“My nightmare began around the age of 12. I was living in Zimbabwe with my family when one of my older sisters had a sudden illness, a simple cold
that swiftly transformed into Pneumonia, claiming her life. Disaster struck again when my younger sister was taken by Measles, a highly contagious disease that snatched her away in a matter of weeks. The pain of losing loved ones seemed endless. It was like my family was marked by tragedy. One relative after another would develop sudden and inexplicable conditions such as liver problems, heart attacks and unusual swellings.
“The string of misfortunes worsened with our financial struggles. My parents worked hard, but we still wouldn’t have enough. My siblings and I would work in the fields to pay off the boarding school fees. It was unbearable to see all the other kids going home and we would have to work. School was meant to be a place of learning, but instead it became a place of heartache as periodically I would receive news of more family members dying from what I was now convinced was a curse.
“The lack of lights in our remote Zimbabwean village accentuated my fear. I believed that if I ventured out at night I might not come back alive. It seemed that death was lurking around every corner waiting to strike. It was like I had a death sentence hanging over my head. I couldn’t help but think that I’d be next.
“When my father died of Cancer that hit me extremely hard as I was a daddy’s girl. It was heart-wrenching. I could barely articulate how I felt. I was bombarded by the thoughts:
Why don’t you kill yourself? You will die anyway’ which made me want to give up on life all together, but I didn’t have the courage to go through with it. I didn’t want to live in fear anymore, I felt I had to do something about this ‘death curse’. But what?
“In desperation I turned to witchdoctors. The long journey to meet them didn’t matter to me as long as
their rituals and ceremonies fulfilled their promise of protection. For years, I clung to these practices hoping that it would break the steak of bad luck but it didn’t. I felt hopeless.
“One day on my way home, I saw a leaflet on the ground with the words: ‘Stop Suffering.’ It immediately caught my attention. It resonated with me so much that I searched for the Universal Church right away. I actually walked past the building five times and just when I was about to give up I saw the sign with the dove.
“Walking into the church, the service had already started, so I sat at the back. I left without speaking to anyone. However, the first thing I noticed was that I felt different – I wasn’t as afraid as before. This change made me return the following day and every day after!
“For two months, I would come, sit at the back and leave straight away. I felt good in the church but I was still the same outside of it. Something the pastor said in one of the services struck a chord and prompted me to finally decide to stop wasting time and do something about my situation”. He said: “You need to be serious with God, otherwise you are wasting your time.
“Instead of wishing and willing for things to change, I plucked up the courage to stop living in fear. I didn’t realise how much the choices I made in life were affected by the curse. It was always at the back of my mind whenever I went to do or try anything new in life.
“I threw myself into the Chain of Prayer, (a series of prayers made on a weekly basis without interruption focused on tackling a specific problem) on Fridays for deliverance. I wanted God to set me free from this negativity. I refused to let the fear of the curse define my life anymore.
“Every week that I attended, I felt confident about myself, my life and my new-found faith. I felt strong inside, like I could achieve anything!
With newfound hope, I embraced life in the UK. It took time for me to settle a d establish myself but I did it! If I hadn’t come to the Universal Church when I did, I don’t think I would have ever found the courage to live my life. Up until then, I was a slave to fear and merely surviving.
“Today I’m happily married to my husband, Araya. We met at the Universal Church and have been together for 16 years now. I’m blessed with a
beautiful daughter, a loving home and happy in my career.
“Breaking free from the curse was not just a personal victory. It showed me that even in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges, through faith I could re-write my story.
“To me, my mother who is now 86 and my uncle who is 100 years old, stand as living testimonies to me that the curse is broken. I have truly stopped suffering and it is a pleasure to be a beacon of hope for others, proving that there is a way out even in the bleakest moments of life.”
Jestina Yohannes
