Wonderson’s Story
Interviewer: You can tell us your name and just let us know what MAD has done for you in your life.
Wonderson: My name is Wonderson. I’ve been part of MAD since I was a child, maybe a teen. When I was a teen, I used to go to the soccer matches at MAD, and I used to listen to the devotionals. I also used to go to the project at MAD to help with the children.
When I was young, I was not a good student. I didn’t want anything to do with school. Then one of the people who works at MAD, Ezra, asked at the soccer match who wanted to learn English, and I said yes, I do. He looked at me and said, “You don’t even go to school, you’re not a good student,” something like this. I said that I really wanted to learn English because I wanted to speak to the Americans when they came here to Brazil.
So I started to learn English and to become an interpreter, and now I work as a teacher and also as an interpreter. I think everything I am now, an English teacher, an interpreter, all of the values that I have, it’s also because MAD taught me when I was a child, when I was a teen. I’m not working at MAD anymore because I’m an English teacher now, so I don’t have time to be in both places at the same time. But it’s a place where I feel comfortable when I’m there. MAD has helped me in all of the things I can think about. That’s what MAD means to me.
When I was a child, I wasn’t sure what I would be when I grew up. But now, I’m 30 years old and I’m an English teacher. When I was a teen, I was very ashamed to speak in public, and now I can be an interpreter, and that’s also because of MAD, which has helped me a lot. I think that’s it.
Interviewer: How about from a faith perspective, because I know God is a big part of the ministry, right?
Wonderson: Yes. When I was a child, as I said, I wasn’t a good student, and I knew God since I was a child, but I wasn’t as close to God as I am now. MAD helped a lot with this, because every Saturday at soccer we used to listen to the devotional with Ezra, and also at the project, three days a week, we used to listen to the devotional. It helped a lot to know more about God. That’s why I got closer to God; when I was a child, I knew about God, but I can tell you I wasn’t as close to Him as I am now.
