Every weekday, Tiago walks his daughter Laura to the Setúbal Adventist School in Portugal. When he was younger, Adventist education had a profound impact on his life.

“It was a very troubled phase of my life, where things were complicated for me and my family. And literally I can say that the Adventist Church, Adventist Education specifically, saved my life because I was going down a very dangerous path in many ways.”

Tiago grew close to his classmates and teachers. Because of their positive influence, he invited Jesus into his heart. To this day he’s an active member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

So when it was time to send Laura to school, Tiago knew just where to enroll her.

“This was a decision that me, my wife, and God made. It would be unthinkable not to put my daughter in an Adventist school, even though it lacks the great facilities of other private schools and even public schools that we have here.”

The Setúbal Adventist School was opened in 1983. It’s attached to the Adventist church building in a historic part of town. The space is limited to a common indoor area, an outdoor play area, and two modest classrooms that house four grade levels.

“It’s a very small school with few resources. We try to give the best possible to the children and try to beautify this little space as best we can, but we know that they need more and that they need other things that other schools already have. And that's one of the challenges we have right now.”

Each morning students meet in the common room to start their day with worship. They sing, pray, and study the Bible. This is where many of these kids start developing a relationship with Jesus. It all starts with a core team of dedicated teachers.

“I can teach them not only in knowledge, but also for them to grow as individuals and grow spiritually.”

“It’s very good because it interests them and they sometimes look in the Bible and they discover things. And they're glad they managed to find it. It's very special.”

“I learned that He cares for us and watches us when we are sad or alone.”

“We should love Jesus and that Jesus was a good person when He came to earth, and that He will return to get us.”

“I’ve learned to love Him and that He will come back to take us with him to heaven.”

Adventist leaders in Portugal dream of expanding the reach of Adventist education to more people in Setúbal.

“We have an education that is concerned with the whole child, with their development, not only in their academic skills, but also in their spiritual development. And every day we want to show them the love of Jesus, that Jesus came to this world to save them and, at the same time, that they can transmit this knowledge to their families. So our schools are essentially for children who don't know the Adventist message. In our school, we currently have 37 students, only nine are Adventists This is an opportunity that we have daily to show these families who Jesus is.”

We manage to plant the seeds in these families. If we had a bigger space, we would certainly be able to reach more families, not only the Adventist community, and be able to evangelize much more here in the city of Setúbal.

This small school in Portugal has big potential. This quarter a portion of your 13th Sabbath Offerings will help construct a new school building in a fast growing area of the city. Please join Adventists in Portugal in prayer for the future of this school.

“Pray that the effort they make transforms lives. And so, pray for us, contribute to making this work possible, because what we are doing here is transforming lives and taking children to eternity.”

Thank you for supporting this project by giving to the 13th Sabbath Offering!