"I almost died in a battle with another faction."

I got involved in drug trafficking at the age of 22. I joined the drug trade, not out of necessity but out of curiosity. I started smoking cannabis and I used other types of drugs.

I started taking part in turf wars and in other slums. Until I was already very deep into trafficking and crime, my photo ended up at the police station, I went on the run and was constantly being called in by the police. There came a time that I almost died in a battle with another faction.

Actually, I was in the church, coming with my mother until I was 16, but I stopped going and started getting involved with the wrong friends and people.

One day, while on a duty in the slum, I went home after knowing that my mother was in the church. I went home and manifested inside the house. At that moment, the police went into the slum and killed everyone who was in duty there. At that exact moment, my mother was in the church praying for me.

I always got arrested and my father was always paying the bail. I got worse. I began selling my belongings and pawned my motorbike. I didn’t care about anything anymore. My wife and family had no peace.

Whenever I was sober, I felt an enormous emptiness. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I started taking medication so I could sleep. But the effect of the drugs was stronger. When I got home from the slum, I saw a rope and a thought of ending everything came into my mind, to stop my suffering and the suffering of my family.

I tied a rope to the window and jumped. Moments later, my 3-year-old daughter walked in and looked at me as I struggled to breathe and lost the strength to pull myself up. Looking at her, I silently asked God for help. As soon as I did, my wife appeared at the door holding a knife, ran towards me and cut the rope.

I asked my mother for help and requested her to put me in the rehab. But my parents said no, and they said that only Jesus can change me. These words remained in my mind until I decided to go and see if Jesus can really change me. And my mother was also making a sacrifice on the Altar for me.

I told God everything I was going through and said that if He was real and can change my life, I would give it to Him. Suddenly, I felt peace, began crying, and became clear-headed as the effects of the drugs seemed to disappear. After the service, it felt like I had gone in seeing only black and white but came out seeing color again, feeling lighter and renewed.

I decided to surrender my life to God, I got baptized in water, made my sacrifice, stopped doing all the wrong things I did, began obeying God, praying, and understanding the Word of God through reading the Bible.

Until I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and started sharing to people how Jesus changed my life. I started speaking about God to the prisoners. God changed me in so many ways.

He didn't just free me from addiction; He taught me how to live.