For over fifty years, Yesaya was notorious as an aggressive and ruthless Witchdoctor in the Kabanda hills. With expertise in dark magic and sorcery, his reputation had spread far beyond his hometown to other parts of the nation.

When he was 15-years-old, he inherited the powers and charms of sorcery from his mother. With these abilities, he continued their family tradition of practising witchcraft and was highly sought after by people in the Congo and Tanzania. They paid handsomely for his services, promising riches through dark magic and healing from curses or spells. Unfortunately, this came at a great cost to him – he never knew inner peace.

Feared and hated by everyone in his village, Yesaya lived a miserable life. Even his wife, Bujenie, despised him, numbing herself with heavy drinking, whilst Yesaya had multiple mistresses who hoped to benefit from his wealth.

In collaboration with GLO Partner Harvest Initiatives, the local Church held a two-week evangelism outreach, but they knew they faced the challenge of approaching Yesaya’s house. “When Pastor Richard suggested that we visit Yesaya, we were all worried, but we refused to let fear control us,” recounted Pastor Nichodem. Their fear was amplified by a local story in which someone had once tried to share the gospel with Yesaya, but Yesaya had cast a spell which had killed them. “When I joined the church, I was warned about Yesaya, and advised never to approach his house and avoid interacting with him at all costs. If I ever happened to cross paths with him on the street, I should turn around and walk away.” So Pastor Richard and his team fasted for three days to gather the courage to approach Yesaya.

Initially outraged when he saw the preachers, Yesaya allowed them to speak. Despite his past anger towards Jesus and the Church, Yesaya felt increasingly peaceful as the conversation with the preachers progressed.

“I’d heard about the power of Jesus, but I was also confident of my magic powers. Despite having all that I needed materially, I never felt peace in my heart. Every night, I struggled against relentless demonic attacks. I had to perform nightly rituals that required isolation from even my wife. In a flash of light, I felt like a heavy weight lifted out of me, and I immediately hurried into the house to take all the charms and sorcery accessories I had been using, so that we could burn them,” recounted Yesaya. It took three days to destroy everything in a bonfire.

Yesaya has spent the last year committed to evangelising lost souls, particularly trying to seek out those who had been his customers of witchcraft. Yesaya now speaks of the power to bring healing and reconciliation within his village. He is a respected member of the community, and his marriage is transformed. Whereas previously they were at loggerheads constantly, now they are affectionate and playful. “We live peacefully with each other. There are no more fights or quarrels; whenever we face a problem, we discuss it and pray about it together. His transformation has inspired me and strengthened our marriage,” says Bujenie.

Every year, Harvest Iniatitives run a two-week outreach campaign, and we always get amazing stories like this! Sign up for our emails to make sure you don’t miss out! Or check out some other stories from the last outreach: