James Wio knows better than many of us just how far God has brought him. Up until seven years ago, James was a well-known witchdoctor in Sudan.

In 2001, James was sent with 2 other witchdoctors to ‘disorganize’ a Christian meeting taking place in Yei, Southern Sudan. All their powers failed, however, and instead, James encountered the power of God and he was thrown to the ground. One of the evangelists knelt over James and commanded, “Be free!”

James says he felt as if a hot coat that had been covering him from head to toe was removed. He collected all his charms and other witchcraft tools and burned them.

In 2004, James attended the Discipleship Training School at YWAM’s centre in Yei, Sudan. During that time he developed a hunger to learn more about God’s character, and he was particularly touched by the teaching on families and relationships. Tragedy struck, however, when his 3 month old son died while James was on the DTS. This was the second time James had lost a son…the first was while he was still practicing witchcraft. As hard as it was, James and his wife continued to trust in God’s goodness, and chose to pursue the desire God had given them to help other families.

“In my culture,” James said, “to qualify for leadership you must have at least 5 wives. It shows you are experienced in administration and can lead people.” But James saw that God’s plan was for one man to have a close relationship with one wife, and he wanted to learn more about how that worked.

In August 2008, James and his wife Grace and their 3 children headed to Jinja, Uganda to attend YWAM’s Family Ministry School. On the second week of the school, however, tragedy struck again, and for the third time, James and Grace lost a son. The grief was unbearable. They could hardly eat; they couldn’t sleep. They didn’t know what to do.

In their pain, they cried out to God, and He answered them, saying, “Lay everything at my feet.” It was very difficult, but they knew how far God had brought them, and they didn’t want to turn their backs on him. They felt the best thing they could do was go back to class and honour Him.

Nevertheless, James still wondered if he had made a mistake about coming to the school. After his 2-year-old son died, James began praying even more fervently for his family, but things kept going wrong. His daughter fell sick and was admitted into the hospital for 4 days. Not long after that, his wife got sick, and was admitted for 3 days. James was in and out of class; in and out of the hospital. In his misery, he even began to doubt his decision to follow Christ in the first place. “I didn’t understand how I could be following Christ and doing what was right and still my boys die.”

Is this a curse following me from my days of practicing witchcraft? he wondered. But as James prayed he heard God saying, “Look at Job’s suffering and see how he stood firm for me.” James went back to his Bible and studied the book of Job. “I felt something release out of my heart,” he said. No longer did he doubt the rightness of following Christ. “Even if it means we die in Your presence,” James told God, “at least let us remain in Your presence.”

And now, to their joy, Grace is pregnant again.

The pain lingers but hope rises, and with it grows a dream of running Family Life Seminars around Southern Sudan. “My wife and I want to go back and teach our people how to talk to their children, how to communicate well between husband and wife, and how to raise children in love.”

An echo of sadness shadows James’ smile, but his heart is steadfast. For James and his family, they will serve the Lord.