2013 was a remarkable year for our family. It was the year that we left everything we had behind and came to help start Shalom Boston Mission. To accept such a radical call like this, was definitely not simple, especially for us, so young, with 2 little children, Amanda and Higor Filho. Many people ask us: Why did you do this? You had a career, good jobs, nice home, a beautiful family, great friends, the Shalom Catholic Community in Fortaleza. Why did you leave everything behind? In fact, the question should not be WHY, but For WHOM. There is no WHY… It was for one person that we did this, it was for the One who gave us everything we had, because all our treasures were given us by God, and it is fair that, out of love, He asks us to offer these treasures in the name of an immeasurable one.
Since we had our experience with God’s Love, through the Life in Spirit Seminar, our desire to bring that love that we had just met to everyone was becoming bigger and bigger. Give for free what we freely received. As we deepened in the Shalom vocation, and discovered this magnificent charism through the spousal love, our life, our family and everything around us was changing. It didn’t take long for us to feel the strong call to leave as a missionary family, wherever the Lord would send us to present this charism that conquered us over so many people who were anxiously awaiting to have the same experience we had.
Our yes to this call was a response of gratitude. How could we say no to the creator of everything? Greater madness than losing everything for God, would be to deny a special call from Him who is the author of everything.
It was then that, in 2013, we came to Boston to live the graces and the challenges of restarting a life in a place where we knew no one and barely spoke their language. 2 years later, in 2015, with the arrival of the Life Community and more Covenant Community members, Shalom Boston was finally founded. There is no better place to be than abandoned in God’s hands, than not being in control of your destiny, than relying on divine providence for the most basic things, than seeing God’s miracles by building Himself, His Shalom work and attracting so many beautiful vocations so today we can see many of them feeling that same missionary ardor.
We are very happy to be part of this love story and we are very grateful to God because his strong arms have always supported us, so weak, at many difficult times. Our family grew, not only in quantity with the arrival of Bella and Julia, and all new Shalom Brothers and Sisters, but grew in unity and strength after this great journey that the Lord made us live.