The Story of Suely Paula

By Suely Paula, São Paolo Church of Christ

My name is Suely Paula, I'm 78 years old and I was born in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

One month into my marriage and already pregnant at the age of 19, my husband Edgar and I decided to move to the city of São Paulo in search of better housing and working conditions. It was in São Paulo that my three daughters Elizabeth, Edilene and Helenir, and my son, Ícaro, were born.

Those years were very difficult; we couldn't even afford to pay the rent for a place to live in.  Little by little, however, things started to improve financially. On the other hand, my marriage was falling apart. My husband was always involved with women and drinking and I didn't know how to either manage my household or raise my children. Fights and disagreements were constant in our lives.

In the midst of all this, God called me to know Him. In 1991, some Christian girls, about my daughter's age, helped me to abandon a life of laziness, outbursts of anger and other sins that kept me away from God and my children.

After being baptized, I realized that my story had been completely rewritten. God, through the Bible, began to fill my heart with wisdom and my words and actions with meekness. Eventually my daughters Edilene and Helenir got married and Elisabeth, who is still single, became a Christian.

My marriage still had many problems. My husband had even found another house in order to live with another woman. In spite of all this, I, as a Christian woman, did not want to consider the possibility of a divorce.

My struggles didn't stop there: my daughter Elisabeth left the church and five years ago, at the age of 50, my daughter Edilene unexpectedly passed away. Even going through all this pain, I never gave up hope that salvation would reach my family. During all those 34 years as a Christian, I prayed every day for this to happen.

God has his own ways

Although the brothers in the church had tried many times to study the Bible with my husband, he always resisted. In 2018, he started to get seriously sick. My heart was distressed with the fear that he could die without salvation, but God was merciful. Some Christian brothers studied the Bible with him and six months later, he decided to be baptized, to the glory of our heavenly Father. Seven months after he had been baptized, he passed away.

New directions and new dreams

As I write these words, I can say that even though I miss my husband, with whom I lived for 58 years, I feel so grateful to God for having granted him salvation. I know that we will meet in eternity.

I am resuming my activities in the Worship Ministry offering my gift of singing to the service of God. My desire is to have the heart of Anna the Prophetess, who was always praising God. I also dream about and work tirelessly for the salvation of my family and all those that God puts in my path.

Psalm 18:1-3

I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.