The Man in the Mirror
by Warren L. Maye
It was an overcast afternoon last spring in Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood. Near a row of liquor stores, the air was heavy with the scent of gin and malt. Paschoal Trentini stood there, 30 days into a new life. Looking at those storefronts, for the first time in years, he felt nothing. No pull to step inside. He just walked right by.
A year earlier, Paschoal was putting in long shifts at a tuna-packing plant, using each paycheck to feed a yearslong drinking habit and to ward off homelessness. One night, so drunk he could barely stand, he stared at himself in a bathroom mirror. “I was bones. I was just skin and bones. When I looked at that image, my teeth messed up, I prayed out loud: ‘Oh my God, if there’s a God, please help me!’”
Remarkably, the Lord answered quickly.
That same day, a co-worker mentioned The Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Center (ARC), a place Paschoal had barely heard of. Then, just days later, he was laid off from the plant. Feeling lost and without a place to go, he heeded the advice. He followed the signs to a low-slung brick building on Newark’s streets and walked in.
“They didn’t judge me,” he says simply. “They just said, ‘Come on in.’”
Studying the Bible
Paschoal spent six months at the ARC. He lived in dorm-style quarters, worked in the thrift store, and attended daily Bible study, despite his skepticism about religion. His only connection to faith were the two Bibles his mother had sent from Brazil: The New International Version and The New Living Translation. He read verses, paragraphs, chapters. Many of them didn’t make sense at first. But he kept on reading.
Then, about three weeks in, he had an amazingly vivid dream. In it, Major Kathleen Calvo, one of his mentors at the Ironbound Corps, stood before him with a choir of angels surrounding them. To Paschoal, it felt more than real. It felt surreal.
“Like God was right there,” Paschoal remembers. “To me, the angels looked like kids singing. This kid came to me and said, ‘Paschoal, why did you take so long? But I’m glad that you are here now.’ She patted me, and I woke up.”
That dream planted in him a seed of eternal hope. He called his mom and told her about it.
“Who is this Major Calvo?” she asked.
When he told her Calvo conducted the worship singers and band at the corps, his mom replied, “Those kids you saw in choir are the angels who help her.” That idea made him feel wonderful.
ARC graduation day arrived, and Paschoal’s life took two unexpected turns. First, he joined the Salvation Army corps choir, eventually becoming corps sergeant major — the volunteer responsible for order and ceremony at Sunday services. “He also taught adult Sunday school,” remembers Calvo. “His lessons always carried a recovery theme. He would say, ‘We are all in recovery from something!’ The lessons were always interesting.”
Second, he launched a small construction business. Major Joaquin Calvo, impressed by Paschoal’s knack for repairs while restoring the church building, encouraged him: “Get your own tools. You can do this for a living.”
Tools for life
Paschoal was hesitant at first but decided to trust his mentors and trust God. He bought a toolbox, learned local building codes, and began bidding on jobs. Many came from the Army itself: fixing up storefronts, renovating kitchens, even restoring stained glasswindows. Today, his company, Paschoal Trentini’s Maintenance & Construction, counts The Salvation Army as its largest client.
“He’s dependable, honest, and he keeps every promise,” says Major Joaquin Calvo.
Today, he continues reading his Bible, The New Living Translation. Sober, spiritually grounded, and running his own enterprise, he credits Captains Darell Houseton, Moises Ramirez, and Major Joaquin Calvo among others for teaching him the Word of God, perseverance, and faith for his transformation.
At 42, Paschoal still calls his mother in Brazil every Sunday. He plans to visit her soon, ready to show how far he’s come: from the warehouse floor to running his own business, from spiritual emptiness to standing at the pulpit and serving The Salvation Army as acorps sergeant major.
His advice for anyone stuck where he once was? “Seek help. Follow what they tell you. And believe that God can do more than you ever imagined.”
