Found in Mission

When Isabele graduated from one of Brazil’s most prestigious universities with a degree in information technology (IT), her future seemed bright. She had a solid job, an excellent salary, and a promising career ahead. But something didn’t feel right.

“I was earning well and being promoted,” she recalls, “but I felt as though I was wasting eight hours a day doing something that didn’t touch eternity.”

That quiet restlessness was the beginning of a journey that would take her far from São Paulo’s corporate world to the mountains of Palawan in the Philippines, and into a life completely transformed by mission.

“Yes, I was born in an Adventist home,” Isabele says with a smile. “I grew up seeing mission in action.” Her aunt has served as a missionary in Mozambique for 20 years, and her sister spent three years among the Amazon river communities. “Their lives always inspired me,” she says. “I could see that their joy didn’t come from comfort; it came from purpose.”

Faith at the University

Isabele had dreamed of studying in an Adventist university, where she could combine her love for music and spiritual life. But God had another plan. “When I passed the exam for the University of São Paulo, I was torn,” she remembers. “Classes would be at night, including Fridays. The university felt like a mission field.”

After prayer and reflection, she sensed God’s leading. “Just as Daniel went to Babylon and Joseph to Egypt, I felt God was sending me to the University of São Paulo.”

Her faith was tested, but God honored her decision. “Professors doubted I could finish on time because of the Sabbath,” she says. “But I did, right on schedule. My years at the university became a living testimony of faithfulness.”

Leaving It All to Serve

After five years in a digital marketing company’s IT department, Isabele had everything a young professional could want. Yet the call to serve God full-time only grew stronger. She turned down a management promotion to serve as a volunteer missionary in Palawan for one year.

Looking back, Isabele sees how each chapter of her story prepared her for the next.

There Isabele finally found what she calls her Ikigai.[1] Ikigai, a Japanese word, refers to the feeling that one’s life has meaning, purpose, or something worth living for. As Ellen White says: “The spirit of unselfish labor for others gives depth, stability, and Christlike loveliness to the character and brings peace and happiness to its possessor.”[2]  

“I realized I wasn’t meant to be a purely technical IT professional. I loved organizing people, projects, and information. Using my skills to support God’s work gave me a joy and peace I had never experienced before,” Isabele says.

That year changed Isabele’s life. “I found my place in God’s plan. I was doing something I loved. Something I was good at, that the world needed, and that could be sustained by faith. Mission helped me discover who I really am.” Ellen White confirms Isabele’s experience. “It is those who, with love for God and their fellowmen, are striving to help others, that become established, strengthened, settled, in the truth. The true Christian works for God, not from impulse, but from principle; not for a day or a month, but during the entire life.”[3]

Choosing Purpose Over Prosperity

When Isabele returned to Brazil, the tech world was still waiting, but her priorities had shifted. “IT is a prosperous field,” she says. “But my heart longed for a life filled with purpose, responding to God’s calls. There’s no salary high enough to compare with the joy of living God’s plan.”

She accepted a position at Adventist University of São Paulo as assistant to the Office of Spiritual Affairs and director of the Mission Center. “It was a dream come true,” she says. “I loved applying my administrative skills to strengthen mission on campus. I thought I’d stay there for years!”

Following God’s Plan

But after just six months Isabele heard that her name was being considered for a position at the Middle East and North Africa Union Mission (MENAUM). “I cried for days. I told God, ‘You just brought me here! Why would You move me again?’ I am happy here.”

Months later the call came through. After prayer and a conversation with MENAUM leaders, she felt the same peace she’d known before Palawan. “In one week God confirmed it was His will. Once again He was asking me to leave everything and follow His plan.”

“Mission Gives Hope for the Future”

Looking back, Isabele sees how each chapter of her story prepared her for the next. “God used a secular university environment to strengthen my faith, Palawan to shape my purpose, and the Adventist university to grow my leadership. Now He’s leading me beyond borders again.”

Isabele’s journey is a living testimony that mission is not just a place but a posture of surrender.

“Mission changes perspective. Mission gives purpose. It fills the emptiness nothing in the world can. And it gives hope for the future. When you live for God’s mission, you never lose; you just discover who you were created to be,” she concludes.

[1] Definition retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai.

[2] Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1948), vol. 5, p. 607.

[3] Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1915), p. 84.

Meet Isabele

Name: Isabele Neves
From: Brazil
Background: Graduated in information technology from the University of São Paulo (USP).
Mission Service: Volunteer missionary in Palawan, Philippines; later served at São Paulo Adventist University (UNASP); currently serving in the Middle East and North Africa Union Mission (MENAUM).
Favorite quote: “There’s no salary high enough to compare with the joy of living God’s plan.”