Graduate Profiles |
Introducing Moacir Campos
Hello, brothers and sisters! My name is Moacir Campos, and it is a joy to share how the Lord’s marvelous works have led me to this moment.
I am Brazilian, born into a Christian family that, during my childhood, sadly, drifted from the faith. My earliest memories of God’s Word come from my mother, who, despite her wavering belief, faithfully read the Bible to me. Psalm 46 was her favorite, and though I did not fully grasp its significance at the time, those words would later shape my life.
Since my teenage years, I have read the Bible daily – perhaps at first with selfish motives, hoping to unlock divine secrets for my own gain. But God, in His mercy, transformed my heart, teaching me that His power is made perfect in weakness. At 22, while living in Australia for an academic exchange, I had my first experience far from family. Those months were filled with challenges, but it was in the solitude of rainy nights in Perth that God visited me powerfully. Ironically, He was proving to be exactly what Psalm 46 declared: “[my] refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” That realization set my soul on fire, and as I read the Bible, I marveled as if seeing it for the first time. The gospel was too glorious to be the product of mere human invention.
Years later, during an elective course in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in Edmonton just before the pandemic, I visited a Canadian Reformed Church for the first time. I fell in love with the liturgy, the Book of Praise, the confessions, and the warm welcome I received. Already eager to deepen my understanding of Reformed theology, I returned to Brazil with one goal in mind: coming back to Canada for seminary.
After two years of working in a Pediatric Emergency Department (and waiting for the pandemic to pass), I enrolled in the Bachelor of Theology program, only to later be led to the Diploma of Theology instead, after an injury that required surgery. Who was I to question the Lord’s plans “when the earth gives way or the mountains are moved into the heart of the sea”? If shifting from medicine to theology wasn’t already a bold move – not to say an outright crazy one, as my relatives would put it – diving headfirst into Ecclesiology and Advanced Symbolics after years of Anatomy and Biochemistry was a humbling experience.
Now, I close yet another chapter of my academic journey – because, for some reason, my life seems to revolve around finishing and starting studies. I am also completing a postgraduate program in Adolescent Medicine, hoping to care for my patients not only in body but also in heart. That was always my intention in pursuing seminary: to minister to people’s souls, wherever God places me.
My graduation from CRTS is more than an academic milestone – it is a testament of gratitude to God’s unwavering faithfulness and the only true comfort in life and death, not just for others, but also for me in Christ Jesus. He redeemed me from a futile way of life and led me across the world to behold more of His revealed glory. As I look ahead, I trust that He will keep guiding me exactly where I need to be. And wherever that may be, may all the glory be His. For indeed, “the Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”