Meet Mafe, a Pastor’s Kid who returned to Christ, and now reaches thousands through YouTube

Maria Fe is a 21-year-old Peruvian who lives in Spain, and “preaches” via social media. Her YouTube channel, “Be the Light”, has almost 100,000 subscribers. It has received millions of views. But throughout her teenage years, “Mafe” was marginalized because of her ethnicity and her faith, leaving her lost, feeling unworthy and distant from God.

Maria Fe’s parents are C&MA missionaries from Peru who serve in Spain. Growing up in an ethnically Peruvian Christian family was difficult in Spain where the majority religion is Roman Catholicism. Mafe was misunderstood and mocked for her ethnicity, as well as her family’s line of work.

Initially passionate about her faith, Mafe’s feelings of marginalization were manifested in identity issues, which caused her to feel shame. As a teenager, her desire to belong among her friends led to lying. She felt guilty, unworthy, and scared to approach God. She says, “I became such a sad girl, I lost hope and my faith. Even [though] I was a pastor’s kid, I wasn’t a Christian at all.”

In the summer of 2015, her parents established the ‘Bethany’ youth summer school in Alicante, Spain. They encouraged her to attend by offering to pay her in exchange for helping in the kitchen. One day after completing her duties, Mafe felt bored and sat in on an apologetics class. She recalls, “I had so many doubts in my head about God… but in that class I solved most of them, the most important ones.” In the days that followed, she gave herself to the Lord: “I gave Him everything; my mind and my heart, my life.” It was there she received the call to preach, using YouTube to reach thousands with her story and the good news of Jesus.

Now, Maria Fe is serving in the organization of the nearby mission summer schools, and will be involved in the annual program that begins in October 2020. She is studying in the Bible Institute of  the Cristiana y Misionera in Spain.

Her YouTube channel can be found at: https://youtu.be/iUb_ERJh2ag