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Church leader speaks against abuse

Nicola Camposreal (44) shares her story about being abused by her three husbands and how she overcame the challenging situation.
By Bridgette Matjuda Pictures Supplied

Nicola, the founder of Wonderful Women Ministries, had no idea what lay ahead of her. She’s had three miscarriages, got married three times and was violently abused in the marriages.

Nicola met her first husband in high school and got married at 23. Though they had been dating since high school, it was a marriage of convenience. She explains that back in the day, marriage was a requirement in order to get a bond. Prior to getting married, she fell pregnant, but had a miscarriage. The following year, she was blessed with a beautiful daughter. But the marriage was affected by alcoholism and infidelity, which led to all kinds of abuse. In 1997, Nicola filed for divorce.

Nicola Camposreal

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In 2002, Nicola got married again. Within the first month, her second husband was cheating on her with his ex-wife. This resulted in emotional and violent abuse, which affected her unborn baby. She had to do a medical abortion because she was told the foetus would be born deformed, if she continued with the pregnancy. “When I realised my second husband’s abusive tendencies, I tried to have the marriage annulled. But, I was told it was not possible because we had already consummated it,” Nicole shares. Later on, she fell pregnant again, but almost lost the baby again due to the continued abuse.

Nicola Camposreal with family

Fortunately, she didn’t; she gave birth to a son. However, her husband continued to violently abuse her. “He would lock me and the kids up, take my car keys and disappear for the weekend. On Sundays, we’d go to church and I’d still come back home to the abuse,” she shares. Nicola says she used to go to work with visible bruises, but had become accustomed to lying to her colleagues about how she got hurt. After enduring this for over five years, she filed for divorce. But her husband wanted 50% of everything they owned, even though he had come into the marriage with nothing! Now a pastor, the estranged second ex-husband has since apologised for the way he treated her.

Nicola Camposreal

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Nicola briefly mentions her third husband, “I married him for a month and lived with him for a week before filing for a divorce.” She explains that this was because he lied about everything. He fabricated sim cards and pretended to be someone he was not. Nicola’s third husband also abused her verbally, calling her names.

Nicola Camposreal

With all these misfortunes, Nicola has vowed never to be with anyone who abuses and deceives her. She says now she is enjoying being single. On top of that, she is leading a prophetic and deliverance ministry to assist women and children who have gone through abuse.

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