Hello, my name is Aroldo. I was born in the middle of nowhere, in a very small village in the South of Brazil. Although my village was very remote the Gospel had reached this small community and many were saved including my parents. I was brought up in a Christian home, going to Church on Sundays and attending Sunday School.

I am the youngest son of a big family of 14 children. In my early teenage years, I went to live in Sao Paulo with my oldest sister who had children of my age group. There I continued to attend church but I also had to work and study so I gradually stopped attending church…and school. I then moved in with another sister of mine who was not a Christian and from there I started to live a very worldly life, including drinking quite heavily. I would continue to live this way while visiting my parents but I would try to hide it from them as much as I could.
 
One day, in my parents’ house, I came to read psalm 139:1 -13 when it is clearly stated that GOD sees everything we do or think even though we try to hide our sins from other people. This psalm changed my life and I surrendered to the Lord. At that same time, my oldest brother, José, who had gone to Bible School in Brazil, met his Northern Irish wife there and went to live in Belfast, came home to Brazil for a holiday, and challenged me to come and live with them for a while, to get a chance of a better life. I accepted and went with José.

I was 20 years old and it was 1985. In Belfast, I learned English, I learnt a lot about the building trade…and I met my lovely wife- to- be Emmanuelle. In 1988, I felt the Lord’s call to serve Him full time and I went to the Irish Bible School in the ROI for three years. Emmanuelle joined me on my last year.

I had known Acre Gospel Mission since I arrived in NI so when we were searching for Missions, AGM was our first choice. We applied and were accepted by AGM in June 1991. We got married in October 1991 and started serving the Lord in the Alentejo (Portugal), in April 1992, over 30 years ago.

Bonjour, my name is Emmanuelle and I am from Paris, France. Even though I lived in Paris, one of the most inhabited cities of France, I grew up without knowing anything about the Gospel as my parents were atheist. I grew up with many friends who were Muslims, Jewish and Catholics but I was the atheist one. 

In 1987, I came to work in Northern Ireland as a French Assistant in Belfast Royal Academy. In Belfast I met Aroldo in an English class at Rupert Stanley College. He brought me to church and I started to hear about Jesus’ Salvation. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17) and it was exactly what happened to me.

I knew I was a sinner, because I tried many times to be a good person and I always failed,  but I did not know there was a Saviour and Salvation. My Lord and Saviour Jesus saved me a few weeks later. It was very difficult afterwards to go back home to France as my family did not (and still does not) accept my faith. But the Lord had His hand on me and He guided me through these difficult moments.

When I felt I should go to Bible School, and I did, my family stopped speaking to me for a couple of months. There again the Lord helped me through. Aroldo and I got married in 1991 and went to Portugal. We have been serving there for over 30 years. We have three children and one grandson. We praise the Lord for His goodness to us.

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