A New Path

Limeni attends the 9th grade at Intlantsi Christian School in South Africa. Though his childhood has been marked by tragedy – losing his father at a young age and a brother only a few years ago – God is showing him and his family a new path.

“Before I came to Intlantsi, I thought my life was nice. I was doing things that are wrong like stealing people’s phones. At the time, I thought that was fine but now I see it was bad. I thought I was nobody, but now I understand that I am somebody. I didn’t know God. Now, I see Someone is looking at me. Now I understand there is a God. I know I have choices. I can choose better.

When I started at Intlantsi school, I began to change. I learned English. There were many words I didn’t understand and it was hard for me. I also learned who I am. I learned about my strengths and abilities. Before, I thought I knew everything and I didn’t care what I didn’t know. But now I have learned how to care about myself.

My family also changed. I began going to church and I said to them, “I am here now, there is nothing that can take me back. I will be in church permanently.” My sisters heard and joined me. My mother saw I was serious, and she was proud of me and wanted to show me, so she went too. It is also changing their lives now.

When I think about the future, my first thought is to change where I live. I want to go to a better place. When I heard Ms. Caylee and Mr. Mitch (local missionaries) talk about places where people don’t know about God, though, I thought, ‘I’m here and I know about God; so I can help people know about God.’ I thought, ‘I can’t just go to places like America or India and leave the people in my village that don’t know about God. I must first tell people in my village about God.”

The Lord is using Intlantsi Christian School to impact the lives of students like Limeni. As a ministry, we are grateful for our partnership with Intlantsi. God is continuing to do great things and we look forward to watching Him build His kingdom in South Africa.

This story was first featured in our 2020 Annual Report.