When Mariana Matos gave her life to Jesus, she asked him to use her but never imagined it would be through blessing vulnerable women as a beautician.
I arrived in England from Portugal in 2015, and became a Christian in 2017, when I was 29. It was then that I began to question my purpose in life.
I felt God calling me to something undefined but significant. I often told my colleagues at the beauty salon where I worked that I was going to leave my job as a beauty therapist and do something for God.
I started openly sharing my faith in my workplace in London.
Little did I know, God was preparing to use me right where I was. I started openly sharing my faith in my workplace in London. My employers asked me to be more discreet about discussing my faith, however I was willing to risk my job for Jesus, confident that God would provide another job if needed. It became evident that I had a calling for evangelism.
While I continued to seek God’s guidance through fasting and prayer, the answers didn’t come as quickly as I hoped, and I wasn’t sure what my next steps should be. I realised most of my clients at the salon were middle-class, and between work, family, and children they had the opportunity to pay for beauty services to make them feel more beautiful and special. But I started to think about the women who don’t have the opportunity to pay for beauty services. How could I make them feel special and loved?
I’m going to transform a van into a beauty salon and offer my services free of charge to women who have suffered abuse. I will share the gospel through my service
One day during a conversation with a friend, out of nowhere, I said, ‘I’m going to transform a van into a beauty salon and offer my services free of charge to women who have suffered abuse. I will share the gospel through my services.’
It seemed like a wild idea. I’d never heard of a beauty van before, and I didn’t have the money or business experience. After that conversation, I looked up ‘beauty van’ online and saw they existed. So, I prayed, ‘God, if this is what you want, you’ll have to provide the money.’
One day, a friend asked me what name I would give to my van, and I realised I hadn’t thought about it. She encouraged me to give a name to the van I didn’t have yet; in faith that it would come. That night, I went home and asked God for a name. I fell asleep and had a dream where I was sharing my vision with others, and they were generously contributing towards it. Inside of that dream, I asked God for the name, and he replied, ‘Grace.’
Upon waking up, I pondered the name, ‘Grace?’ I asked God to confirm it with a Bible verse. Immediately, I felt led to Romans 3:23-24. ‘…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.’
I didn’t know the meaning but when I read again, it became clear to me. God wanted to extend his grace to the ladies who would come to the van, to remind them that they are not forgotten and that he still has a plan for them despite their past experiences.
And that’s where my journey began. In November 2018 I started planning and researching. By 2020, I made a GoFundMe page to raise £37,000. But I knew God would have to send help beyond GoFundMe.
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Even though I didn’t have any connections and I was going to a small home church, I trusted God. I’d tell him, ‘People may not know me, but You do.’ I held onto the promise that if I asked in his name, He would answer (John 14:13).
In 2020, I got about £4,000 from friends, family, and the GoFundMe page. Even when others doubted because of lockdowns and called my idea silly, I kept believing.
In 2021, a lady gave me £30,000. She had received money from her family, and after feeling a divine prompting, decided to pass it on to me.
With her gift I surpassed my goal, raising £40,000, which was exactly what I needed to transform and equip the van!
It was all I needed to embark on a journey of faith that persists to this day. Along the way, I got married and became a parent.
By February 2024 I felt God tell me to leave my job at the salon after I had a baby in April 2023. God has brought the vision to reality, and I am trusting him take me to the people he wants me to reach with his love.
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