Partner Spotlight: The Felisberto Family

By Verna Del Turco

God’s orchestration of our lives is something that never ceases to amaze me. I have seen it over and over again in the lives of hundreds of people and in my own life, as well. Such is the case in the lives of two very special people both born in Victoria, Espirito Santo, Brazil, who never met, until God’s perfect timing, in Sudbury, Massachusetts.

In 1986, Marcelo Felisberto followed his brother to the United States to further his education and to pursue a life of greater opportunity. Little did he know that God was leading him step-by-step into the fulfillment of his destiny. He secured a job at an Italian restaurant in Sudbury and continued his journey. Somewhat discouraged from past events in his life, Marcelo continued to press into his future knowing that God had a plan for his life.

A co-worker of his named John, would constantly tell him, “Marcelo, some day a beautiful woman is going to walk through these doors and she’ll be THE one for you.” Marcelo heard this day after day and began to tune out his friend, although he hoped this would be true.
In 1990, Drucilla moved to the United States, as well, and settled in Worcester, MA. After a period of time, she relocated to Concord, MA for work. The night before her move to Concord, she thought she would get in her car and take the drive so she would be sure not to get lost the next day as she moved her belongings. She found her way to Concord and returned home confident that her move the next day would be uneventful.

The following day, Drucilla packed her car and began her journey from Worcester to Concord. She was excited to begin a new season in her life at a new job, in a new community. As she drove, her thoughts were on her fresh start and her commitment to serve the Lord with all of her heart. Her passion for God was increasing and she was amazed at the work God was doing in her life.

After a period of time driving, things didn’t look familiar to Drucilla. The night before she had driven to her new home with no problem, but now, things didn’t look familiar to her at all. She continued driving, but then realized that she was totally lost and had absolutely no idea where she was. As she was driving, she saw Rossini’s Italian Restaurant in Sudbury and thought she better stop and ask for directions or surely she would be driving in circles all night long. She entered the restaurant and John was standing there to greet her. As soon as Drucilla began to speak, John recognized the Brazilian accent and told Drucila, “You are in the right place and I have the perfect person to give you directions!” Excitedly, he ran to get Marcelo and told him to come immediately because “the” beautiful woman had just walked through the doors!

John went and brought Drucilla to Marcelo and Marcelo began to give her directions. Drucilla thanked him and left the restaurant to return to her car hoping she could follow the directions and get back on track. Marcelo, somewhat dazed, realized that she had left. He grabbed a menu and ran out to the car and knocked on her window. Drucilla rolled down her window and Marcelo handed her the menu with the restaurant’s phone number on it, and told her if she needed anything, not to hesitate to call. With her destination on her mind, she thanked him and drove off.

For Drucilla, settling into her new routine was the only thing on her mind. About one month later, as she continued to unpack and organize her belongings, she saw a notebook with a menu sticking out of it. In the busyness of the move, she had forgotten all about Marcelo and realized that she had not properly thanked him for taking the time to give her directions. She thought she should call and thank him, but she couldn’t even remember his name! “Should I call or just forget about it? He probably won’t even remember me.” These were the thoughts that were racing through her mind, however, she felt compelled to try to contact him to thank him. She called the restaurant and through a series of events, was able to speak with him directly. He asked her out for coffee and a wonderful friendship began. For six months they shared, they talked, they laughed and they cried together. After a period of time Marcelo desired a deeper commitment but, because of past disappointments, Drucilla was hesitant to move forward and they parted ways.

Marcelo was deeply disappointed, but Drucilla was too afraid to move forward.
For three months there was no communication, however, God’s plan would not be held back. One day, just before the Christmas holidays, Drucilla, who had somewhat moved on, felt compelled to call Marcelo. Drucilla asked him what he was doing for the Christmas holidays and before he could answer, she told him, “Whatever you have planned, cancel it because we are spending the holidays together!” Now Drucilla wanted to commit to the relationship, but Marcelo was hesitant!

After much prayer and communication, the couple happily proceeded with their plans for marriage. On September 30, 1995, they were joined in marriage and in their commitment to serve God together as husband and wife. In 1997, their first son Marlon was born and in 1999, their second son Kyle was born.

Spiritual hunger and thirst were prominent in their lives. They knew God had so much more for them, but how did they go about pursuing Him? In 1999, a close friend invited them to a Wednesday evening service at IFC. Their hearts were immediately captivated when they came in. They wept as they worshiped God and were on the edge of their seat as the Word was preached. They said they were overwhelmed by the way they were greeted and loved on and accepted. Marcelo said, “When I met Pastor Jonathan after the service and he hugged me, something inside me told me this is where I belonged. I felt an immediate bond to IFC and knew this was the place for my family.” Something that Marcelo and Drucilla were not familiar with was Children’s Ministry. They were amazed at the focus and attention given to the children and that the children were actually ministered to each service. As parents, this really blessed them and they knew that their children were growing spiritually, as well.

Marcelo stated that they watched the staff and how they interacted with Pastor and worked together as a team. They watched the staff’s families and saw the joy and contentment in their children. Drucilla said she was so blessed to see how every person that walked through the doors of the church was welcome no matter what color they were, no matter how they were dressed, all were welcome and all were treated the same. This is what they were looking for and this is where they wanted to plant their family.

“The Word of God preached at IFC changed everything,” said Marcelo. He stated they immediately began to apply the Word of God to every area of their lives and their lives were being affected dramatically. They applied the Word to themselves individually which taught Marcelo to be the spiritual leader in his home and taught Drucilla how to be a woman of God with passion for her family. They have since learned that God’s Word had something to say about every area of their lives and soon their finances and business would be affected as well. God’s favor on their lives is something they are in awe of every day.
You will see Marcelo and Drucilla serving in various aspects of the ministry from Hospitality, Children’s Church, Greeters, and Soup Kitchen. Marcelo currently interprets our services in Portuguese for our Brazilian partners.

Thank you Marcelo, Drucilla, Marlon and Kyle for giving of yourselves to the work of God and the people of God at IFC. Enjoy each and every moment with your sons for some day, sooner than you think, two beautiful women will be walking through the doors captivating the hearts of your boys!