Gilberto A.

gilbertoa.png Biography

I was born in Brazil in a Christian home, the firstborn of three brothers.  When I was 18 years old, a friend invited me to a Bible study in the Presbyterian Church in our city, where the pastor was presenting a series of studies about the attributes of God.  When he spoke of the love of God, I saw how much God loved me and that I needed to know Him as the only sufficient source of salvation of my life. 

I received my calling to the ministry when I was studying economics in the university.  To respond to this calling from the Lord, I left the university and began to study theology in the Seminario Biblico del Nordeste (Biblical Seminary of the Northeast), where I graduated at the end of 2007, with a Bachelor of Theology degree. 

I've been married since 2000, to Carmen Lucia, and we have two beautiful children, Gilberto Neto, 9 years old, and Livia Thais, 6 years old. 
Ministry

In 2004, I became a member of the Community Church in the city of Tracunhaem, and in 2005, I began discipling youth and adolescents and working with the youth group.  In 2008, after completing my theology degree, I was called to be the senior pastor of the church. 

In my pastoral role I am preaching and discipling, seeking to present the message of salvation and transformation in Christ.   In 2009, I was invited to become the Academic Dean of the Biblical Seminary of the Northeast, where I am also a professor.  As the Academic Dean and a professor of the seminary, I've had the opportunity to contribute to the formation of new leaders from diverse denominations for the expansion of the Kingdom of Christ primarily in the northeast part of Brazil, which is a region with scarce Christian leadership.  Our desire is to train leaders and send them out to plant 200 churches in northeastern Brazil, where many cities are less than 3% Evangelical.  In reality, I am enrolled in ProMETA's master's degree program in order to better prepare myself for the pastoral ministry as well as for seminary teaching.