Meet Pastor Coelho

Pastor Mabio Coelho was born in a small city in the middle of the Amazon Rain Forest in Brazil and was raised by functionally agnostic parents. As a young boy, after the Boys Scout Troop suddenly closed, he and his brother were invited to join a local Pathfinder Club.

After attending Pathfinders for about a year, his younger brother started taking Bible studies at the local Adventist Church. Determined to bring him back to his senses, Mabio decided to go with him to the Bible studies. After arriving for the first study, he listened intently to the study about the 2300 years prophecy from the book of Daniel. He was impressed but did not let it show. To his dismay, he could not forget what he had heard. He went home and began to investigate. The more he studied, the more fascinated he became. He could not deny the fact that if he took prophecy seriously, Jesus had to be real and all that he claimed be and the Bible stories had to be more than superstition. This started a spiritual quest, which culminated with the young Mabio being baptized early in his teens. His non-Christian father was quite upset and made life very difficult for him.

About a year later, after Mabio shared the gospel with his older sister, she too was converted. This was the final straw! Their father was furious! He was so outraged that he tried to kill both Mabio and his sister on two separate occasions. After the last attempt, with the support of the church, they moved to a different state, to Brazil’s college. As part of this process, his father disowned Mabio and he was disinherited.

After college, some seminary, and more college, his calling to become a pastor was put on hold for many years all the while remaining a faithful Seventh-day Adventist.

After being invited to work for the New York Stock Exchange, he immigrated to the United States, settling in New York.

In the aftermath of September 11, he realized God had given him special gifts to relate to people from other cultures and faiths. Through prayer and following the promptings of the Holy Spirit, he was able to connect with his colleagues, many of whom were of other non-Christian world religions. Because of his business experience, he was able to share with them about God in meaningful ways that resonated with their worldviews. This allowed the development of very close personal relationships with his non-Adventist colleagues, giving many opportunities to share the principles illustrated in the life of Jesus.

While working at the New York Stock Exchange, he was called to serve as a lay pastor to a Brazilian congregation in New Jersey. During this time, he became convicted that God had a further calling for him. So he left his lucrative career behind and returned to Brazil, to once again enroll in an Adventist Seminary. While studying God led him to develop a new and very innovative telecommunication technology that was able to reach remote areas not served by the larger companies. The company continued to flourish until he was nearly finished with his seminary degree.

During this time, business interactions again gave him the unique opportunity to meet regularly with religious leaders of different Christian and non-Christian faith traditions, leading many of them to Jesus. It was his privilege to baptize many friends. In some cases, entire congregations became Adventists along with their leaders. He says, “Most importantly, I also had the joyful opportunity to lead many of my dear relatives to Jesus, including my own father. God is so good!” From there, God led him to different places and positions until he was brought to Andrews University, where he is currently studying for a PhD in the Theology of Mission program while he serves as the pastor of the Midland and Mount Pleasant Seventh-day Adventist churches.

Further, he comments, “I hope to continue growing in the Lord Jesus Christ and in my knowledge of the Scriptures. I believe God has called me to use the many diverse experiences of my life to reach people where they are and to bring them to Jesus, as we grow together in grace and by the Spirit.”

He is married to Tania and together they have three grown children.