It all started when I was a teenager. My father put a curse on my mother by saying that she didn’t know how to raise us, and that I would become a prostitute and my brother would become a thief. At the time, I was 12 and my brother was 13. When I was 15 and my brother was 16, the curse that my father put on us was fulfilled in our lives. I began working as a prostitute and my brother started stealing. He was arrested when he was only 17 years old.

I went to parties in the slums and became addicted to marijuana, and especially to alcohol. I found myself in deplorable situations because of drugs. I ran away from home, fought with my mother; it was a living hell. And as time passed, I delved deeper into the world of prostitution. Sometimes I would even get a formal job, but the pay was so little that I would end up going back to prostitution. Sometimes, I felt like leaving that lifestyle, but it was stronger than me. The worst thing is for someone to lay down with a man for money, instead of love.

My relationships outside of prostitution were true failures. When I liked someone, they wouldn’t like me and vice versa. And that was my life. I drank heavily, used drugs and was a sad, empty person – without an outlook on life. Until I had a relationship with a person, who I thought would finally change my life. Instead, it only got worse, because I was still the same sad and empty person. I hit rock bottom when this person was arrested. That’s when I found myself in utter despair and almost fell into depression. Then, I received an invitation to go to Church. In the beginning I did not accept the invitation because I had done many bad things and didn’t plan on stopping. Until one day, I was so sad that I decided to accept the invitation.

When I arrived, I attended the meeting and, from that moment on, I made ​​a vow with God and said if He really existed, He would remove that person from prison; and I would go to Church every Sunday. He was released from jail that same week and I had to honor my word and go to Church every Sunday. However, I left Church and went straight to the bar to drink. Then, one Sunday, I decided to truly place my life in the hands of the Lord Jesus. Since then, everything has changed. I was baptized in water, I tried to bring my ex-boyfriend to Church, but during a prayer, God said to me that it would be easier for this person to get me out of Church than it was for him to convert. I decided to listen to the voice of God and end that relationship, because I understood that God had something greater for me.

My life was entirely transformed. I received the Holy Spirit, I have peace within and a joy that I never found in the world. I was delivered from the spirit of prostitution, drugs and alcoholism. Today I am part of the Victory Youth Group in Del Castilho, and I have the opportunity to help people that are suffering like I suffered. Recently, I was blessed by God and raised as an assistant, receiving one more weapon to help destroy the works of the devil.

Ana Paula