Lizwi walked with confidence into a hospital room in Manzini, Swaziland. At just 22, he’s lived enough life and experienced enough death to know his need for Jesus runs deeper than his African roots. He doesn’t want anyone to miss out on the freedom he’s found.
He touched the shoulder of a young boy who lay motionless in the children’s ward, and then greeted the grandmother, or “gogo.” She responded in siSwati while swaying on a backless chair. Her eyes pressed in on her grandson who couldn’t move the right side of his body. The doctors didn’t know why.
The gogo told Lizwi that the boy had faith in Jesus, but she was not a Christian. When Lizwi spoke to the boy, he tried to open his eyes, but they fell back shut. Lizwi then directed a group of Global Leadership Academy [GLA] students to pray with the gogo. The others in the room prayed for God to heal the boy. During the prayer, the gogo accepted Jesus. A short time later, her grandson began to move his once paralyzed arm and leg. The gogo’s eyes lit up with a smile that widened across her face. Two miracles took place in that moment. One medically documented. One written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Children’s Cup’s hospital ministry is Lizwi’s favorite. He first became involved as a student at GLA. Each time he goes, God’s healing power manifests among the perishing they pray for at the hospital. He’d missed this opportunity with his own mom. She passed away from an infection when he was just eighteen. And three weeks earlier, his grandfather had died. Drugs ruled his actions at that time. Not the power of God. But this perfect storm brought Lizwi to his knees where he dug deep for the seeds of truth planted in his heart by his deceased grandmother. He could no longer mask the reality of death with the cloud of drugs and darkness. Eternity stared him in the face. And at that moment, he accepted Jesus into his life.
God directed Lizwi’s path back to high school where he shared his new-found life in Christ with his classmates. After earning his diploma, God led Lizwi to Children’s Cup Global Leadership Academy in 2012. Serving at CarePoints is a requirement of all students, but he confesses that he initially dreaded this time. His heart was like a stone torward children. But over the course of the year, God chisled through his hardness, exposing their plight. Many children are homeless, or without parents or food. HIV/AIDS has devoured the population, and abuse is accepted as the norm. And during this time, a child at his CarePoint died –alone. Lizwi’s heart broke completely for this vulnerable population that he lived among, yet had previously ignored.
Today there are no hints of this once hardened heart. Each Sunday you can spot Lizwi at River Valley Church—Mbekelweni. He’s the one with the brightest smile, surrounded by scores of children hollering out for “malume!” The one they call “uncle” is now their youth pastor. He’s the one leading them in a dance routine or singing from behind the piano he’s recently taught himself to play. He’s the one who was just a bullet in a box before GLA propelled and directed him toward a greater purpose in Christ.
