For 40 years, smoking was part of 65-year-old Osvaldo Henrique da Costa’s life. Four decades of this habits brought him constant tiredness, a cough and difficulty breathing. The vice chained and anguished him.

Until one day he met a friend in his bar who told him: “Do you want to quit smoking? I’m attending a course and I’ve already stopped smoking.” Excited with the achievement, he did not think twice and attended the “How to quit smoking” course at an Adventist home in Bandeirinhas neighborhood, in Betin, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Costa attended the presentations and watched the videos about the topic. “That day, I asked God to free me from cigars. God heard my prayer and I never smoked again. I invited another friend, and he went as well. We managed not to smoke again since that day,” Costa says.

Years passed and the Adventist group in Bandeirinhas grew. There was a need for a bigger place to gather. It was then that they found a place to rent, right next to the bar. Both the bar and the new place for the Church were owned, coincidentally, by Costa. The members rented the space and began a congregation with weekly meetings. Despite being held next to his bar,  the Costa did not frequent the worship services. 

Only a miracle

In early 2019, Costa discovered he had an intense hemorrhage, caused by an ulcer. The specialist told him only a miracle would cure him. “My ulcer burst. I went to do some tests, and the doctor told me that I had cardiac arrhythmia and that I couldn’t take the heart medicine, because of the hemorrhage. He told me I had to be lucky,” he remembers.

Meanwhile, during the same period, when he discovered the hemorrhage, the Adventist Church was holding the Holy Week of Evangelism in the neighborhood’s park.  The program, that takes place every year, remembers Jesus’ sacrifice in the cross to forgive humanity’s sins.

Costa was invited. He wanted to go, and he let his wife, Luciene Felipe Rafael Costa, know. “I will go to that program and I know that through the faith in God, I will be cured,” he told her.

Answered prayer

“My husband prayed to God and promised that if he was cured from his disease, he would serve Him. 19 years ago I frequented another religious denomination, but as his wife, I decided to go with him. And through faith in God, he was cured,” Luciene said.

Osvaldo and his wife completed the Bible studies and in September 2019 they decided to close the bar, and the following month were baptized. “I was selling alcohol to people. That wasn’t good. I understood God’s calling. I decided to close the bar, and today the church is bigger, it has more space for the children during Sabbath School time,” he says, proudly.

This articlewas originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site