Jahan Berns – From Trauma and Darkness to Freedom and Hope in Christ

No matter how dark your past may be, God’s light shines brighter.

No wound is too deep.
No trauma is too severe.
And no life is beyond the reach of Jesus Christ.

In this powerful and deeply moving conversation, John Martin sits down with Jahan Berns to share an incredible testimony of survival, healing, and God’s redeeming power.

Born and raised in Uganda during a time of civil war and political unrest, Jahan’s childhood was marked by profound loss and hardship. Her father, a military leader, was assassinated when she was only six years old, leaving her family devastated and vulnerable.

Already living in the middle of a war-torn nation, Jahan suddenly found herself navigating grief, uncertainty, and fear at an age when most children are simply learning about life.

Raised in a Muslim household, Jahan watched as her mother struggled with overwhelming depression after her father’s death. Eventually, searching for answers and relief, her mother became involved in occult practices, opening doors that brought even deeper darkness into their lives.

Jahan shares how those years were marked by spiritual oppression, trauma, abuse, and emotional pain. By the time she reached her teenage years, she was carrying wounds that seemed impossible to overcome.

But God had another plan.

While attending a boarding school founded by Christian missionaries, Jahan began hearing the Gospel for the first time. She encountered believers whose lives reflected genuine love, compassion, and faith.

More importantly, she encountered Jesus.

At just fifteen years old, Jahan experienced a powerful transformation and surrendered her life to Christ. That decision launched a lifelong journey of healing, freedom, and discovering her true identity in God.

As she grew in her faith, Jahan overcame intense spiritual battles, endured persecution for becoming a Christian, and developed a deep passion for helping others find the same freedom she had found through Christ.

Her journey eventually led her to law school, where she met her husband, and later to the United States, where she became an attorney with a prestigious law firm. By every worldly standard, she had achieved success.

But once again, God had a different calling.

Despite a thriving legal career, God began stirring her heart toward ministry. In an act of surrender, Jahan left behind the security and prestige of practicing law to found Triumph of Hope, a ministry dedicated to sharing the Gospel, equipping believers, and helping people find freedom from spiritual oppression.

Throughout the conversation, Jahan offers profound insight into spiritual warfare, healing, and the authority believers have through Jesus Christ. She reminds listeners that while spiritual battles are real, God has not left His children defenseless.

Through Christ, believers have access to:
Truth through God’s Word.
Healing through His presence.
Freedom through the power of the cross.
And victory through the authority of Jesus.

Jahan encourages anyone struggling with fear, depression, anxiety, trauma, addiction, spiritual oppression, or hopelessness to remember this truth:

Jesus is greater.

No matter what you are facing today, God’s power is stronger than your pain, and His love reaches deeper than your deepest wound.

This conversation is a reminder to:
Stay grounded in God’s Word.
Develop a daily prayer life.
Get connected to a Bible-believing church.
Surround yourself with strong Christian community.
And never stop believing that God can restore what feels impossible.

Your past does not define you.
Your pain is not your identity.
And your story is not over.

What would happen if you fully trusted Jesus with the areas of your life that still need healing?

Contact Jahan Berns:
📧 [jahan@triumphofhope.net](mailto:jahan@triumphofhope.net)
🌐 triumphofhope.com

For more information contact us at
rtrdestiny@gmail.com

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Hey friends, it's John. Welcome back to Road to Redemption. I'm excited to be here today with my good friend Jahan Birds. Give me a handshake, huh? Jahan, how are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Oh, I'm great, John. How good are you? Good to be here.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

It's good to have you here. Thank you for coming. I know you you were on the show before with us when we were doing the radio and just you know audio, but I really wanted to get you on, you know, now that we've got video so people can can meet you, get to know you. Tell for those that don't know you a little bit about you and your background.

Civil War Loss And Early Trauma

SPEAKER_00 0:33

Yeah, well, thank you, John. Um, so I was born in Uganda, born and raised there. My dad was in the army and um trained in Israel as a commando, amongst other countries. He um was helped oust uh infamous dictator in Uganda in 1979, and our country fell into this huge civil war, and my father found himself um managing an army and and so there were about five different fighting factions at the time, and um he was one of those factions in 1985. They come together in a peace agreement and it fell apart, um, maybe not even a year later, and he was assassinated. I was six years old at the time, and um I would say it was extremely traumatic. I will say from the time that I remember, even just understanding life was so traumatic because I was born in the civil war. And so when my dad died, and my mom, who was Muslim, you know, raised us in Islam, but she was so depressed. Eventually, you know, a friend of hers uh convinced her and lured her into the occult. And there in the occult we encountered incredible spiritual attacks and physical and sexual abuse. And so by the time I was a teenager, I was very messed up. And thankfully, you know, I was a good student, and I ended up in a British missionary-founded boarding school in Uganda. And it

