Hello Youngstars International, my name is Leonardo Rodrigues. I am 28 years old and one of the leaders of Radicais in Brazil. I am glad to share part of my experience at the International Instructor Course (ICT) in Romania in August 2026. To tell it, I need to go back ten years.
In January 2016 I was one of the participants of the first Radicais camp in Brazil. I was 17 and had no idea what would grow out of it. That is where I first met Radicais and understood my pastoral calling, which I have since been able to live out in my local church. The spiritual theme at the ICT was the same as back then: Nehemiah. I can say with full conviction: everything started there.
“God has given me the courage to fight my insecurities and fears. As we always say: get out of your comfort zone!”
Leonardo Rodrigues, Radicais leader Brazil
I grew up in a simple community in the far south of São Paulo and went through family struggles and big challenges around fatherhood. Today I am convinced that none of this could stop what God, in His grace, prepared as a purpose for my life. The Back to the Roots activity at the ICT made me look back at every year of my life and realise that God does much more than we ask or imagine.
Over the years I became more and more involved in the vision of Radicais, serving at summer and winter camps. I went through all the Youngstars trainings and have now completed this cycle with the ICT. Each training helped me grow as a leader and connected me with people from different countries. An international training like this was something I could never have imagined.
For me, the ICT was more than a training. I am closing a ten-year cycle within Radicais: first, much was invested in rebuilding my own life, and now I can do the same for others, until the whole of Brazil is rebuilt.
It was a great joy to be with people from five other nations: hearing their stories, learning about their cultures and seeing what God is doing in their countries.
I return to Brazil with a heart full of hope and the certainty that a new chapter with even greater things lies ahead. My thanks go to the whole Youngstars International team for their commitment around the world, and to the Radicais Association in Brazil, which has invested in my life in a very special way. May God bless you.
