05/31/2026
Brandi Cantrell Testimony: Making Disciples Amid Evil
How has God changed your life? From time to time, we will feature personal testimonies from our Smithville FBC members, and how their stories connected them to Jesus as the Lord and Savior of their lives. We begin with the testimony of Brandi Cantrell. She came to our church family with her husband Matt, and their three sons, Julian, Brian, and Collen. She was in the car pick-up line at Smithville Elementary School when Axel Rico handed Brandi a flyer about Smithville FBC. After that, she started attending church services, signed on as a volunteer for FaithKids and was invited to join the Tuesday Women’s Bible study class.
As a young girl, Brandi responded to invites to attend VBS at various churches in the community. On various occasions she would answer the pastor’s invitation and repeat the sinner’s prayer. Still, she says her life remained divided between the forces of dark with the occult practices she had embraced and the light of Jesus that was beckoning to her. Then, in 2021, Brandi couldn’t fight the tug on her heart any longer, and the 36-year-old mom and wife completely surrendered her life to Jesus.
In the following Q and A, Brandi talks about her previous involvement in the occult, the spiritual warfare she continues to face, and how her renovated heart inspires her to disciple others, especially people who have followed the occult.
Bill Conger: When and how were you introduced to the occult?
Brandi Cantrell: I think the occult was introduced to me at a very young age, I would say probably 4 years old. I remember having like a fascination with controlling things myself. And now, as I'm older, it's really hard to give up that control to God because I thought I was controlling something when really I wasn't.
When I was older, media [was an influence on me] and some of my family members participated in it [the occult] as well. It was the norm. My grandmother, my mom's mom, was participating in Wicca, but I didn’t know that until I was older. But I, myself, had a fascination with the occult.
Conger: Some people reading this story might not understand what terms like the occult or Wicca mean. How do you explain it?
BC: The way the Holy Spirit explained it to me is that it's a counterfeit. When I first started, I asked the Holy Spirit, ‘Why can't I be a Christian witch? Why can't I do both? The way that he explained it to me was it's like you're cheating on me. He doesn't like people using those “spiritual things” when he's the one that likes to provide for us and take care of us. He alone deserves our worship.
Conger: What initially motivated you to get involved with the occult? Was it out of curiosity or fun?
BC: All that--- curiosity and fun. Seemed like just the spiritual thing of it. I've always been a spiritual person ever since I was young. I think everyone might know somewhere that they just know that there's something.
Conger: I only know what I’ve seen portrayed in the media about the occult. Did you cast spells? Did you use a Ouija board? What kind of things were you involved in?
BC: I can't remember the first time I used a Ouija board. I think I was 8 years old. My sister, Hollie, and her friend and I we were pushing the Ouija board. They were actually younger than me, like 2 years younger. One of my favorite shows was “Charmed.” It portrayed witches in a good light. I tried to cast my own spells and had my own spell book. It would tell you certain things to do. I even wrote out my own spells. I suspect demonic entities were telling me these things. See some people think that the occult isn’t real. You can’t manipulate things. That’s just not how it works. They try to lead you further and further away from God with their ideas on things. Then, you start to believe these things. When I first started coming to our church and I was being invited, it was so hard to turn all that off. I was uncomfortable because that’s all I had known.
Conger: At that point, had you even heard about Jesus?
BC: I always believed that Jesus was real, but I didn't know him personally. I had never surrendered, which I think is the hardest part for some people to do is just surrender. I don't know why it was so hard for me, but it was. Then, at times I'd be like, well, maybe he's not real. I would just go back and forth in my mind. And a few years before I actually surrendered, I didn't think I believed anything at all. I was just really confused.
Conger: Were there any Christians who were influential in your life?
BC: It was just little things here and there. My mom and dad are believers, but we didn't go to church. I would go on my own [to church] in and out. My parents never tried to keep me from going to church. My parents let me pretty much read books and let me watch what I wanted. It's amazing to me because God still used those things---VBS or the private Christian school I attended. I looked back on all that after surrendering to Jesus, because I was into the occult, remembering all the times they told me Jesus loved me, all the Bible stories, the love and attentiveness they showed me started to click into my brain. It started to make sense what they had been telling me. It's just so crazy how there were already people there that were doing God's work.
Conger: When did you surrender and make Jesus the Lord of your life? Were you at church when it happened?
BC: Well, I became very angry right before [I surrendered to] Jesus. I don't know where I was going in life, but I probably would have ended up in jail at some point. The night that it smacked me in my face all that stuff came rushing back to me. The memories of people that were trying to tell me about Jesus the whole time. It’s so crazy. Nobody will ever believe it. I came across the Wikipedia page on Jesus. I had seen this page so many times before, but for some reason, this particular time, when I looked at it …. I was overcome with like tears and grief. And I said out loud, “You’re real! You’re real! You’re real!” I confessed with my mouth. And then I heard the Holy Spirit say to me--- and that was kind of scary--- ‘Brandi, you've been doing this your way. Let's try this My way.” I was crying. I was like, OK, I'll do
Conger: What happened next?
BC: I cried solid for two weeks and was really reflecting on who I was. And how long I had been lost. That's a hard pill to swallow. It was for me anyways. Then, I realized all the people that I misled too, along with what I was doing. That's hard. I'm always talking about Jesus. I think that’s why I go harder for Jesus now, because of the wrongs I did and His mercy on me. I also get spiritual attacks.
Conger: What does that spiritual attack look like?
BC: A lot of times I'm struggling internally to not be the person that I once was. I don't want to be that person anymore because there was nothing in it for me. I literally have nothing to go back to. The Bible says that you’ll hate one master and love the other. I despise the occult now. I'm just calling it out every time I see it. Some people think I'm being hateful or spreading hate. No, I don't want other people to be deceived like I was. I was very angry after I realized I was deceived. Instead of taking out the anger on people around me like I used to, I was trying to give all that to God, and part of me didn't want him to have to carry that because it's not His fault. He wants to carry it for us.
Conger: What advice can you give people that aren’t familiar with the occult, witchcraft, Wiccan, and other practices that God forbids?
BC: I've had to be bold in areas where I didn't think I could be bold, but I think it's the Holy Spirit working through me. Some people are just downright nasty when you speak against this stuff. It's because they're in the world. From someone that's a Christian, I would say if it doesn't line up with what the Bible says, shun that and stay away from that.
Conger: What are ways that Christians can witness and disciple to people who follow the occult and similar practices?
BC: Be bold. Speak the truth. This is really important, this part, because I struggle with this. Speak it in love. That's the biggest part because we have to remember that these people that practice it, God still loves them. He loves them so much. As much as I despise the occult, I know God wants me to talk to these people with love because He loves them.
Sometimes I just go for it. I just say the truth anyways. If they persecute me, then I’ll have to be persecuted. I'm not here to comfort them to hell. Yeah, I can't do that. This is really bold, but it’s definitely who I am. I’d rather offend them to heaven than flatter them to hell. They truly don't understand, and they're deceived.
Conger: Anything else that you would like to add, maybe to someone who might be trying out the occult or other spiritually dark practices?
BC: Just that if they're practicing things that's of the occult to seek Jesus. He will accept you. He's not going to push you away. He loves you very, very much. Even when I was practicing these things, he still loved me because he kept drawing me in.
Learn more about squaring off against spiritual warfare and join The Invisible War at 6:00 p.m. starting Monday, June 8 in the Smithville FBC Activities Building located at 101 West Church Street. This program with John and Kay Quintero explores the unseen spiritual realm, teaching believers how to recognize the subtle deceptions of Satan, put on the "armor of God" from Ephesians 6, and stand firm against daily spiritual attacks.
