My     Testimony          

My name is Tafumanei Zvenyika, I am a young man aged 19. I grew up in in the rural areas in Masvingo, Zimbabwe. I am the first born in a family of three children.

 

During most of my formative years my father was a pensioner, so he operated a small business in order to make a living. It was a grinding-mill project which used to earn modest profits such that he managed to send my siblings and me to school. In 2012, my father passed away, and my mother who was unemployed struggled to make ends meet. My father’s ex-wife came back after the death of my father demanding all the property including the grinding-mill and the pension. From then everything turned upside down for me. We were kicked out of our home and we were left with nothing.

 

My mother just managed to build one small hut which we are currently sharing as a family. She tried to raise money for us to continue with our education but she failed. My half brothers and sisters were not interested in me and they refused to pay for me to go to school, a situation which forced me to drop out.

 

For two years I looked for odd jobs to help take care of our family and raise money to complete my education. In 2014 I raised enough money to sit for my O-Level examinations. I passed with flying colours and my teachers encouraged me to continue with my studies to Advanced Level at the school.

 

In 2015 I joined the Baptist Church and I was advised to apply for school fees assistance, under the BUZ Orphan Care Programme. Fortunately, I got the assistance for the period 2015 to 2016, so I went to school and managed to complete my studies. In 2015 my family also joined the church after giving their lives to Christ and just seeing God’s faithfulness at work in my life.

 

I am grateful for the Baptist Church and the Orphan Care programme, they have shown me great kindness by helping me pursue my dreams and I now have a bright future. I am currently applying to go to University later this year and I hope that I will continue to get financial assistance to cover my tertiary studies. In the future I would like to work with the BUZ to assist other under privileged groups such as widows and orphans.