Meeting Jesus And Finding Healing

SPEAKER_00 2:04

was there that people first started telling me about Jesus, and I was so oppressed by the demonic, by demons, by Satan, but I didn't know that that was that because I was is is Muslim. But it was there that they first told me about Jesus, and I encountered people that really were so loving and persistent in presenting the gospel, and I had a radical dramatic uh encounter with Jesus, and I gave my love to the Lord. I was about 15 years old, and so began this incredible journey of uh finding the Lord, growing in my faith, reading the Bible, uh, even suffering persecution for my faith, but God was faithful, and so eventually um I went to law school and met my husband um and migrated to the US and practiced law and but I just never forgot that other side of oppression and darkness and pain. And and so I just have a heart, a real heart, uh for for people that are oppressed and people that are lost and and need to know Jesus and and so uh that's my passion and heartbeat.

Legal Success Then A New Calling

SPEAKER_00 3:11

So that's it in the night.

SPEAKER_01 3:13

And I remember too the parts of your story because you you know you you went from Uganda to to Great Britain, you became a lawyer, um, and then you you came over to the US with your husband Bob ended up in Birmingham and you became uh uh joined a pretty prestigious law firm in Birmingham and you finally um were like gonna be a a a lawyer there and really start to make some money. You've been doing yeah, and then the Lord called you out, he said he told you something to do something different. Yes, is that what it's like?

SPEAKER_00 3:45

Yeah, it's true. It was you know, when you grow up in Africa and you're you're poor, like education's your way out, and and everything you work to is to um take that next step and be excellent, and so you come to America and it's it's just a land of vast opportunity, and and so you take it with both hands, and I worked hard and I I ended up with very good people, good law firm, people that wanted to see me succeed. And you know, the South gets a bad rap, I guess, because of history, and they say, Oh, people are racist and all that. But coming from Africa, via England, via Illinois, coming to Alabama, it was I love the South. I've found people to be incredibly warm, genuine. I mean, I found nothing but love and kindness, and so I thrived, I prospered, and I mean, with my background, I I came with incredible trauma. And people in the South just love me back to health. So I was really living the high life. I'm just like, wow, I'm I'm an attorney in that prestigious, you know, one of the best law firms ever. And I've met it, I've arrived, and I'm just gonna just keep on going higher and higher from here. Make partner is my goal. And but then the Lord started speaking to me and was like, give it up. I want you to go into ministry. And I was like, Lord, you want me to be poor again after all those years. Yeah, but um, you know, God is gonna have his way. If you really love him and you're gonna obey him, he's gonna have his way with you. And so so I said, God, whatever you want to do, um, I'll give it up and I'll do what you want me to do.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

Then you went into ministry.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

So

Triumph Of Hope And Freedom Ministry

SPEAKER_00 5:21

I went into ministry and and founded uh a ministry called Triumph of Hope. And we preached the gospel. We equipped believers, you know, in uh reading the word and standing on the word and discipleship and empowering them in prayer. And believe it or not, with my background, we deal with a lot of people that uh having demonic oppression and bringing them into the freedom, into salvation and the freedom of Jesus Christ. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

Yeah. I think I I've talked to you before about um, you know, really what you do, a lot of you and your team is deliverance. Uh, but but here in the US we have to call that freedom. Yeah, right? Because people like deliverance, you know, they think of the movie. Um, but but the the truth be told, all of us really need deliverance. I mean, we're we're living in a a spiritual warfare out there. I mean, that's Satan's greatest you know tool is to come after us through spiritual warfare, and a lot of people don't recognize yeah, they're under this. And um so talk about that. I mean, like talk to us about what what's going on with spiritual warfare, what how people can get free of this.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

