From the Nyamwezi region of Tanzania:
“I lived a life of hatred. My mother hated me so much. Nothing that I did was good for her. Even though I had other siblings, I did all of the work at home. I was the donkey at our home. I was punished often, sometimes going many days without food, and I wondered how this could be my family and how this could be my mother.
When I was in Grade Five, I was stopped from going to school so that I could work at home. My sisters and brothers, however, continued in school. I kept crying everyday to the Lord to help me to know who I was.
When I was twenty years old, I ran away to get married. I married a man who has been there for me for fourteen years now. My husband took me to church and taught me to trust in God. God has blessed us, and my husband is like my guardian angel.
Last year (2023), we began to read some Bible stories in the church from some booklets which our denomination gave to our pastor. During this period, I became pregnant, and I had to stay mostly at home.
One day, my mom and my sister visited me. They prepared food for me, only to put poison in it. Because of the poison, I had a miscarriage, but God spared my life. I told my husband who simply encouraged me. Remembering all that I had gone through when I was with my father and mother, I asked God for strength.
We continued to read the Bible stories, and we came to the story of Joseph and his family. I felt like Joseph who was almost killed, and sold out of the family. We continued to study with a lot of questions in my heart. We also came to the story of our Savior Jesus who was crucified for us. I asked God to reveal the truth to me and help me to forgive just as Joseph did.
One day, my sister visited us, and thinking that I was not in the house, started talking to my husband about me. She said that I am not her sister, that my mother died when I was little, that I was just a refugee in their home, and that my husband should divorce me and marry her.
This hurt me tremendously and I ran out into the room to confront her, yet she left. I went to ask my pastor what to do because I wanted to know the truth. My pastor told me that I should invite my parents to my home and ask them. My parents wouldn’t come.
Therefore, my pastor took me to their home, and asked if this woman was really my mother. I was shocked when my Dad confessed that she was not my mother, and asked me to forgive him. His wife who is really not my mother was adamant and denied everything. We left their home, and I continued to pray and to trust God.
A few months later, my step mom fell sick and sent for me. I refused to go, yet my pastor asked me to go. I went to the hospital where she was, and she confessed to have killed my real mother. She asked me to forgive her, and that she was ready to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior, saying that she did not want to go to the Lake of Fire.
My husband and I forgave her, and she died that evening. I thank God for the booklets that taught me about the Savior Jesus Christ and how to forgive. Christ was with me and is still with me now. I have forgiven all of them, and I have peace of Christ in me.”
Jackline Makungu.