Hello! My name is Estela, I'm 22 years old and I'm a missionary with Youth With a Mission (YWAM) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I was born and raised in a Christian homein Brazil and there I am part of the Missão Atos Church where I am pastored by my parents and pastors Eduardo and Flávia. Here in the United States, I am part of the Pittsburgh Christian Fellowship Church.
3 years ago, God called me to this missionary journey and I said yes to this invitation. I always knew I was called inside me. In childhood, I remember as if it was today the prayer of an intercessor prophesying that I would be a great evangelist. In adolescence, a prophetic word that I would be like Sarah, mother of many nations.
But I confess that I never tried to know what was my ministry calling for fear of saying yes to God and having to renounce and give up my dreams and the life I wanted.
The next year, I was accepted bya University into Architecture and Urbanism School. Just imagine: you plan something for a long time, get ready for it. However, little by little you realize that the sense of accomplishment that should accompany that decision doesn't come. It's horrible to hate what you've chosen for yourself. When we don't go where God wants us, we don't feel fulfilled.
I finally took leave of absence from the school in 2021 and went to participate in the online School of Prophets, a 5-day training, straight from Bethel Church California with simultaneous translation into Portuguese. There God began to speak a lot to me about the English language, translation, the United States and about setting aside time for Him and enabling me.
With that, I started searching Christian courses, from that, I had contact with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) Monte das Águias located in Brazil, doing the English Seminar that provides a total immersion in the English language to use it as a tool for the Kingdom of God and doing the 5-month Discipleship Training School (DTS).
After the Seminar, I did the Discipleship Training School (DTS) that is YWAM’s foundational course. Students spend 3 months (Lecture Phase) studying and getting to know God and cultures, and then embark on a 2-month mission trip (Outreach Phase) to make God known in another nation.
My outreach was in the United States and Canada. The fulfillment of a promise and a dream generated by God come true.
After my DTS, I understood that I should continue on missions. God confirmed this through 2 Kings 3:7 and Nahum 2:7, inviting me to remain with YWAM in the United States.
So in September of 2022 I did the DBS at YWAM Pittsburgh! The DBS (Discipleship Bible School) is a secondary school, meaning that to attend it you must have completed DTS. All YWAM schools, besides DTS, are secondary or third-level schools.
The DBS is 3 months where we read the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It gives us tools to study the Bible effectively and practically throughout our lives. I did this school as a student before joining YWAM as a staff member. Video of my final project:
Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, expressed a desire: "I hope that Brazil will send an army of missionaries to the United States to evangelize my country, because we have turned our backs on God. There are many wonderful Christians in the United States, but as a whole, our country has turned its back on God."
I believe that the next wave of revival that the world will receive will be largely through Brazilians and Brazil will be the largest nation to send missionaries to the world and being part of it has been a privilege.
And so ended my first year (2022) in Missions, a year of training and equipping myself for the following years. Check out what 2023 and 2024 were like: