At the age of 25, Wallace Hora is part of the Victory Youth Group of the Universal Church and declares himself a happy person because he leads an honorable life, now that he has been reintegrated into society.

Abandoned by his mother as a child, Wallace had all of his requests met by his father, who thought giving meant doing the best for his son. At the age of 14, he experimented with cigarettes, and then he started using marijuana, cocaine and crack. As if using it was not enough, Wallace started selling drugs and committing burglaries to support his habit.

After being arrested five times, the young man spared no effort to get what he wanted. During one of the robberies, completely under the influence of drugs, he assaulted a young woman, who returned to the place of the crime with a policeman, after her belongings were stolen. Noticing all the commotion, Wallace drew his gun and shot towards the agent, but none of the bullets came out of the gun. Immediately, the policeman retaliated the attack with five shots, but none hit the young man.

To Hora’s father, his son was becoming a lost cause and because of all this, he considered him the worst disappointment of his life. He was so desperate that, in the attempt to protect the firstborn, Jose Machado went as far as pointing a gun at Wallace and threatening to kill him before the police did. “My father lost his sense of living because of me. He thought there was no hope for me,” he recalls.

But none of this compelled ​​the young man to stop living a life of marginality. Every time that he argued with his father, he left his house and, overcome with anger, used more drugs.

When he was arrested for the fifth time, Wallace began to think about his actions. He had his photo was spread throughout the local news as a dangerous drug dealer. Despite having been arrested along with two other young men, he was considered the owner of the seized narcotics because he had been previously arrested. He was humiliated by the reporters, who accused him of being a drug lord. “In their version (the TV program), I was the most dangerous drug dealer. He mocked and humiliated me a lot. Nevertheless, a miracle happened and I was released 15 days later. God already had a plan for me,” he said.

While in prison, he happened to listen to the UCKG’s radio program for convicts and decided to write to the bishop who was doing ​​the program. He asked his father to take the letter, but he refused, stating that he disliked churches. So, as soon as the young man was released form jail, he went to Church and decided to get baptized, where he was introduced to the Victory Youth Group.

“I found a family here. They treated me with lots of love and kindness. I felt appreciated. The assistants and the pastors treated me like a son.
Today I hate, I’m terrified of any kind of drug, and I’m here to help others overcome an addiction,” said Wallace Hora, who is currently the State Program Coordinator of the VYG’s The Strongest Dose in Bahia.

This is the result of the work that has revolutionized the youth in Bahia-Brazil. We believe that everyone should have a chance to overcome. We believe in you.