I

Spiritual Warfare From Genesis To Jesus

SPEAKER_00 6:33

am so passionate about this subject. Because when you really think about it, spiritual warfare starts at the very beginning in the garden. And if people would really read their Bibles and understand what, you know, that when we talk about spiritual warfare, first of all, spiritual, meaning there is a a visible realm where you and icing each other, you know, and then there is a spirit realm. You know, we are flesh, but we have a spirit that is housed within us as well as a soul, among the three-part being. Well, God is spirit, and when Jesus came to the earth, he took on a body. But we have to understand that if God is spirit, he lives in the spiritual realm. So there are two realms that human beings encounter the physical realm that you and I, you know, we shake hands and we touch. Then there's a spirit realm where there are beings, and and the Bible says God created, you know, man, but he created angels. I think Colossians 1 says he created all things, you know, everything was created through him. And then it says there they're things that he created that that are visible to us and invisible. They're they're they're rulers, they're thrones. So there is life that is not visible to the eye, and that life exists in the spirit realm. So let's go back. God creates man, Adam and Eve puts them in the garden, right? And they they're in the garden. Satan, who was a good angel, has now fallen into evil, and he comes and he beguiles and he deceives Adam and Eve. Guess what? That's the first recorded incident of spiritual warfare between spirit beings and human beings. Now, Isaiah 14 describes how Satan fell. So there was already a spiritual warfare in the heavenly realms, between spirits and spirits. But the first encounter between human being and spirit being, spiritual warfare was Satan in the garden. And you see from that moment on, you know, he came, he beguiled them, he deceived them, they they disobeyed. Sin entered the world, they lost their inheritance. Those are all components and consequences of spiritual warfare. Then you come to the book of Job and it tells you how, you know, Satan begins to attack Job and he loses everything except his wife, you know, but he refuses to deny God. That's spiritual welfare. You get to Jesus. This is a son of God. God himself in the flesh comes to the earth, you would think, oh my gosh, he's exempt from spiritual warfare. No, because there's a real battle between fallen spirit beings and God Almighty, who is amazing. So, you know, I was reading Luke 4 just the other day, and the Bible says Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness, and there Satan came to him and he spoke to him, and he's getting him, he's wanting to tempt him and test him so that he can disobey God, he can abort his destiny. That is spiritual warfare. So when the church refuses to acknowledge that Satan exists, he talks to people, he suggests, you know, um ideas to people, he tempts and seduces people, and that Jesus taught us that Satan doesn't work alone. He has a host, he has an army of demons, and their work is to cause sickness, is to deceive people, is to destroy people. You know, it's a real fact. And I think that the church today, it's imperative for the church today to teach Christians that spiritual warfare is a fact, but that through the cross, Christ has given us powerful weapons. I mean, why would you need weapons if there's no war? And why would you need weapons of warfare if they are not going to be effective, you know? And so the Bible clearly says that we, the weapons of our warfare, they are not weak, they are not kernel, they're not fleshy, but they are mighty until they're pulling down of strongholds. When Paul wrote that word stronghold, the Greek word he used means basically a military fortress. So there's demonic forces that are working against the children of God, building up fortresses through which they can attack them. And until the pastors and you know the leaders in begin in the church, begin to begin to talk to the people and they say, This is a cross, this is a power of the cross, this is a message of salvation, these are your weapons, this is how you win against an enemy. You're going to fight until that day you meet Jesus face to face. So um you can see can you tell that I'm very passionate about this?

SPEAKER_01 11:15

Well, people need to be, yeah, you know, because it's a big, it's a big deal. You know, a lot of people are bound up you know in oppression. You know, it may not be possession of demons, but uh just oppression. Yeah. You know, and I think most of our our our country, our western world, is under that. You know, really. So it it needs to be talked about.

