Asunta Agoth is a widow and mom of three children who lives on the extreme fringes of Barthiang village. She struggles to find food for her little ones, and up until recently, had little hope for a better future for her family.

Asunta was trapped in a dangerous practice of idol worship that is common tradition in the remote bush of South Sudan… trapped in spiritual darkness, and in physical poverty. Everything she had, she paid to witch doctors who promised to heal her sickness and make her life better.

Before her husband passed away, he and his family installed a wood idol in front of their home, which Asunta was forced to worship. She had to sacrifice precious sources of food and income, like chickens and goats, regularly to the idol.

What’s worse, when she or a family member was sick, the witch doctors would demand goats or even a cow (a valuable commodity that she couldn’t afford), or threaten that her family member would die.

“Sometimes you may pay a chicken, you may pay a goat, you may pay a cow, and even money. Or that person will die automatically. The witchdoctor will take all away, the cows, the goat, the chicken and the money, yet the person would still die,” she explained.

Then, one evening, everything changed for Asunta. As part of the One Village Transformed program, the Jesus Film was shown in Barthiang, and Asunta attended the showing. She learned about her need for forgiveness and reconciliation with a loving Savior named Jesus Christ, who offered salvation as a free gift. That night, she received Christ as her personal savior.

Asunta and her three children were recently baptized during a prayer service that meets under a tree in Barthiang.

“I’m very happy now,” she exclaimed. She’s learning God’s Word by listening to a solar-powered audio bible in her native language. “I’ve learned that if you quarrel with somebody, you need to forgive.”

Asunta is grateful for those who are partnering with her village and that her life is much better now that she is walking with Jesus.