Good morning Bishop Julio and Mrs. Viviane,

I would like to share with you how my life was transformed.

Before coming to the UCKG, I belonged to a Pentecostal evangelical church. I was a religious person, who lived a complacent life. I was told by the pastor of that church that I had to get married, because I was pregnant and “the child needed to be born into a blessing.”

Since I had already “put the cart before the horses”, I did not observe my ex-husband’s character (I say ex-husband to sum up that story).

When I began attending the UCKG, I believed that my life could change, because I put into practice everything that I was being taught. But, for you to have an idea of how my life used to be and how it is now, I will try to explain everything in a very simplified way.

I married a man who loved the night life, nightclubs, women (today, he has seven children from four different women), drinking, drugs… among other things.

For years, he camouflaged his change, and spoke of the Bible like no one else. He pretended to be someone he was not. He was baptized, but did not die. He changed some habits, but not the full course of his life (conversion). He stopped drinking as much, and pretended to only drink at social gatherings. He stopped going to nightclubs (for a while), but couldn’t forget about them. He stopped using drugs, but thought it normal to hang around drug users. And so on…

He used the Bible to exhort me in ways that, instead of helping, caused my burden to become heavier…

We were raised as assistants and then he was called to be an assistant pastor, but we never got past that, thank God! You may ask: Why thank God?

I achieved a great dream, which was to serve God on the altar, but all of my sincerity was not enough to keep this dream. It was inside the work of God that I was faced with several questions that I already knew the answer to, but refused to believe…

My ex-husband (a pastor), who was responsible for the youth group, was flirting with a young woman and exchanging text messages with her while I attended the Sunday morning service. I did not hesitate for one second after finding out about this. I immediately went to speak to the bishop in charge, so that he could help me.

In short: we left the work of God, but because my ex-husband had such a gift for persuading others (only those who know him and were deceived by the ‘wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing’ can truly tell you), he managed to get a job in the church, always saying that he had been wronged.

But I know that he only got the job because he had to support me and my two daughters. However, even at work he pretended to be someone he wasn’t. He worked the night shift, therefore, there was less supervision. During the night, he would go out to nightclubs and then return around 5am, pretending to have worked through the whole night. And where was I? At home, sleeping with my two daughters. I didn’t even imagine what he thought could remain hidden forever. But the Scripture says:

“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account,” Hebrews 4.13

Yet, after all these things, I still had hope: to be happy! I remained sincere. Throughout the separation and divorce, which lasted for about 3 years, it is important to mention that the counseling I received from Mrs. Viviane was of extreme importance to my success.

Even though I was alone and without his help as the father of my daughters, I took everything I had – all of my savings, salary, benefits, everything in my bank account, the coins I had around the house – I didn’t even remain with enough to buy a loaf of bread… because I wanted to prove my total dependence on God. My real sacrifice.

All that remained was for me to be BLESSED. My all in exchange for God’s all.

And that is exactly what happened. I found the Cenacle of the Holy Spirit and the God of the Impossible. There, I achieved my blessing, a man of God, who is willing to take care of me and my daughters as if they were his, who faced prejudice from others such as friends and acquaintances because he accepted to take in a white woman with two black daughters.

I’m not ashamed to say that today I am 30yrs old, I have two daughters, one is 13 and the other is 9 yrs old (Sarah and Esther). My past is completely different from my present. I am engaged, with a set wedding date, after only dating for a year and a half, and we’ve kept faithful to the teachings of God’s Word (for those who don’t know, we’re remaining abstinent until our wedding night). On the 8^th of September, at 4pm, at the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Almada (Portugal) a new page will be written in the book of our lives, our wedding.

A big hug!

Anaisa Freitas