Celestina

Celestina resides in Beira, a port city in central Mozambique, situated along the Indian Ocean in Africa. As a port city, Beira is home to diverse languages, ethnicities, and religions. While growing up in such a bustling place, Celestina felt isolated and found herself living in a somber cycle of uncertainty. Her father’s unemployment and her mother's severe mental health issues caused much heartache. Each morning brought the same anxiety about what she would eat or the mental condition of her mother. With such insecurity, Celestina “lost ground and did not know what to do.” She found herself adrift, seeking comfort in the wrong social circles.
After years of regret over poor choices to fill voids in her life, Celestina decided to try a different approach. Seeking an immediate solution, she believed that baptism might be the answer. However, her brother advised her to explore her faith in Jesus before pursuing baptism without genuine faith. Celestina credits her brother’s loving “confrontation” as the turning point in her life. From that day on, she realized that having an authentic relationship with her Creator was the greatest decision she could make.

As a Developing Global Leader, she attends Licungo University and aspires to be the first in her family to graduate from college. She will earn a degree in human resources and start a seamstress business in her community. Sharing her faith, serving others, and caring for her family are powerful motivators and Celestina believes she has hope now that through hard work and faith, she will be a difference-maker for those in her community.