My name is Monica Maregesi and I was suffering so much in life. My financial life, my health and my marriage were destroyed. Though I am working for the government, I was living like someone who is unemployed because my salary would finish in just two days.
My first child was born a very weak and fragile baby and from the first day of his life he was sick. And my mother also was sick with what no one could explain what it was. So I would spend my whole salary on them trying to find healing for them in the hospitals and from many different kinds of doctors and medicines but nothing would help. I remember that every time after my money was finished I would go to get loan money, so that I could pay for them. So in the end I ended up having heavy debts.
I couldn’t even buy basic things of life; I was failing to buy food, clothes to wear and also to pay my debts that were piling up every month, I wanted to build my own house but it became an impossible dream. Worse still, after going through all that, my child died. I was devastated because one of the reasons that was bringing all those problems to my life was spending almost everything monthly to heal my child, and in the end he died. I was married by then and my marriage was a total mess.
My husband was not helping me with anything at all. With great difficulties I was the one feeding and taking care of the family by myself. He didn’t care about anything at all. He was a heavy drunkard, and he would spend a minimum of 100 000 TSH daily in alcohol. While I was struggling, he would not give even money to buy bread. And when he came back from the bar and that would be in the very early hours of the morning, he would turn the house we were living in into chaos; and by that time we were living in the government premises.
He would, without any provocation, attack me and beat me. He would call me with bad names; swear at me with words that I can’t write here. He would start shouting and cursing until morning without allowing anyone to go to sleep, and he knew that in the morning I am suppose to go to work, but he didn’t care. I was feeling humiliated, I lost my dignity, I was ashamed of facing my neighbors;
I was ashamed of even walking on the street because of the situation in my marriage. I was wondering why my marriage is not working; my husband was a Muslim and I converted to Islam when we got married in an Islamic marriage. I was following all advises and laws of Islam, concerning marriage, for my marriage to be a happy and peaceful, now why was it not working? I e
ven called the religious elders from the mosque who married us to come and counsel us.
They read for him Albacdir (a certain book read for married people). And he (my husband) changed just for some time and he went back to his old behavior. I called his parents to try to speak to him but he was so stubborn that he ended up even swearing at his own mother. As though that was not enough, our neighbors complained to the authorities about us making noise every day and we got kicked out of the government premises. I got very stressful and depressed. I started to be sick without knowing what I was sick from. I was so seriously sick that I nearly died. I lost a lot of weight.
One Sunday morning I just decided to walk around and look for a church. I was not looking for any particular one but for any church where I could be helped because I couldn’t bear it anymore. So as I was walking through Nyerere road, I saw a building written ‘Jesus Christ is the Lord’, so I went in. I found the service on and I attended. During the service and prayers I felt something like a heavy load leaving my body, and my eyes felt like they have been blind and now they could see.
I felt power and strength that I didn’t know, by then, where it was coming from but I got an assurance for the first time that my life would change; and also when I arrived at home that Sunday I vomited a big chunk of meat that had a very bad smell. As I continued coming to the church and doing everything the pastor was saying, my health began to change, and within weeks I was completely healthy.
My husband found out that I am going to the church, and because he was a Muslim, he fought me even more; but I continued to go to the church. Then after I got healed I decided that my whole life is going to change. I heard about tithing and its benefits to the one who gives it; I became a tither myself. All the financial difficulties that I had been carrying started to disappear one after the other. I was able to build my own house even without any help of my husband, and I also took my son to study in a private school. I wear the clothing that I want, food is abundant daily in my house.
After seeing all that God was doing for me, I took a serious decision that I was going to fight for my marriage. I had a grudge against my husband for all the bad things he had done and said to me; I decided to forgive him with all my heart. Every Thursday and Sunday morning I would carry with me his photos to the church and praying to God to change him. It wasn’t easy at all because the more I prayed the worse he became. Though he was still abusive in his words, swearing and causing scenes, he was no longer beating me; he was not even coming close to me. It was like I had an invisible shield preventing him from touching me. Sometimes I was becoming frustrated and even thinking of leaving him but the pastor would encourage me not to give up on my marriage but to fight till the end because my husband will change. I continued even more determined, and now also bringing his clothes and writing down his name on a piece of paper and crying out to God to change my marriage. In the campaign of Israel I was asking for something else; when, in the last week before we presented our requests on the altar, I changed my request and asked God to bless my marriage. After presenting my request God answered me and changed my husband to be a good and different man.
He started to come to the church with me. He even got baptized in the water and left his Islamic religion and accepted the God of Abraham. His parents, who are Muslims, told him that they don’t mind him leaving the religion as long as he is a changed man that he is now. He is so different that sometimes I feel like I’m just dreaming.
He gives me money and he is very helpful, it is something new to me since we got married. He speaks to me so calmly, with respect and love.
Today I am a very happy woman. I have peace and happiness, God is really great and I can’t thank Him enough.
Mrs Monica Maregesi - UCKG- Tanzania.
