When Bruno first learned that Angel was pregnant with their son, Peyton, he felt the weight of fatherhood immediately. “I knew right then it was gonna be a son,” he recalls. But the excitement was quickly overshadowed by anxiety. Bruno carried the burden of not being able to provide for his family the way he longed to.
What began with pills soon spiraled into a battle with addiction. His choices led to separation from his family, limited time with Peyton, and even those weekends often lost to sickness. “Dad couldn’t do nothing,” he admits, remembering days when addiction left him unable to even get off the couch. Eventually, the spiral landed him in prison. Physically depleted, emotionally empty, and spiritually lost, Bruno describes himself then as “the walking dead.”
But even in the darkest moment, something shifted. “I cried out to the Lord,” Bruno says. With the Bible in hand, a transformation began. Through God’s Word and the community at Men of Valor, Bruno discovered not only who God is, but also the truth and beauty of His nature.
Today, Bruno’s life is a story of restoration. Peyton is now 24, and Bruno is grateful for the chance to step into his life every day as the father he always wanted to be. The transformation doesn’t stop there—God also restored Bruno’s relationship with Peyton’s mother. “Here we are about to be married. That was unheard of,” he shares with a smile.
Bruno doesn’t shy away from his past. Instead, he boldly declares the source of his transformation: “I’m not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God—it’s His love in action that transformed me in every way.”
