“Nothing to Lose” biography launched in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, prison

Inmates at the Inspector José Drummond Prison in Belo Horizonte attended the launch of *Nothing to Lose* on Tuesday the 13th. The biography is the first of three volumes about the life of Bishop Edir Macedo, leader and founder of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. It was co-authored by Douglas Tavolaro, vice-president of journalism at Brazil’s Record TV, and is described in the source as the first book to be mass distributed within Brazil’s prison system.

Bishop Mauro Celso, who has worked with inmates in Minas for six years, said the book includes “struggles and victories of Edir Macedo that have never been told before, with a detailed account of the days he spent in prison.” He said inmates “were looking forward to the book because they are familiar with our work and believe in Edir Macedo,” and that reading it would give them “positive things to think about” and “more faith.”

When the outreach team arrived, inmates were already gathered in the courtyard of ward 3 and often applauded Celso’s remarks. Books were handed out during the event. Warlley Vilario, 29, who was sentenced for blowing up ATM machines in Belo Horizonte, said, “I believe I’ll find wisdom and faith through the words of Edir Macedo.” Robson dos Santos, 26, said he had written to Celso to ask whether the book would reach the prison, and that he had turned himself in to police after coming to understand how wrong he had been. “The word of faith helps us. It shows us that there’s a second chance for everyone,” he said.

Other detainees spoke about the church’s presence in the prison. João Silva, who has been incarcerated for two and a half years for violent criminal acts, said the church’s work had made the men “much calmer” despite “a lot of irritation and anger.” Jose da Silva, 48, who is serving 70 years, said he had not been interested in the church before his imprisonment and that meeting Celso had changed his life. Douglas da Silva Rodrigues, 28, who has served three of the 17 years he was given for drug trafficking, said he had felt desperate on arrival but now had a purpose.

Government officials attended and thanked the church. Andre Mourão, superintendent of Prison Security, said the church’s work was crucial to reforming inmates and that the book was “a practical way to prove that change is possible.” He said that through this work “prisoners become less violent” and that some inmates “give their lives to God.” The prison, which holds 1,640 inmates in 16 wards, was described by its general director, Tadeu Ribeiro, as a place where the church’s work also reaches prison guards and inmates’ families. Celso said the distribution of 400 copies in the prison is the first in Minas and will be repeated across the state. He also said that in six years of work, 2,800 inmates had been baptized in water, a step he said showed “that we are on the right track” (Matthew 25:35).

The source reports that the book has had strong sales. It says that close to a month after its release, *Nothing to Lose* became the top-selling book of 2012 in Brazil and led the Brazilian bestseller lists for six consecutive weeks. According to PublishNews, a tracker of the publishing market, 74,302 copies had been sold since the launch. The source also states that the book outsold *Steve Jobs – The Biography*, which had sold 55,130 copies that year.

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