At some point, many of us wrestle with a feeling of emptiness—of being surrounded by people yet feeling unknown, of striving for more and never feeling like we’re enough. For Jéssica, a 33-year-old woman from Caldas, Brazil, that longing shaped much of her life—until she encountered the true gospel through the discipleship of Igreja Batista Vida Nova, an Acts 29 church in Brazil.

A Childhood of Longing

Jéssica was raised by her grandparents from the time she was six months old. Her upbringing was marked by discipline and religious tradition, but not the warmth or emotional connection she craved. Her grandmother, though well-intentioned, was strict, and Jéssica often felt the absence of parental love and guidance. That lack of stability in her home life left a deep void—a longing for family, for love, and for belonging.

Searching for Fulfillment

In her pursuit of wholeness, Jéssica entered into two relationships that led to the birth of her two children. But both relationships ended in disappointment, leaving her heartbroken and more determined than ever to provide a different life for her kids. She threw herself into work, believing that if she could make enough money, she could give her children the love and security she had missed.

“I wanted to be enough for them,” she recalls. “I thought if they had what I didn’t, that would be enough.”

Though she had been raised in a religious environment, faith remained distant. “I was brought up in the church, but all the religious rules never really showed me who God was,” she says. She drifted from church to church, never truly encountering the transforming power of the gospel.

Hitting Rock Bottom—and Meeting Jesus

It wasn’t until a season of deep personal crisis that Jéssica’s life began to change. As Jéssica faced one of the darkest moments of her life, God intervened. He used her sister Jaqueline to point her back to the truth—not just of religion, but of the living Christ.

Through Jaqueline, Jéssica was introduced to Igreja Batista Vida Nova, a church grounded in biblical truth and relational discipleship. It was here that she finally encountered the real Jesus—not the distant figure she had once imagined, but a loving Savior who meets us in our brokenness.

As she began walking through discipleship at Vida Nova, everything changed. The church didn’t offer a set of rules—it offered relationship. Through God’s Word and the intentional care of the church community, Jéssica discovered a gospel of grace, healing, and transformation.

“I learned that God is in control of everything, and that everything happens to teach us and mold us,” she says. “With Him, I am already enough. Without Him, I have nothing.”

A New Legacy

Today, Jéssica is no longer defined by the pain of her past. Instead, she’s building a new legacy rooted in faith. Her priorities have shifted—no longer chasing financial success as a substitute for love, she’s focused on leaving her children with something far more valuable: a knowledge of God.

“If I leave them financial resources but not God, then I’ve left them with nothing,” she says.

At Igreja Batista Vida Nova, Jéssica found more than a church. She found family. She found community. She found purpose. Through genuine discipleship and the power of the gospel, she learned that true family isn’t always biological—it’s spiritual. And in Christ, she is whole.