Sin Wounds Mindsets And Oppression

SPEAKER_00 11:42

Um and you know, John, you raise a really good point because I think most people get hung up on the word possession. Like, can a Christian be possessed, you know, by demonic spirits because of things that watched on TV? First of all, we're going to just say that when they translated the word, uh, you know, in the New Testament and they said and he was possessed, you know, most Bible scholars now agree that the the use of that word possession was not entirely the right word, you know, to to translate it as the word, the right word, as Bible scholars have agreed on, is demonized or oppressed. Because when you give your life to Jesus and you invite him into your heart, he possesses you, his spirit possesses you. However, the enemy can attack you and oppress you, and there is no one that is born of the flesh that is exempt from oppression. I mean, here we are talking about Jesus, Son of God. The enemy came against him many multiple times, right? All the way to the cross. So anyone can be oppressed, and we have to look at four areas, John, for people that are struggling or people that don't even know that some of their struggles are rooted in spiritual warfare. There are four key areas that every person struggles in, and you have to address those areas for people to be to thrive and to fully walk in in the destiny that the Lord has given them in a victorious manner. Number one is sin, because we saw in the garden, sin is what opened the door to the enemy. The second part is woundedness, right? Emotional woundedness or soul, spirit hurts, because man is made up of the spirit, the soul, and the body. So in the garden, when you look at Genesis chapter 3, whilst they gave in and they sinned and the enemy oppressed them, the Bible says, then they felt ashamed, and then they felt afraid. Those speak to the soul. The soul of man is what feels ashamed, what feels afraid, right? So there was a wounding that happened when they sinned, and then an oppression that came in. So the four key areas of sin, woundedness, um, the mindset and godly belief patterns that we enter in because of our sin or because of our woundedness. And then the fourth area is oppression. Now, there are some deliverance ministries that will just look at everything as a demon and be like, oppression, oppression, you know, we're gonna command the demon to leave. But the reality is that you have to look at it in an integrated way, in a holistic way. That if oppression exists, what are the doors that are open the person up to oppression? Is it sin? Is it woundedness, or is it ungodly belief patterns?

SPEAKER_01 14:34

So yeah, that's really good stuff. Um, well, you know, we were talking before, Johan, just the timing of this interview right now. There's

UFO Headlines Through A Biblical Lens

SPEAKER_01 14:45

a lot in the news about, you know, President Trump is releasing the UFO and alien files, and you know, a lot of pastors are talking about, you know, we've got to address this. About what about the aliens, you know, and and um, so can can you talk a little bit about that from how should what should believers how should believers?

SPEAKER_00 15:09

So I think for believers, the standard is always the word of God, not what NASA has released, you know, the standard is the word of the Lord. And back to what we just talked about earlier is that there's a spirit realm and a physical realm. And reading just from Colossians 1, where we say that Jesus, um, everything was created through him, what we see and what we cannot see. So the way I have looked at UFOs and interpreted that is that is part of what our visible eye cannot see. But every now and then you see a manifestation of extra life, right? As they call it, or you know, when you encounter when you're praying for someone and they they a woman and they begin to speak like a man in a very terrible voice, and they're saying, you know, very ugly, blasphemous things. You're dealing with a demonic spirit, you know, Jesus cast demons out of people, and they, you know, they manifested in very weird ways, you know. So to our natural way of thinking and seeing, that can be very scary. But we have to remember that centrality of the cross and the power of the cross. The Bible says that the name of Jesus is the most powerful, and there's nothing more powerful than the cross. So the way that I look at and I think about extra life or demonic spirits or even angels, everything must be subjected to Jesus. Everything must be subjected to the power of the cross. The Bible says on the cross, Jesus defeated all powers and principalities. So if a UFO qualifies as a power, which it is, or you know, then it has to be subjected. It was defeated on the cross. So my I don't stand there and I'm afraid, like, oh my gosh, what if a UFO, you know, hits my house? And I'm like, get away in the name of Jesus, you know, and I'm just not gonna be afraid. And I think that Christians need to stand in the power and authority. Jesus said in Luke 10:19, Behold, I have given you all authority, all power over the enemy, and all his agents, and you will by no means be harmed. And so that's the way to look at it from a Christian perspective.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

Well,

Word Community And Daily Practice

SPEAKER_01 17:36

like you said, it's all in the Bible, and that's what we talk about in our three key pillars of road to redemption is this is the word of God, and we tell you the first thing to do is get in the word of God, spend time with God every day. Get up in the morning, really, and spend your time in the Bible. He will speak to you through these scriptures, and and then get into a Christ-centered, Bible-believing church and go. You've got to have community and and and then get into a group. You need to have a group of men or women or married couples, whatever, that are holding you accountable and you can be vulnerable with. Um, because we can't do this alone. Um, you know, God will transform your life if you enter into a personal relationship with him, starting with the word of God. That is this is the way these scriptures. Um so Jahan, anybody that's listening out there, I mean, like I said, peep people are under this spiritual warfare, people are hurting. You know, it's it's out there, and and I thought maybe, maybe could you pray for anyone? Yeah, people that are listening, yeah, that are going through this right now. I was gonna ask you what what are the solutions. Well, I think the solution is to pray. Right.

