”

One of the most incredible aspects of going on a mission trip is hearing how God led each team member through a series of events, all converging together on the trip.

One story that stood out was Junior’s, the general foreman overseeing the renovation of the Aquilhadas Church in Brazil.

On our final day working on the church, the local church members surprised us with a cake.

Junior told us, “A little over a year ago, I was a baker. I made good money and had a stable life. Over time, I began meeting people from the Adventist Church. I became friends with them and observed how they kept the Sabbath. I didn’t know anything about God before I met them.

“So, I became curious—what is this Sabbath thing they’re doing? I started studying the Bible for myself, and I discovered the truth about the Sabbath.”

Junior continued, sharing how his life seemed to improve after attending a nearby church of another denomination. He bought a car, his wife got pregnant, and life seemed to be on an upward path.

But then, disaster struck again and again.

“Late one night, a woman called me, saying I needed to pick up my brother. She told me my brother had gotten drunk and stabbed her son.

“My brother came to stay with me and my wife while things settled down. But soon, I discovered that while I was at work, he was having an affair with my wife,” Junior explained.

After learning of the affair, Junior and his wife separated. He spent two months living in his car at a gas station. During that time, he turned to drinking.

“A few weeks later, I was traveling, and my car flipped over six times. Miraculously, I walked away unscathed, but the car was totaled. That was just the beginning.

“I started working the night shift at the bakery, delivering bread to hotels, but I crashed the delivery truck, and they fired me.

“Then I got a job at another bakery, but I crashed their motorcycle and got fired again. That time, I wasn’t even drinking,” said Junior.

Junior went on to explain how his bad luck continued. “I visited Aracaju and caught a ride with an ambulance, but even that ambulance crashed.

Later, I was traveling in a van when the tire blew out. I knew it wasn’t the driver’s fault, and I didn’t cause the problem. But I felt like God was trying to get my attention.”

He recalled, “Back when my car flipped over, I was attending a different Christian church. One day, the pastor asked to pray over me. As he prayed, he said he had a vision of me falling into a hole, it was the same day my car flipped. It felt like one thing after another—God was trying to tell me that I needed to turn to Him and accept His truth.”

Junior continued, “I first learned about the Adventist Church a year and a half ago, and I’m getting baptized this week. I feel God knocking on my heart, and I’m ready to follow His will for my life.

“Looking back, I realized that the world had nothing to offer me. The church has given me a kind of joy I never experienced in the world. Before, I had a lot of anxiety, but now I have peace. I know there will be struggles, but I can face anything with God by my side.”

Today, Junior works in construction, helping build churches. Although he had no experience in this field, he learned from others, and now he is teaching others, including our mission team. After completing this project, he plans to move to another state to continue renovating and building churches.

Junior firmly believes, “When God is in first place, everything else falls into place.”

“My life has been complicated,” he admits. “But I know that no matter how complicated my life seems, it’s never too complicated for God.”