An excellent student and talented artist, Nadia was concerned with working hard at advancing her studies and expanding her art portfolio. God, however, had a very different plan that started 23 years earlier.
In January of 1987, Mark Pereira was an original member of the Bombay, India Church planting (now Mumbai). Two years later, Mark was blessed to meet his future wife, Cheryll. They were married and blessed to have Nadia in 1990. Nadia was the first Indian baby born on the Indian mission field! Since then, the churches in India have grown to over 50 churches and 5000 disciples.
In 2008 Nadia moved to the States to study art in Plattsburg, New York and then applied, was accepted, and transferred to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in January of 2010. Mark traveled to the States in January to get her settled at school and was able to introduce her to the campus ministry at the University of Minnesota and the Minneapolis/St. Paul of Christ. Although Nadia was initially reluctant to study the Bible, she did attend church and started building relationships. She eventually started studying the Bible and came to the heartfelt decision that God had brought her to the Twin Cities for a very specific reason - NOT to study only art but to become a true disciple of Jesus!
The campus ministry at the MSPCofC has been an inspiration to the entire fellowship in the Twin Cities. In January 2009, after the leadership committed to praying reverently about hiring a campus minister, the church was able to hire Dustin Wood, a recent graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Under his strong spiritual leadership, the campus ministry has grown from 6 members to 16, having had its 10th baptism on April 16th!
Adding to the spark of excitement for the ministry was Nadia's baptism on March 26, 2010. From 8,000 miles away (7,928 to be precise) in Mumbai, Mark and Cheryll were able to share in the excitement through the technology of SKYPE. Mark and Cheryll heard ALL of the enthusiastic sharing about their daughter and were able to share some special memories of their daughter too. Before Nadia's baptism, Mark led a prayer. Imagine: disciples half the world away were united in prayer! It was an incredible moment of humility and joy for everyone in attendance from the MSPCofC and the Pereiras in Mumbai. Then, Nadia's parents were able to watch Stevi Saindon and Laura Mason take Nadia's confession and then see them baptize their precious daughter into Jesus Christ. It could only happen in the Kingdom of God!
Nadia is a true spark and joy in the ever-growing campus ministry in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Church of Christ. While she continues to excel at MCAD (she was recently awarded one of only two yearly scholarships given to painting majors), Nadia mostly focuses on that what has become MOST important to her - her ever-growing relationship with God! The bond between the MSPCofC, its campus ministry and the Pereiras in Mumbai only continues to grow as they pray for each other across the thousands of miles.
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