A Journey Home – My Personal Faith Testimony
My wife grew up in a Christian family. God has always been at the center of her life, not as a set of rules or something reserved for Sundays, but as a living relationship that has shaped how she loves, listens, forgives, and hopes. Her faith has always been there, like an anchor beneath everything.
When we met, I knew her faith was important to her. And even though I didn’t live with that kind of connection to God at the time, I had always respected her belief. Faith wasn’t completely foreign to me, quite the opposite. As a child, I went to Sunday school. I still remember the songs, the stories about Jesus, the sense that there was something bigger. But over time, life pulled me in other directions.
And then, about two years ago, something happened that I didn’t expect. This is my personal faith testimony, my journey to faith that unfolded in ways I never could have imagined.
An Unexpected Evening that Opened a Door
My wife was invited by some Brazilian friends to a church meeting where a Brazilian pastor, visiting Sweden for a few weeks in the summer, would be preaching. She planned to go. I had different plans that evening, meeting an old friend from my teenage years for a few beers and a good catch-up.
But about 30 minutes before my wife was going to leave, a quiet inner nudge came: ”Go with her.” I didn’t think much of it at first. I had time before I needed to meet my friend. So I went.
And that decision marked the beginning of something I didn’t even know I had been longing for.
Toward the end of the service, everyone gathered in a circle to pray. I found myself standing next to the pastor. We held hands, and what I felt in that moment is hard to explain. It felt like electric impulses into my heart. Not pain, life. Something woke up. A door opened. This encounter with Jesus became the turning point in my life.
A Summer of Longing and Transformation
After that night, we started gathering weekly throughout the summer. Small meetings in people’s homes, simple, but filled with something deep and alive. I soaked it all in. And I found myself longing for the next meeting as soon as the last one ended. It felt like something in me had woken up, and now it couldn’t be silenced.
Toward the end of the summer, my mother-in-law, who had been visiting us from Brazil, was preparing to return home. We held one last gathering at our place. That evening became another turning point in my journey to faith.
At the end of the night, the pastor came over to pray for me. Tears came uncontrollably. It felt like something broke open, or that I finally tore open the door I had kept shut. I fell backward, not from fear but release.
Freedom.
A New Direction and Baptism by the Öland Bridge
That same night, my wife had invited a Brazilian family from São Paulo to join us, people I had never met before who soon became significant in our lives.
Since August 2023, they have been our pastoral couple here in Sweden. We’ve continued to meet, to pray, to grow, not only in friendship, but in faith.
In October 2023, I made a decision that changed everything: I accepted Jesus, not as an idea but as the living Savior.
Romans 10:9–10 says, ”If you declare with your mouth, ’Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…”.
In August 2025, my wife and I were baptized near the Öland Bridge, under the Swedish summer sun, surrounded by witnesses and love. A new beginning. A public confession.
Romans 6:3–4 reminds us that we are buried with Christ in baptism to live a new life. This is my baptism story, a concrete step into the life we now walk.
Why I’m Sharing This
This post isn’t here to preach or convince. It’s my story. About faith. About longing. About what can happen when we follow that quiet inner voice even when we don’t fully understand. And maybe, if something is stirring inside you, there’s a door in your heart waiting to be opened.