My name is Rosana Vaz Wolters, I am 44 years old and this is my story:

When I was 3 years old, my mother left my father, who was an alcoholic and wasn’t around much to help out with the household expenses. She struggled to raise three children on her own. Despite financial hardships, I have pretty good childhood memories.

My mother remarried when I was 7. Her new husband was very irritable and aggressive. There was constant fighting in the house because any little thing would set him off. I couldn’t stand living in that hostile atmosphere, so I always found a way to sleep over at a friend’s house and try to escape reality.

During my early teens, I was strictly anti drugs, cigarettes and alcohol. But over time, I began giving into peer pressure, and when I realized it I was already drinking and smoking cigarettes and marijuana.

After a serious argument with my stepfather, I decided not to go back home. So I went to live with someone until I could afford my own place.

At that time, my life was heading towards disaster. Because I didn’t want to remember the past, I decided to wonder about my future. As a result, I went to a fortuneteller. During the reading, she described my past in detail. I was very impressed because I had never seen this woman before. Later on I learned that I was actually having a consultation with an unclean spirit, which was why she knew everything about me. The one who caused all the destruction in my past was right there, speaking to me through this woman. And so I decided to resign from a promising job in Brazil and moved to Spain and then to London, England.

In Europe, it is so easy to come into contact with different cultures and religions. Soon, I was deep into religious philosophies that preached about karma and reincarnation. I was greatly mistaken because the Word of God teaches us that: “… Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27)

I think one of the biggest mistakes taught by certain philosophies is the belief that only God and heaven exist and that hell and the devil are fictitious fairytales, and if we believe only in the existence of God and heaven, we don’t feel the need for salvation. “Salvation from what?” I would wonder when someone told me that I was lost and in need of salvation. And yet, the Bible describes hell in detail and warns us against the father of lies and the enemy of our souls.

In London, I experimented with drugs such as hashish and LSD, as well as different types of marijuana. In time, I was smoking every day and spent everything I earned on drugs, shows, alcohol and cigarettes.

Looking for a way to save some money, I moved to Australia. There, I experimented with ecstasy and cocaine. I didn’t have much of a relationship with my family because talking to them would remind me of what I tried so hard to forget.

During my 3 year, 5 month stay in Australia, I met Junior Marvin, the lead singer of a reggae band called The Wailers – a band that toured with Bob Marley for 14 years (I mention his name here with his permission).

The bright lights of the stage and the possibility of having any kind of fame took hold of me. In the summer of 1995, I travelled with him all across Europe. I loved the interaction with the fans, the interviews and all the attention they received. Little did I know that all those things were, and are, illusions.

That same year, I married Junior and got pregnant. I remember thinking: “What am I going to do now that I have to stop using drugs?” I had an enormous fear of facing reality without any type of anaesthesia to dull my pain.

Six months after my daughter’s birth, I moved back to Brazil to be near my family in Goiania. My mother had already converted but my pride wouldn’t let me go near her house. Although I was a follower of philosophies that preached about inner peace, forgiveness, tranquillity and harmony, all I had to do was set my eyes on my stepfather and I would become enraged. He, in turn, received me with open arms and was saddened by the fact that I wouldn’t allow him to stay near my daughter. This is how I came to the conclusion that the religious philosophies I read so much about were worthless. I was still a slave to the hatred, bitterness, resentment and pride.

My brother and his mother-in-law were the ones who showed me the way to the Universal Church. I arrived without a place to live, jobless, without a car, with a 9 month old daughter to raise, a failed marriage, filled with hurt, anger, suffering from a stomach ulcer, panic attacks, and addicted to marijuana, cigarettes and alcohol.

The first meeting I attended was for deliverance, with the then pastor and now bishop, Marcus Silva. Although I didn’t understand much of what was happening, I immediately noticed that there was a different type of power present there. I saw people being truly delivered through the pastor’s prayer. I began to understand that I, more than any of the people I blamed for my bitterness, needed to be urgently delivered. To my family’s surprise, who had always considered me the “black sheep”, I continued attending the meetings at the Universal Church. It was the beginning of a new life.

I am very grateful to the bishops, pastors and assistants of the UCKG, in particular to Mrs. Roseli, because as a new member and knowing that she was an ex-witch doctor, I immediately sought her out to talk to her.

Because I wasn’t truly delivered yet, I was looking to her for a revelation. I knew that in other churches, people used God’s name to do something very similar to what fortune-tellers do. I thought she would be my way around my addiction of fortune-telling.

However, to my embarrassment, her answer was always the same: “The man of God just finished preaching from the altar what you have to do to change your life. Did you hear what he said?” she asked. “I heard,” I answered. “Then why are you here asking me the same thing all over again? Do you think my answer will be different? I’m not a witch doctor anymore and I will never return to that life again. If everyone had the chance to see what I saw, they wouldn’t play, not even for a second, with the things that pertain to God and they would live this day as if it were their last because you never know how many minutes of life you have left. Be obedient, fix your life with God, do what the pastor said and you’ll see an answer in your life.” So, I obeyed.

After a few years, I moved to the United States with my daughter, began working as a housekeeper and remained faithful.

I remarried. My husband, Alan Wolters, is a wonderful husband and father. Our kids get along really well. We live in peace with no arguments in our comfortable home.

Because of our faithfulness in our tithes and offerings, God has prospered us. Today, I no longer work as a housekeeper. In less than one year, we opened two companies, one of which is at an estate I once worked for. We own luxury cars and dine in the finest places; everything has changed.

I must also mention that my relationship with my family has been transformed. Today, the same man I used to call step-father I now call my father. I no longer have any sicknesses or addictions.

I once heard Bishop Macedo on the radio, inviting us to use our intelligence. He said, “To my friends who believe in fortune-telling. If you believe your future is written in the palm of your hands, please use your intelligence. What about those who don’t have hands? Does that mean they don’t have a future?” Those words made a light turn on in my head and it was like the chains that were tying me down were broken.

I, who thought myself to be so advanced and intelligent, was introduced to my ignorance right then and there. I couldn’t think of anything to do other than laugh. I realized that I needed to, without delay, forget everything I learned and start over. So I did.

In faith,

Rosana Wolters