Dear Bishop Macedo,

This photo is special to me. I was squeezed into the old funeral parlor attending my first meeting of the Universal Church. That was 35 years ago.

That day I saw you preach about determination and faith like I had never heard anyone speak.

I lived in Inhaúma, Rio de Janeiro, and went to this service to demand an explanation from the young pastor on the radio about how my belief in spirits was an evil, misleading practice, and completely against the Word of God. I went there ready for a fight!

I wasn’t able to speak to you, but the sincerity of your words had a strong effect on me. I had an encounter with the Almighty.

From that day until now, I have never left God. My family was gradually delivered and my marriage was reborn. My life was transformed, just like your story and that of the Church.

When I saw an unending line of people waiting to get in to the launch of your book here in Pará, I couldn’t help but remember those times. I was the first to get a signed copy of “Nothing to Lose” in Belém, and I felt an amazing joy in that great joy in that bookstore.

Reading your biography has had a special pleasure for me: that of knowing that the essence of the UCKG remains the same.

I have moved around because my husband works in the Navy, and in each corner of the country I see bishops and pastors with the same values I saw in you n Rio de Janeiro.

I will walk into the Temple of Solomon just as I walked into the old funeral parlor — the way the UCKG and you taught me to live throughout these 35 years: with determination, faith and, most importantly, a sincere desire to please God.

Sueli Barbosa, 66, Ananindeua – Pará

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