Autobiography

I was born at a very early age on February 5th, 1981 to Reginaldo and Leonor Goulart in the city hospital of Campinas, Brazil. A year afterwards, my parents decided to dedicate their lives to preaching the Gospel in Africa. They packed up and together the three of us went to Peniel Bible Institute where I would be joined by my brother Isac that same year.

Four years later, my parents had completed the training for missions and our family was now complete with the addition of my two sisters, Rebeka and Rachel. After working with our home church and the Bible Institute for another three years, we were on our way to Senegal, West Africa.

To this day, I still remember stepping out of the airplane cabin into the African heat. It was a blistering 40 degrees…and it was nighttime. But we were finally there and nothing could subside the excitement of being in Africa. My parents began learning French while I worked on acquiring basic English so I could attend the MK boarding school. After six months of phonics, spelling and grammar, I felt confident enough to enter third grade. A few years later, my parents moved to the boarding school to become dorm parents. By then I had mastered English, French and some Creole and was already fully Africanized.

In 1992, my dad had a severe case of cerebral malaria, along with temporary amnesia and consequently we had to return to Brazil for further medical treatment. Within a month he was fully recuperated and as we ended our furlough and began to make plans to return, my mom had an arthroscopy done on her knee that ended up causing a severe infection which left her in bed for a year, fighting the infection with strong antibiotics.

She recovered from the infection, but all the cartilage in her knee was damaged and she could no longer bend it. After another year of preparation, we returned to Senegal in 1995, only to have the same situation come up with my dad showing signs of amnesia under high stress. Whether it was spiritual or physical, we did not know, but we had to return to Brazil, defeated and confused.

As a family, these were the hardest days. Trying to figure out what our ministry was, feeling incompetent and insecure in heading back, not knowing what all was behind the sickness. My parents showed immense trust in God throughout this time and even discouraged, they did not give up their ministry but continued by faith, this time in Brazil, visiting and challenging churches to missions.

At this time, I had become fully adapted to the American education system, so on returning to Brazil, we continued studying in an American MK school. I graduated in 1999, after studying nine years in English.

Despite all the difficulties and trials in our family's ministry, I was still confident that God was in control and that He was using my parents in Brazil just as much as He had used them in Africa. Their lives challenged me to devote my life to missions and consequently I applied to New Tribes Bible Institute to spend the next two years studying God's Word and getting to know Him more.

As these two years have passed by, I have understood what kind of relationship a believer should have with the Lord. My understanding of the Bible has been broadened from thinking it was a book of great Christian stories, to seeing God's plan of salvation and redemption unfolded from Genesis to Revelation. My walk with God is no longer measured on how I could please Him, but is now focused on Him working through me.

Today, I look back at my life with awe at how God has made His hand evident through it all, not only on the mission field in Africa, but back home in Brazil and at college here in the United States. Wherever I go, He is there and as I plan now on continuing my studies in Canada, I know that He will remain faithful and provide for me, not only financially and emotionally, but also spiritually, giving me more opportunities to grow and learn as I continue my studies in Canada at Providence College in the fall semester of 2003.