A 21-year-old Brazilian woman has garnered a huge following on social media platform TikTok by teaching the Bible in a fresh way.
Brenda Matos is reaching thousands every single day with her short Biblical messages and Christian reflections, along with tips on how to study the scriptures effectively.
Matos was inspired to start making the videos after hearing a pastor talk about the impact that young Christians can have on social media if they commit themselves to the cause of Christ. Soon, she felt as if God was giving her a vision to produce the faith-filled content.
"I asked God to wake me up for worship on Saturday morning,” Matos explained to the Adventist Review. “During the night, I woke up and couldn’t sleep again. Then I understood that God wanted to show me something, so I got up and prayed.”
Almost immediately, her Bible app pointed her to a poignant verse: “I read John 10:11, where it says that Jesus is the Good Shepherd, who gives His life for the sheep. After reading this verse, I was very moved and decided to record my first video talking about the Bible."
The video was viewed by 40,000 times!
"It is unbelievable. I got so excited! It was the answer to a prayer I had prayed two months earlier," she said. "God answered right away. He made His will clear, so I make my best effort, because it is all for Him.”
Matos now has over 54,000 followers and has garnered over half a million likes on her videos. Many viewers get in touch with her directly to share personal testimonies about how the videos have impacted their lives for good.
She explained: "One young woman messaged me on my Instagram profile and said that she had had suicidal thoughts, but after watching my tips, she realized that she could feel relief once she studied the Bible."
With the interest in her channel spiking, Brenda noticed an uptick in the number of people following her on Instagram. Keen to capitalise on the number of people browsing her account, she decided to launch a Bible study, adding: “I recently studied the Bible book of Mark with 15 people, including Adventist church members and people from other faiths."