Getting to know the Women in our church

MEET MARCELA ALEXANDER



I am originally from Brazil. My family were originally German miners who migrated to South America and lived in Chile for a while. I am married to Hebe Duarte, a Civil Engineer. Heber is a Pastor's son whom I met at an Adventist Retreat-Revival Camp when I was in college. We got married in Patterson June 16, 1991. Together we have two beautiful girls: Sofia and Sabrina.



Country of Birth: Sao Paolo, Brazil. It is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the western and southern hemisphere, and the world's eighth largest city by population. The city is ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among the five-largest metropolitan areas on the planet. São Paulo is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous Brazilian state and exerts strong regional influence in commerce and finance as well as arts and entertainment.

Favorite things to do: Spending time with my daughters.

Favorite Color: Yellow

Favorite Food: Italian food: Pasta and anything Italian

Favorite Bible Verses:

Joshua 1:9 "Remember that I commanded you to be strong and brave. Do not be afraid, because the Lord your God will be with you everywhere you go.
Romans 12:2 "Do not shaped by this world; instead be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; then you will know what is good and pleasing to Him and what is perfect."

Favorite Woman in the Bible and why: Ruth

Ruth was poor, a foreigner from a despised Moabite nation, and a woman, and all this counted against her. But when her husband died, she decided to stay with her mother-in-law Naomi and faithfully followed her including her beliefs in her God. She shared loneliness, anxiety and grief with her and returned with Naomi to Bethlehem. Because of her unfaltering loyalty, God blessed her. She married a close relative of Naomi and had a son called Obed who grew up to be the grandfather of King David

As a woman of God, what do you need from your fellow women from the church or what can you do to help other women? ~ I love helping the Spanish Community as a translator. I am multi-lingual and speak Spanish, German, Portuguese and English. I am very open to any task that I am needed for the church.

Tell us a Story of your life's journey as a woman of God - My mother's family are mostly Catholics. My father was a former Lutheran. But in Brazil, to get a good education, you have to enroll at the Adventist Church School. So, I grew up with Adventists all my life. Most of my friends as a young woman were all Adventists. So it was normal for me to become an Adventist and to go to church regularly and attend all retreats and revival meetings for the youth. I attended college at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Federal University of Minas Gerais, abbreviated as UFMG). It is a public university located in Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is one of Brazil's five largest universities, being the largest federal university. Then I taught as an Agronomist, specializing in agronomy, which is the science of utilizing plants for food, fuel, feed, and fiber. After meeting my husband,who is an Adventist Minister's son, it was only expected that I become a true believer on the faith. We both came to America to work in 1989, got married in June 16, 1991 At Patterson. I was meant to be a Seventh-day Adventist.

Getting to know the Women in our Church

ROSANA MARIA SANTOS

I am happily married to my husband Altamir and I am blessed to have these three boys that God gave to me: BRUNO, GABRIEL and ANDREW.

Country of Origin: BRAZIL

Favorite things to do: Play volleyball

Favorite Color: Red (also Black)

Favorite food: PASTA

Favorite Bible Verse: Psalms 23 New International Version
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness.
For His name's sake.
Even tough I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; for You are with me.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You annoint my head with oil, my cup oveflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Favorite Woman of the Bible: Hannah

Hannah was a good woman who loved God. But she was sad, for she had no children. Each year, her husband took her to a place called Shiloh, where they worshiped God. And each year, Hannah prayed a special prayer that God would give her a child. One year, she prayed, "Dear God, if You will only give me a son, I will give him back to You, to serve You all his days."
Hannah desperately wanted a son. She even promised that if God gave her a baby boy, she would dedicate him to doing the LORD's work. And God heard her prayer. It must have been difficult for Hannah to keep her promise, but she did by giving her son Samuel to Eli the priest.Because of a mother's great love and trust in God, her son became a great priest, prophet and leader in Israel.


As a woman of God,what do you need from your fellow women in the Church? I need your prayers, support, smiles and hugs.

Is there anything you want to do with the other women or for other women? I would really love to go out at least once a month, just to talk and have fun together to share our experiences and prayers for one another.

Life's journey as a Woman of God:

My parents were not Adventists. But my grandmother was a devout Adventist and she took me to Sabbath School as often as possible. And that is how I knew my Jesus through my grandmother. I am very happy and fortunate to find a good and wonderful husband who also love God. We both want our children to grow up in the Lord. I pray every day for God to bless my family. And for God to give me patience in dealing with Andrew's health needs. God is so good and He is with me, every step of the way. I feel helpless sometimes and I just pray to God because oftentimes I do not know what to do. But He always has a ready anser to my prayers.

Leap of Faith

There is nothing quite as rewarding in life as doing something you never thought possible. I recently had the opportunity to take a leap of faith out of a plane, something I never really thought I could do. Sure, I had put it on my bucket list, and I certainly thought it was something I wanted to do before I died. But as I drove to Delaware to the skydiving site, my stomach just got more and more twisted.

More than once I thought of calling my friends and telling them I would not be able to join them. Yet, I kept driving. Something inside me kept pushing me to take this leap.

Once I arrived at the site, they had us fill out all this paperwork "in the event of an accident"...yikes, nerves came back big time!

Then it was time to meet our dive instructors. My instructor's name was Joe. He pointed me in the direction of the suits and then got started on placing the harness on me. As he tightened all the various cords to me, I began to feel my body relax.

They called our names to board the plane, my body relaxed even more. By the time we were up in the air I felt such a thrill that my nerves were completely gone. "I'm doing this", I kept thinking.

There was a "ding" in the cabin and Joe announced "three minutes till we jump". Before I realized what was happening, the door of the plane opened and out went the more experienced divers. Joe started shouting orders at me over the noise of the plane: "stand up", "walk to the door", "on your mark, set, go"...and off we went. It had all happened so fast I had no time to get nervous again before we plunged into the open air.

I always imagined that skydiving was a bit like a roller coaster. That my stomach would surge as I fell, and that the earth would be approaching me at an alarming speed. Yet, the reality was quite different. It felt like I was floating, the ground looked the same as if I were looking out of an airplane window. The view was magnificent. The Chesapeake on one side and Ocean City on the other.

Before long Joe flashed me the signal to open my parachute. It was a smooth ride down to the bottom.

A incredible sense of accomplishment flooded me as I finally hit the ground. I had done something crazy. I had taken a leap of faith.

This experience will continually remind me that taking a little risk can be incredibly rewarding if you have the right instructor on your side. "With God, all things are possible".