Brazilian Adventist Changes Career Path After Watching Tell the World

The film prompts a young physician to choose service over salary.

Posted October 21, 2016

By Felipe Lemos, South American Division

Watching a movie can leave a strong impression, but the experience is rarely credited with changing a life.

However, a young Seventh-day Adventist physician has decided to switch his career path after watching “Tell the World,” a new film about the history of the Adventist Church.

Paulo Victor Benício de Moraes, 27, a lifelong Adventist from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, said his heart was touched by the “sincerity and open hearts of our pioneers” as shown in the film, which was produced by Hope Channel Australia and premieres worldwide on Oct. 22.

“There was a scene that quite literally changed the direction of my life,” Benício said. “It was the scene where Ellen and James White were talking and she said, ‘I understood that it is a sacred duty not only to take care of our health, but to teach others how they can take care of theirs.’”

The conversation between two cofounders of the Adventist Church prompted Benício to rethink the direction that he was taking in his professional life. He had planned to specialize in otorhinolaryngology (ear, nose, and throat), a decision that he linked to salary. But now he will pursue clinical issues, which he said would be more useful in sharing biblical concepts of comprehensive health with patients.

“I only have a month left before my first residency examinations, when I am supposed to choose the specialty where I will work for the rest of my life,” Benício said. “The movie came as God’s answer to my prayers.”

Benício said he also hoped that his new career path would make him better suited for volunteer mission trips.

“I have decided to become a promoter of the biblical lifestyle taught by the Seventh-day Adventist Church since its origins, using to this end my talents and knowledge wherever I work,” he said.

“Tell the World,” which was released in Australia in August and has been featured in chapters on Brazil’s Novo Tempo television and elsewhere, premieres worldwide in its entirety on Sabbath, Oct. 22, the 172th anniversary of the Great Disappointment of 1844, the event that triggered the film’s plot. The chapters and the 2-hour, 34-minute film are also available on ARtv.