The sparkle in Suélen Rodolpho’s eyes when she received the yellow Pathfinder scarf on November 22, 2025, during the Gaúcho Camporee, carried more than emotion—it carried a story.

At 34 years old, the mother of Laura (10) and Amanda (4), and former athlete on Brazil’s national wheelchair fencing team, finally lived a childhood dream many once thought impossible: to belong to the organization she had always admired.

The Gravataí Events Park in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, became the stage for more than a simple ceremony. There, among tents, trails, and songs, Rodolpho was officially invested as a Seventh-day Adventist Pathfinder, completing a journey back to the church and into a community where she now feels fully welcomed and included.

A childhood marked by challenge

Looking at Rodolpho today, it is hard to imagine the challenges she has faced, leaders say.

“I’m the youngest of four siblings, and at the time of my birth, my mother discovered my disability,” she explains.

She was born with myelomeningocele, a spinal malformation that develops during early pregnancy and can cause paraplegia and other complications.

At two months old, she underwent her first corrective surgery. During childhood, she managed to walk with the aid of crutches, enduring multiple procedures, physiotherapy, and long hospital stays. In adolescence, however, a complication from the initial surgery tethered her spinal cord and ended her ability to walk. At age 16, doctors told her she had to choose: risk another operation with no guarantee of improvement, or accept permanent use of a wheelchair.

She chose autonomy, even knowing it meant a new phase of adjustment. Her family’s support proved crucial.

“I had a very good family foundation. My mother was a nurse and always encouraged me to do everything I could. And I was never ashamed of my scar. It’s my story,” she says.

The sport that changed her trajectory

Although she grew up in a third-generation Adventist family, Rodolpho gradually drifted away from church life during adolescence. She remembers wanting to join the Pathfinder Club, but says that at the time, there were no conditions that allowed her to stay involved. Today, she looks back without bitterness and recognizes that her return came in God’s time.

Before that return, however, another turning point came. While living in Porto Alegre in 2022, Rodolpho’s husband died suddenly—an experience she describes as difficult to put into words and one that profoundly changed her life. Even amid grief and daily responsibilities, she continued caring for her daughters and holding on to the faith she had never fully abandoned.

Later, moving back to Taquara, she began taking Laura to Adventurer Club meetings—since her daughter was not yet old enough for Pathfinders. By following her daughter’s routine, Rodolpho found herself reconnecting with the community she had left. In that ordinary setting, a long-hoped-for invitation finally appeared.

A prayer answered

Former local Pathfinder Club director Efraim Melo remembers clearly the day he felt impressed to invite her.

“I was going to work and had this insistent thought: invite her,” he says.

When the invitation came, Rodolpho reacted with deep emotion. She later shared that she had been praying privately for someone to invite her to participate, but had felt too embarrassed to take the initiative herself.

She not only joined the club but became an active member of the team.

“The club needs to be inclusive. Everyone helps,” Melo says. “The most beautiful thing about all this is seeing her happiness. The joy we see in her also makes us happy.”

A dream shared with her daughter

Joezer Mello, who is the current pastor at the Adventist church Rodolpho attends, witnessed both her spiritual return and emotional renewal.

“It was interesting because she said she was fulfilling her dream of being a Pathfinder in her daughter’s life. When I heard that, I said, ‘But why only for her? You can be one too!’” he recalls.

Encouraged by that conversation and a renewed sense of faith, Rodolpho chose to publicly reaffirm her commitment to Jesus through baptism. Throughout the Gaúcho Camporee she was moved watching other Pathfinders take the same step.

“She kept saying, ‘The day after tomorrow it will be my turn. I’ll be in the baptismal pool,'” Mello says. “So the whole moment was very special.”

To make the day even more memorable, Laura, who had been studying the Bible, was also baptized in the same ceremony. Afterward, Rodolpho saw another long-held dream fulfilled: she received the yellow Pathfinder scarf she had wanted to wear since childhood.

A journey that inspires

Rodolpho has now attended campouts, seen her daughter turn 10 and officially join the Pathfinders, and has even been invited to serve as a counselor.

When she talks about disability, Rodolpho widens the lens. “Everyone has their own unique characteristics,” she says. “We can’t let negative things define us. If someone looks at me the wrong way, I hardly notice it now. I focus on the goals I want to reach and live my life.”

In everyday life, Rodolpho works as a librarian at Cruzeiro do Sul Adventist Institute (IACS), where her daughters study. She approaches her routine with determination.

“My conviction is that I want to be, one day, in heaven, walking perfectly alongside my daughters,” she says.

Today, with a Pathfinder scarf around her neck and a story that continues to unfold, Rodolpho is more than a newly invested club member. Many who know her say she is a living example of how an inclusive church community can help transform lives.

The original article was published on the South American Division Portuguese news site.