Speciose grew up believing that whenever she felt sick, she had been bewitched or poisoned. She believed that there was no natural sickness that needed to be treated by a medical doctor.

Since she was a young girl, she went either to a traditional healer or to a witchdoctor. So her house would be full of ornaments of protection from the witchdoctor. Some would be under her bed, others she would put wear around her neck or wrists.

One day she woke up in excruciating pain – her stomach became so swollen she appeared pregnant. This time she was so worried that she rushed to a medical doctor. He did a check-up and could not find anything wrong with her. She tried the traditional medication (herbs and seeds) but her condition didn’t improve.

She then resorted to the witchdoctor yet again. His diagnosis was that someone had bewitched her, and the only way to remove the spell and heal her was to bring him a massive sum of money. When she heard that, she was dismayed. She realized that it would bankrupt the family.

She was willing to sell the 2 cows and 3 goats her family owned but was stopped by her husband who was worried about their family survival afterwards. For two weeks, her symptoms persisted. She was so ill she couldn’t even get out of bed. She heard about an outreach that was happening nearby.

She gathered the little strength she had and attended it, hoping to get healed. She heard the preacher talking about people who needed healing and deliverance from demon possession. Immediately, something clicked in her body and she was delivered and healed. She rushed in front and gave her life to Christ.

The outreach was organized by United Christians for Change and Development (UCCD). It brought many people from around the area, and that day Speciose was among 156 people who gave their lives to Christ.