From Rapper to Preacher: Adult Mission Story for December 13, 2025

Sebastían lived two lives in Chile.

At home and high school, he was quiet, studious, and obedient. On Sabbath mornings, he went to church with his parents. He even held leadership positions in the church.

But after school and even after church on Sabbath, Sebastían turned into a rapper who drew large crowds with his performances.

Sebastían grew up in a Seventh-day Adventist home. When he was a boy, his parents were mission-minded teachers who worked at several Adventist schools in Chile.

As a teen, Sebastían wasn’t interested in church. He thought that the only thing it offered was monotony. He had heard about God all his life, but he had never developed a relationship with God through prayer and daily devotions. All he knew about God was what he heard in church. It seemed like God’s plans didn’t include him.

Outside of church, hip-hop music was sweeping across Chile and the rest of South America. The music hypnotized 14-year-old Sebastían. He felt transformed when he listened. He was particularly attracted to freestyle rap, a style of hip-hop music in which artists improvise unwritten verse to a beat. He joined other teens at rap battles, where they debated and insulted each other on topics such as history, science, and religion. Participants had to be well-read to win the contests. As Sebastían won, his friends encouraged him to keep competing. He competed in city parks against much older people in their mid-20s. One Sabbath afternoon, he won a rap battle by successfully defending Satan during a debate about Satan.

Sebastían liked the challenge, and he enjoyed the glory of victory. He used alcohol and other substances that were common at the rap battles. He listened to hip-hop all the time.

Somehow, he managed to keep his two lives separate. His parents didn’t know that he was leading a double life.

Four years passed.

Then Covid struck. Chile went into lockdown, and Sebastían was stuck at home. He found rap battles online, but they weren’t the same. His world lost its meaning.

For the first time, Sebastían thought about God. He felt empty, and a desire grew in him to know God.

He had grown up having family worship every day, but he had never thought about having personal time with God. No one had ever told him that the way to know God was to spend time with Him in the Bible and prayer.

Sebastían wanted to have a relationship with Jesus, and he wondered if Jesus felt the same way. To find out, he asked Jesus one day to wake him up in the morning to spend time together. Sebastían usually slept in, and it was a struggle to get up in the morning. But after he made that prayer request, he began to wake up at 5 or 6 o’clock.

He was so happy and even relieved. He was sure that Jesus was saying, “I am alive and interested in having a relationship with you.”

As Sebastían read the Bible, he realized that it was more than a book. The passages of the Bible were deeper and more attractive than any rap verse that he could improvise. For the first time, he stopped feeling empty. He no longer felt alone. He spent many hours with God in the Bible and prayer during the Covid pandemic.

As restrictions were lifted, Sebastían joined an Adventist youth group in selling books door-to-door. The experience strengthened the inner transformation that had started during the pandemic. As he shared his love for Jesus, Sebastían sensed God calling him to become a pastor.

Today, Sebastían is 21 and studying theology at Chile Adventist University. He is considered a star student, and his teachers sent him to Bolivia to attend a creation conference organized by the South American Division. He also serves as a student chaplain.

Sebastían expressed gratitude to God for the opportunity to study at Chile Adventist University.

“I feel it is truly an act of grace toward my life because I see where I was and where I am, and there is a radical difference,” he said. “I had to change my lifestyle, my thoughts, the things I listen to, and the things that I was consuming.”

He added, “God is still working in me. I hope to be worthy of the calling that He has made of me.”

Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering, also known as the Quarterly Mission Project Offering, will go to Chile Adventist University in Chillán, Chile. The offering will allow 50 more students to live in dormitories on campus. Currently, the university has about 3,000 students, the vast majority of whom are not Adventist and live off campus. The expanded dormitories will be open to all but are especially needed by Adventist theology and education students who come to the university from far-off places and are studying to work in Adventist churches and schools. Sebastían lives in one of the dormitories that will be expanded with the offering. Thank you for planning a generous offering.