Guardian Angels


Say what you want about Christians being hypocrites and not practicing what they preach, or that they don’t make a relevant impact on society, but I beg to differ. 

I’ve been blessed enough to see and experience a very different and most life-changing narrative. I’ve seen churches and Christians feed the poor, building schools and educating children, changing individuals’ lives, building healthy families and communities, and making a meaningful impact in the marketplace.

I was just talking to a friend about this and ended up recalling two amazing people who touched my life in an incredibly profound way. Lusanda and Mahlatse Winston Mashua. As students at UKZN, Westville, we had the privilege of having them as our campus pastors for a few years. A young couple who “gave up their lives” to serve students (knowing full well that there’s no financial gain in campus ministry). Yet they tirelessly devoted their love, energy, wisdom and resources to sow into the future leaders that God had entrusted them with.

I was a new Christian, passionate and full of zeal for the Lord and His Kingdom but lacked wisdom and logic in many areas of life. My frustration with my Bcom studies in my 2nd and 3rd year led to me dropping out of varsity, a decision that derailed my life and one that I regretted for a long time after.

Yes, I received a “talking to” from Winston and Lusi but I never felt condemned or judged. After working in random, low paying jobs in retail I decided I needed to find myself by doing something different and meaningful. I got the opportunity to volunteer a Year of My Life to serving through our church while doing theology studies from our School of Campus Ministry. What a profound experience that was! It was during that year that God used Winston and Lusi to personally impact my life on a deeper level.

Since I had left school, I no longer had financial aid and my family couldn’t afford to support me, things were tough at home, and they were very disappointed in me “throwing my life away” (granted). Going home was not an option, so I stayed in Durban and stubbornly pushed for this reinvention opportunity, not knowing how I would make ends meet for the year.

I remember one Wednesday afternoon, having finished some church admin with Lusi at their flat in Morningside, we took a break, she made lunch and we had a “chat” (I dreaded being asked about my life because it was an absolute mess and I had no answers to offer). To my horror, we got to the topic of my non-existent finances… (hand on face). 
Despite my pride and not wanting to admit I was at my wits end; we had an honest conversation. Lusi encouraged me to trust God for a solution, we prayed together, and I went home (to the commune I was staying in, with 2 months’ rent outstanding). I was on the verge of eviction and hadn’t told anyone about it.

Within a day or two, I received a call from Lusi and Winston asking me to come to their flat. I was very confused as my admin day with Lusi (whom I was shadowing) was only on a Wednesday. I nervously obliged.

Nothing could’ve prepared me for what they had to say, even in my wildest dreams I would’ve never guessed. They sat me down and dropped the bomb. “Come live with us. You need a place to stay, we have a spare bedroom”. I was shook, numb with disbelief. These people hardly know me, I thought to myself. No one is that kind! But they were dead serious. I started to understand the practicality of God’s love.

In that season of my life, I had a front row seat to an amazing, godly marriage at home (not just what people portray in church). I learned that marriage can be fun, healthy, nurturing and even relevant to our generation (I had previously loathed the idea of getting married). So my perception was definitely redeemed.

Though they were not that much older than me, they parented me with such love and care that many of my emotional wounds started healing, especially the father wound. For the first time in my life I felt affirmed, seen, wanted and taken care of (all things that are gaping holes in a child born out of an extra marital affair, growing up without a father and losing a mother at a young age to HIV/AIDS).

Winston and Lusi were God’s hands and feet to rescue me from the shambles I’d created out of my life. If they’d been consumed with their own desires and ambitions and hadn’t surrendered that season of their lives to serving in campus ministry, I don’t know where I’d be.

The same goes for our senior pastors Wayne and Trisha (who also welcomed me into their home when Winston and Lusi went to spend over a year in the UK so Winston could study at Oxford on a scholarship). Wayne and Trisha were the trailblazers that began that campus ministry fire at Westville. It is such courageous men and women that devote their lives to making an actual impact by living the Gospel practically, in all spheres of life, that we need more of in our churches and communities.

There are many more that I could list (perhaps I could fill an entire book even) that have played small and big roles in my life, being used by God in one way or another. I am the product of many selfless and kind peoples’ generosity. I don’t know another person who’s a bigger recipient of God’s grace than me. He has given me way more than what I’ve lost. He has done exceedingly, abundantly above all that I could ask, think or imagine. And that was just the beginning.

I owe it to my family, biological and spiritual, and every person who took a chance on me; to make something meaningful of my life. I can’t let their sacrifices, efforts and kindness to have been in vain. And most importantly, I owe it to myself to live a life of purpose, of passion, of impact and practical love for humanity. We are all each other’s guardian angels sent from heaven to "heal the world and make it a better place" (quoting The King of Pop)😎 



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