Sidnei was 12 years old. He was one of four brothers, the second oldest. Before him came Rosana, 13; then Cristina, 8, and Cristiano, 5. Their mother was a manicurist and did not have a steady job. Their father was a tinsmith. Both of their incomes were not enough to provide for the family. The two could not guarantee a steady income. Their addiction to alcohol brought them close together.

Sidnei’s father would come home drunk and hit his mother. The beatings eventually reached all the children as well, in sequence, but he suffered the most. The color of his skin and his indigenous background guaranteed that he be hit even harder. He looked the most like his mother. So, he often suffered at the hand of his alcoholic father.

A painful snowball effect 

Sidnei’s family continued, like many Brazilians, to walk a tightrope. Without a permanent residence, because his parents did not have enough money to pay rent, the young boy, his siblings and his parents lived with friends or relatives. They moved every time his father drank too much and exaggerated with the beatings. However, the couple always ended up moving back in with each other.

Sidnei does not know how to explain exactly what happened, but his mother died. He suspects that it was due to a medical mistake that occurred after she underwent stomach surgery. She was being treated for cancer, when she went into cardiac arrest, which was caused by one of the medicines that she was given during a routine examination. And if the abuse, which was ever present, wasn’t already unbearable enough, this would be a hint of what was to come in the boy’s life.

The starting point

Eight months after his mother died, the beatings still continued. That night, his father began hitting Sidnei and his brothers. But something different happened. His father caused the young boy’s retina to move. First the first time Sidnei retaliated. Still woozy from the alcohol, his father grabbed a gun and pointed it at the boy’s head. He threatened to kill him and didn’t give him any alternative, other than leaving home.

His older sister moved in with her boyfriend. His two younger brothers remained with their father, but Sidnei left. He began living on the street, homeless. Some time later, his sister’s boyfriend found him and invited him to live with them. But the situation was complicated. Sidnei had no job or training. Because he had always lived with people, who most of the time were not part of his family, it was difficult for him to adapt to certain people and situations.

Road to hell

Time passed and the young man returned to the streets. At age 16, he began to see the world in a different light. He became a waiter. He worked for a restaurant in downtown Curitiba. During Carnival, he was introduced to prostitution and tried drugs: marijuana and cocaine. The momentary numbness eluded him with short-lived pleasures.

He felt empty. Without the proper guidance, he became the perfect vehicle for worldly ills. The restaurant where he worked closed. Sidnei and a friend began working as valet attendants for a nightclub. Because he had long black hair, like his mother, has earned the nickname “Indian”.

The young man soon began working at a nightclub. He got tattoos all over his body. His involvement with the drug trade came fast and easy. Sidnei met a lot of girls and, besides selling drugs, also became a pimp. He was feared by many. He fought every night and became addicted to cocaine. Like his father, he drank heavily. He frantically sought for something, but he did not know what it was. “Since God did not want me, the devil does,” he thought.

He joined a biker gang and rode with them to Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, causing riots along the way. An extreme lifestyle, surrounded by drugs, sex and fights. Sidnei reveals that the different women he slept with had several abortions.

A sister of a change

Sidnei started to show signs of exhaustion. For a while, he lived with a prostitute, who warned him to quit that lifestyle. Today, he knows that God used her to try to change his life. Their relationship did not last very long, but her suggestion remained in his mind: change.

One day he decided to visit the Universal Church, even though he had certain before prejudices against the institution and its leader. Sidnei went in shorts, flip-flops, a T-shirt that showed off his tattoos and his hair loose. Deep down, he was curious to find out how they would treat him and what he was going to see there. He thought that his appearance would scare people, but he was well received.

Being treated well was a good experience, but Sidnei’s biggest surprise was to come face to face with his younger sister, Cristina. She was an assistant and encouraged her brother to attend the meetings at his local Universal Church.

Gradually, the young man’s life began changing. He decided to quit his job at the nightclub. He started loading boxes at the municipal market. He looked to come to terms with is father, who went to rehab and lived with him for a while. He acknowledges that it was difficult to forgive his father, but it was necessary in order to move on with his life.

One more tragedy

Sidnei had lost touch with his younger brother. Without a proper outlook on life, the youngest of the family followed in the same footsteps as his brother and became involved with drugs. Without realizing it, Sidnei had become an example for his brother. A bad example. Their father no longer had control over Cristiano, and the tragedy was announced.

After experiencing some health problems, the young man was admitted to a hospital in the city of Sao Jose dos Pinhais (Brazil). Soon after he was released from there, the family received the news about Cristiano’s death. Sidnei had the difficult task of recognizing the body, which was found in a ditch. The cause of death was respiratory failure. Sidnei had to change his brother’s clothes and put him in the coffin. His father and sisters were heartbroken.

Decisions

He was truly tired of suffering. At his brother’s funeral, he decided to surrender his life to God. He was no longer a young boy. He needed to shape up. He diligently attended the VYG meetings. He stayed and received the support and attention he needed while making the most important decision of his life.

His friends did not understand what was happening in his life and questioned him about it. As a sign of change, he cut his hair, which was treasured by his deceased mother. It took almost three years for him to be raised as an assistant, but he believes things happened the way they should.

Sidnei followed the advice of a pastor and married an assistant he met at Church. He took courses and excelled, until one day, the late Bishop Renato Maduro called the couple over to talk. Sidnei was invited to be a pastor.

Today, at age 38, Pastor Sidnei Castelhano is responsible for the evangelistic work in the region of Guaira, a city in Parana, on the border of Brazil and Paraguay. He and his wife, Miriam, 35, have been married for over a decade and are very happy. A definite change took place in his life. He does not exchange his reality for the illusions of this world, addictions and suffering he experienced.