Missionary profile – Estevâo Gomes

By AfriGO team

Estevâo Gomes, Mozambique

Missionary to Brazil and Mozambique

My pastor saw the vision for me to be a missionary before I did. He was the Director for Operation Mobilization, and he could sense the call of God in my life. He asked if he could take me to a mission school since I had finished secondary school. I flatly refused. I hadn’t heard from God; besides, I wanted to further my education and be something else, not a pastor or a missionary.

He gave me a few days to pray about it. I told him I didn’t need to pray; I knew I didn’t want to be a missionary. But in those three days, my heart was so restless that I couldn’t sleep, thinking about missions and the lost. At the end of the three days, I accepted to train as a missionary with Operation Mobilization.

Many years before this, I had become a Christian. I grew up in a fragmented family. My dad was a believer, but after he married my mom, his second wife, he stopped going to church. She was Catholic but indulged in evil practices – witchcraft, smoking, drinking, you name it.

She’d also get very sick when she indulged in these things. Eventually, she quit drinking and smoking and started going to church. So we all attended church again. I also got saved and became very serious in my walk with Christ.

During training, we were evangelizing in a neighbouring village as part of my homework. I was there for a week, and so much change happened. I was sure that if Jesus came, the villagers would not perish, but my family would. I was very confused and worried; I prayed and cried for my family. I asked God to save my family, and I’d serve him forever.

The following Saturday, I preached to my family, and they all accepted Christ in tears. I decided I was going to serve.

Operation Mobilization accepted me to serve with them. I went to study and serve in Mozambique, South Africa, and Namibia. I then had a desire to study theology, and Brazil was the best option since it’s a Portuguese-speaking country. It took me a year to get an acceptance letter. I joined Seminário Teológico Batista Enéas Tognini.

I spent four years in Brazil, studying and also training missionaries. I led the training centre in Brazil. Although I was doing excellently, my heart was still in Mozambique. I had done a lot in Brazil that I hadn’t done in my country. I felt I needed to return to Africa and do something about it.

I returned and I’m now working with my church, reaching out and mobilizing the Mozambican Church for missions. Many churches began asking if we can train them for missions. We’ve now acquired land to put up a mission school for Mozambicans.

As the African Church, we need to make missions programmes the first priority. People just want to pray and plan conferences, but few people are going. We need to GO.

#Pray:

For the missions school that we want to open next year.
For resources and partners – we’re using our own money to do this.
For the Mozambican Church to be revived for global missions.