Before Mariamu John gave her life to Jesus, she hated Christ and Christianity. “My life was dedicated to witchcraft and in obeying whatever the witch doctors told me,” she says. A few years ago, she woke up one morning to discover she was losing hair on her head. Her first reaction was to go to a witch doctor for answers. The first one didn’t help so she continued to other witch doctors to try other cures.

“In the process of searching for answers, my husband and I spent all our wealth. My health was deteriorating and my husband almost left me because he believed my life was cursed,” Mariamu says.

Last year, Mariamu heard about a church planter named James Mashuari who had established a community of faith in her village. Through Multiplication Network Ministries’ church planter training program, James learned how to share the gospel with the people in the community and he prayed with them. When Mariamu learned he prayed for those who were sick, she went to him and he prayed for her.

Mariamu continued to learn more about God through James and the church he had planted. “I gave my life to Jesus and started living for Him,” Mariamu shares. “A few weeks later, I started noticing a change—my hair was coming back!” This outward sign was evidence of inner growth and change. “God was restoring my health again and in the process was freeing me from all the bondage of witchcraft.”

James continues to disciple Mariamu and others in her village. She is one example of how God uses His Church to tell about God’s transforming power. With gratitude, Mariamu shares, “God has restored my family and given us a new hope and a purpose in life.”