Pastor Therezinha Barbalho stands with her husband, Zeli Leite, and President Bill Miller.
Potomac administration recently had the privilege of ordaining Therezinha Barbalho, pastor of the Silver Spring SDA Church (Md.), into the gospel ministry.
“The call to ministry isn’t when someone says we couldn’t have done that without you,” said President Bill Miller, during the service. “It’s not when committees recommended you for ordination, a degree, interviews or endorsements. The call to ministry is when we hear His voice and we walk with Him into the human mess. The call to ministry is learning our limits and learning to trust in the God that is there with us.”
Barbalho says she felt called to pastoral ministry at the age of 18 and went on to graduate with a degree in theology. She worked as a Bible worker in Belém, São Paulo and later pursued a law degree. Even while practicing as a licensed lawyer in Brazil for 13 years, she continued to serve as a volunteer minister. After moving to the United States, Barbalho served as an associate pastor for the New Jersey Conference and later came to Potomac to pastor the Richmond Brazilian church (Va.)—where she held her first baptismal ceremony—and the Silver Spring church (Md.), where she works to date.
“I receive this moment, so needed for 32 years, understanding that God is making me, and promises to make me, more and more dependent on him,” shared Barbalho, during the service. “That is how I receive this blessing. I thank the Seventh-day Adventist Church for trusting that I can become fully dependent on Him.”