SPEAKER_00 18:56

So let's and and you said it, read the word, pray, a good Bible church, and finding like-minded Christian believers that will support you. The Bible says one can chase 1,000, two can chase 10,000. So it's very important to have people to pray with. But

Prayer For Salvation And Breakthrough

SPEAKER_00 19:12

I want to pray for you right now. If you're out there and you don't know Jesus, I want to tell you that Jesus loves you, and there's no pit that you'll go that you're in that his love is not deeper still. And so I want you to say this prayer with me right now, to invite Jesus in your heart, tell him Jesus, I believe you're the Son of God, that you died for my sins and you rose again. I invite you into my life today. I ask you to forgive me of all my sins. I surrender to you, be Lord and Savior of my life. Teach me, Lord, and heal me in every way. And for those of you that are out there and you are struggling with um attack and and you're sad or you or you're grieving or you know, you're under the hand of the enemy, I want to tell you that that Jesus died for you and he released power to set you free. And the Bible says that we don't merely fight against flesh and blood enemies, but against invisible enemies, against powers and principalities, evil rulers who are strategic, uh, they are diabolical and they're well planned. And the Bible says, therefore, put on the full armor of God, that you may stand as you fight until you have won the victory. That's Ephesians 6, 10 to 18. And it says, put on the full armor of God with the belt of truth. Jesus is truth, his word is truth, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. That is the righteousness of Christ, that Jesus died for you. And when you stand to pray, you're praying because Jesus is also interceding for you and he has made a way for you. It's not your own efforts, it's Jesus's efforts on your behalf. And so you stand and you pray in faith. We pray for you right now to have the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation. We speak the salvation of the Lord over you. We speak the power of his salvation over you. In the name of Jesus, we break right now every attack of the enemy against you and against your mind. You know, the battlefield, the main battlefield of the enemy is in your mind. And so today we pray that every bombardment, every attack against your mind, we come against fear, we come against depression, we come against confusion, every mental illness, we break its power. We speak peace to your mind, the salvation of the Lord, the hope of the Lord. Those of you that are hopeless, we speak hope of Jesus Christ to cover your mind and bring you into perfect peace with him and in your body. Let the healing flow and heal your mind and the rest of you entirely. We pray for the good news of Jesus Christ to be um to cause you to be sure-footed and stable and and to walk with with the good news of Christ also as your peace. We speak the word of the Lord, which is the sword of the Spirit. Those of you that have not been reading your Bible, we pray for you right now that you get back into reading the Bible, into getting, you know, good devotionals and good Bible reading plans that of Holy Spirit. Speak to them, oh God, as they commit right now to getting back into the word. Put them in good churches, surround them with loving, kind people, God, that will support them. And God, we pray that you put a shield of faith around them, let it wrap around them, Father. We pray that their faith will not fail. Those who had walked away from faith, we call them back into the kingdom of God. We call them back into a living, vibrant faith with Jesus Christ. We plead the blood of Jesus over you right now, and we say that sin's hold over you is broken right now, and Jesus comes into you right now and gives you hope and assurance that you will thrive and that he's with you and he's for you. We bless you now and we seal you in the precious blood of Christ, and we say the Holy Spirit will guide you and guide you into all truth in Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 23:19

Amen. Wow, that was powerful. Amen. Bless me. Amen. A lot. Wow. Um,

Events Resources And How To Connect

SPEAKER_01 23:26

so Johan, I know you with Triumph of Hope. You do um, you and your teen do retreats, and you have yeah, you know, how how can folks that are wanting to really you know get more from your ministry because you're you're blessing? How do people find you? What do y'all have going on?

SPEAKER_00 23:42

Oh, thank you, John, for asking that. So our website is triumphofope.com, and then we're on social media, YouTube, lots of teaching resources on YouTube. But as John mentioned, we do have events, conferences, one-day events, retreats. And so if you go on our website and click on events, you will be able to find where we are next and what we're doing next. Most importantly, I want to invite people every Saturday morning from 8 to 9 a.m. Central Time, we have this call called More Than Conquerors. And the reason we started that was for the very simple thing we've been talking about that people are so hungry. And so we did that and we share the word, and then we get to pray over people's requests. So that's a great way to connect with people for personal prayer, but also people that need one-on-one uh prayers for freedom, deliverance, you know.

SPEAKER_01 24:38

We can say deliverance, right?

SPEAKER_00 24:39

Um, just just go ahead and contact us through the website and we'll take you through our process and give you an appointment. Um, so truly uh we have great discipleship resources that I would love people to check out on the website.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

We need to get some more people over here from from Africa. We we really do and America. Well, that's been great, John. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 25:03

Thank you. God bless you.