A recent Washington Post article is highlighting the growing trend of young children stepping up to preach. Eight-year-old Ester Souza from Votuporanga, Brazil steps up to preach at her father’s small, rural church. In 2020, this would have seemed like a dream. Souza was suffering from a kidney infection, receiving hemodialysis nearly every day, and waiting for a transplant. Since it was during the height of the pandemic, Souza’s parents couldn’t even stay with her. ““I cried when they left. I was afraid without my mom. One night, I saw a man in a shining white robe, and he said he would take care of me. Then I felt calm again,” said Souza. “I think it was God.” She received her transplant in 2021 and began preaching  at her father’s church. In 2024, she went viral telling the story of David and Goliath. Her social media gets thousands of views, and she has nearly 1 million followers. She preaches at her father’s church nearly every week.

According to The Washington Post, “@oficial_estersouza_ is part of a new surge of child preachers helping to spread evangelicalism to the country, which is currently 26 percent of the country’s religious population. Experts estimate that by 2050, evangelical Christianity will become the majority religion in Brazil.” According to researcher Vania Morales Sierra, the internet has been a huge factor in helping young children like Souza spread their message. ““At first, these children would preach and only later record their sermons to share the message,” Sierra said. “The goal wasn’t to go viral. It was to evangelize. Today, the internet is both the means and the end. Children now produce content directly for social media.”

The internet is filled with videos of young children preachers, many raising their hands to the cheers of onlookers. Some children are as young as 6. It’s a fine line, though. Her parents have received criticism. Her father, however, pointed at the fruit of Ester’s ministry, namely people coming to Christ. “If I wanted to push Ester to gain millions and millions of followers using these practices of casting demons and healing, I could have. But it wouldn’t be in a positive way. And when you don’t do things positively, the fruits don’t come,” he insisted. Sierra noted, with Souza’s tender age a source of concern for just how much she understands. “By the age of 14, a child has the discernment to know right from wrong. But the key question is whether they have the guidance necessary to reflect on the consequences of their actions.”