Every photo tells a story. The two pictures shown below tell the story of a shy boy from Parintins, who loved the culture of the annual festival in Parintins. Year after year he looked forward to the fun that the festival had to offer but God had plans for that shy boy, Phelipe Reis would have a change of heart as he discovered the will of God for his life.

The change started when he attended an evangelical church where he was invited by two classmates. The shy boy that had trouble fitting in was able to make friends and feel like he really belonged. He became torn between his love for the festival and being with his new church friends.

One day as he was walking to the festival he faced an important dilemma, Phelipe was dressed in indigenous clothing and paint for the presentation when he passed by the church and saw a service in progress, he was suddenly made aware that he needed to change.

A feeling of shame flooded his heart, his feet took him to the party but his heart told him it wasn't his place to be there, deep inside his soul longed for joy that would last for longer than a three day festival.

That was the last time the boy participated in the festival, as God worked in his heart and he understood his new identity in Christ:

“So if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, everything has become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).

The following year, during the festival period, that shy and shameful boy joined his church in working for good at the festival, he became a volunteer in the Jesus Water of Life campaign.

The church used the free distribution of bottles of water as a strategy to approach strangers on the street and talk about Jesus. The summer heat was a great time to use the desire for water as an opportunity to introduce people to the water that they really needed. Phelipe was excited and boldly shared the Living Water to anyone that received a bottle of water

There is a twenty year gap between the two photos above, the shy boy now has a wife and a couple of children and remains active in the same church and still participates in the Jesus Water of Life campaign. Phelipe is now a leader at Amazon Vida and is very active in boldly sharing the gospel and helping us train new church leaders.

In the second photo, you see him sharing the gospel to a group of women who came to the church looking for someone to talk to. The four heard the gospel message and they all were prayed for.

This is just one example of the new boldness to share the gospel that the shy boy is able to do through Christ. That shy boy lost his shame when he understood his identity in Christ, his vocation and his place in the world.

But ultimately, the story is not about this boy. The great story is about a God full of love, who gave his son, Jesus, to die on the cross and redeem all of his creation. This is the story the world needs to hear!

*Report by Phelipe Reis, 35 years old, journalist and missionary, and member of the First Baptist Church of Parintins.

Learn more about Phelipe