Trino

“I took the hands that beat my brother to death 17 times and I prayed over them — asking God to change the identity of those hands forever.”

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What they struggled with

Drug addiction Alcohol addiction Bereavement / grief Anger Unforgiveness Shame

False refuges

Alcohol Drugs Sexual behaviour

What this story reveals about God

Relentless pursuit Patience Restorer Healer Father's heart Forgiver

Religious background

Protestant Christian

Main testimony theme

Deepening Faith

How they came to faith

Relational influence Gradual journey

Content advisory

Before you watch

This testimony contains the graphic details of a brutal murder and the decades-long journey of a man who chose to forgive the killer face-to-face. What makes it extraordinary is not the wound but what Trino did with it — and the unexpected healing he discovered he had needed all along.

What this story teaches

People can carry devastating pain for decades without knowing it — functioning on the outside while broken inside. God's healing often requires an act of obedience that feels like it is for someone else but turns out to be for us.

How God moved

Go Deeper

Jesus wants to be your best friend. Jesus wants to love on you. Jesus wants to give you the best life that you could ever have. And I pray that you would consider coming to the feet of Jesus and exploring and trying everything else that maybe has failed in your life. Try serving God and giving your life to him because I guarantee you that he will blow your mind and he will do things in your life that will go beyond and above your expectations. For anybody that's watching this video and is really struggling with alcoholism or drug use and you're numbing pain, God wants to heal you of your pain. And once you're healed and there is no more pain, then there's no need to numb the pain. I just encourage you to let the Lord heal you of your pain. Let the Lord come and just bring a place of wholeness that God wants for you in your life. God wants you to live your best life and I find it's only in Christ that we can really do that.

People can carry devastating pain for decades without knowing it — functioning on the outside while broken inside. God's healing often requires an act of obedience that feels like it is for someone else but turns out to be for us.

What you can take from this

If you are carrying grief or anger you have never fully processed, write one honest letter this week — to God, to yourself, or to the person who hurt you — and let what comes out surprise you.

Shame spiral

After his brother's murder, Trino suppressed all pain: 'I took all this pain and I tucked it so deep in my heart that I learned to function with a hurting heart.' He didn't know he needed healing and carried this suppressed grief for nearly 30 years.

Core lie

Anger led Trino to want to hold an entire race accountable for the actions of one man: 'That's where my anger had taken me.' He even approached a Black man while sharing the gospel and identified the man's race — recognizing afterward 'this is not your power, this is the state of my brokenness.'

Progressive entrapment

Grief over his brother's murder led Trino from alcohol to marijuana to crystal meth: 'I found myself in so much pain that I was just trying to numb this pain — and none of that was effective.'

1

I went to church and for the first time I went to the altar before the Lord and I found myself once again in a place of repentance, in a place of asking God for his forgiveness.

2

I wanted him to know that I forgive him. I wrote this letter. My message was: God loves him, if he carried shame and guilt I wanted him to be free of that, and I forgive him.

3

I wanted to take this man's hands — those instruments that were used to cause so much pain — and I wanted to pray with him and I asked the Lord: change the identity of these hands.

4

I decided I'm going to channel this forgiveness to the people that he loves. I reached out to his two sons in prison. I introduced myself as their father's friend and sent them a picture of him and myself together.

1 Timothy 4:12

Resonated with Trino's early years of faithful Christian living from age 12-18 — being an example in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.

Isaiah 61:1–3

Defines Trino's prison ministry calling — beauty for ashes, freedom for captives, comfort for mourners — directly mapping to his work with offenders.

Hebrews 13:3

Grounds Trino's empathy for prisoners — remember those in prison as if you were there with them.

Colossians 3:12

Guides Trino's posture entering prisons — clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, gentleness, patience, and love.

Matthew 18

The parable of the unmerciful servant — cited in Trino's first letter to Melvin as the theological basis for extending forgiveness.

Psalms 139:14

Fearfully and wonderfully made — cited to affirm the image of God in prisoners who struggle to see their own worth.

Trino explicitly applies Isaiah 61 to his prison ministry — placing crowns on men who have done horrific things, exchanging mourning for gladness.

Trino draws the parallel directly — Moses killed a man yet delivered the commandment 'thou shalt not murder'; God qualifies the unqualified.

Trino cites Barabbas explicitly to prisoners — Jesus took the place of a murderer first, demonstrating his love for those inside prisons.

Trino used this parable in his first letter to Melvin and in his closing prayer as the theological engine of his forgiveness journey.

After the divine rebuke, Trino returned to the altar in repentance — a prodigal who had never fully left but had wandered into grief-driven sin.

Trino's Christian Walk

Prayer

The power of Prayer — Unnamed messenger sent by God the morning after Trino threatened to leave the church stood in the gap for Trino.

The messenger arrived the morning after Trino's private conversation with God in which he threatened to leave the church. Without knowing about that conversation, this person spoke lovingly but harshly — a rebuke that drove Trino to the altar the following Sunday. Later, a former youth offender who had served 24 years in prison helped Trino locate his brother's killer and connected him with California's Office of Victim Services, making the forgiveness journey possible.

Is today your day?

Yes — I'm Ready

Absolutely, He will.

You don't have to figure everything out right now.

You don't need to have all the answers.

If something stirred in your heart while you were watching or reading — that's not nothing.

That is the Holy Spirit gently knocking on the door of your heart.

Stay right here. There's no rush. The Spirit doesn't pressure or hurry.

Watch another video. Read a little more. Take your time.

When you're ready — even if “ready” just means a little curious — Jesus is ready to meet you.

You don't have to clean up your life first.

You don't have to pass any test.

You only need to say a simple “yes” to Him.

He will take care of the rest.

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

Luke 11:9

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