Pedro grew up going to church—but for years, he didn’t know the true gospel. Life was about trying harder, doing more, and earning God’s favor. When life fell apart and his faith felt empty, Pedro stopped caring about church altogether.

That changed when he moved to Caldas Novas and met church planter Filipe Niel, pastor of Igreja Batista Vida Nova. Though skeptical, Pedro decided to give church “one last try.” That Sunday, Filipe was preaching through Galatians, and Pedro says, “I felt God’s Word changing something in me. I can’t explain it, but I felt at home.”

Pedro, a personal trainer, began training Filipe weekly. Each week, they’d talk about Jesus and the gospel. “When I was training Filipe to lose weight,” he laughs, “he was training my soul.” Through those conversations, the truth of God’s grace moved from something Pedro had heard about to something he deeply believed.

Pedro was baptized, got married, and now leads a small group at Vida Nova. His life has been transformed by Christ through the love of a gospel-centered church.

Stories like Pedro’s are happening in Acts 29 churches around the world—lives changed as the gospel takes root in local communities. This is why we plant churches worldwide.