Full face Jonathan left (blue), Douglas right (green)
Meet Douglas.
“As an adolescent, I thought my life was good. But I was only concerned about pleasing myself. Hi, I’m Douglas and I live in Rio Grande do Sul, São Leopoldo, Brazil. I didn’t grow up in a Christian family. My dad, who was very jealous of my mother, was separated from her for a long time. He often threatened and fought with her even though she had done nothing wrong. I wasn’t a very calm person myself. I got angry over anything. I also had no time for God.
In 2004, I was invited by some friends to play soccer at an evangelical church. I loved our time together. Each event included a time to stop and think about our sinful condition and Jesus Christ. It was here I learned of God’s desire to have a relationship with me.
Later, on a teen retreat I was challenged by national pastor named Pierre to consider the Gospel carefully. Pierre visualized faith the concept of faith by showing me a pencil where I could see it. Is it faith when you see the pencil? No, it’s not, he said to me. Next he put it behind his back. Is it faith to not see the pencil and yet believe it is there? Yes! Faith believes in what is present but can’t be seen. It is the same with God. We know that He exists, but He is invisible. Pierre asked if I had faith in God and in Jesus’ sacrifice. Right then and there I prayed and accepted Christ into my life.
As a new Christian I thought that my life would be good. But in November of 2004, things could not have been further from the truth. Hoping to hurt my mom, my dad had entered our empty house and set it on fire. When my brother, Rodrigo, and I returned to black smoke and our neighbors trying to control the fire. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but we had total material and deep psychological losses.
In time, I understood that God, in his love, gave us that trial to produce perseverance, spiritual character and spiritual growth (Romans 5:3-5). Little by little we built another house and I started to talk with my brother more about what lessons the fire had taught me. Through these conversations he also came to know Christ as his savior.
Much has changed in my life since accepting Jesus Christ as my only sufficient Savior. God has caused me to grow through losing everything in the fire, changed my attitude at school, and stopped me from constantly fighting at home with my mom and my siblings. God transformed me into a gentle, calm person with great faith and hope. Currently, I am studying Physical Education at college so I can use sports to show people Christ in the same way I was shown several years ago.
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