Zaithwa Gwaza - Testimony - Malawi to the U.S.

"I am from a country called Malawi. It's in southern East Africa.

Roughly, it has a population of 18.1 million and approximately 71% of my country lives in extreme poverty.

It's a really poor country.

(Zai after getting a nice haircut!)

Fortunately, I grew up in the upper class of my country- fortunately, by God's grace.

I was born to two wonderful parents my dad died, unfortunately, when I was 9 and I've been growing up with my single mother and my younger brother.

(His English is really good.)

So people have been asking me you've only been in the US since about August… how do you speak such good English?!

I grew up in an international school. I was able to learn English and I was able to meet people from various cultures which was really good because you have a very good worldview when you meet people from India, America, the UK, people from Holand. I have friends from various countries.

Life was good and then my dad died.

Then two years ago my mom started having financial problems. 

To go to an international school is more expensive than a government School.

On average you're paying per year 10,000 USD because most of the teachers are expats.

They are British teachers coming to teach the small random country in Africa.

It is very expensive you know?

My mother couldn't pay for that.

From there I started seeing a lot of Miracles.

For example teachers paying my school fees so I could continue going to school which is a big blessing because my mom did not have the money to send me.

Then the major one and how I got to the US.

Everyone is always asking me “how did you find a little school in Pittsburgh and how are you in Pittsburgh!?”

(He's really good with kids and loves to be around other Christian brothers and sisters)

The Story Goes Like This

I felt convicted to come to the  U.S.

I was praying a lot, “God provide for me” then between April and May of this year 2017 I never got enough funding to come to the u.s.

Then I specifically told God, “show me where you want me to go. Do you want me to go to South Africa?
It's a nice country. It's one of the most developed countries in Africa. It's cool I've just been to Cape Town
it's fine and I wouldn't mind going there. It's beautiful and it might be just as beautiful as the US. I just need you to show me because I want to know.”

Then for a while I thought that God did not want me to come to U.S.

Then a month exactly after deadline day for when you choose your colleges- May the first is when you 
choose your colleges- a month later my equivalent-to-vice-principal who is Scottish and married a Malawi man texted me.

She has biracial kids and I was really close to her little kids. One is 10 and the other is 8.

She sent me a text on a Thursday saying “could you come to my house I think I might know someone who 
can help you go to the US.”

I went and she started explain to me that she knows the guy who went to Malawi a couple years ago and they work together. She said, “I spoke to him about you. He's willing to pay your expenses- your school fees- 
your tuition in the U.S.!”

She said, “I hope that's fine?”

I said, “Obviously that's fine!”

(He loves adventures)

I was desperate I mean that is where I wanted to go and it's wonderful that she's even know I want to go to the US and she asked this guy and it was a secret. I think she had asked him a month before. She wanted to 
confirm everything before she told me.

Then I started talking to this man and he's an 85 year old man from Iowa and has no children but he's helped two other Malawi's from Malawi.

He said he felt the Holy Spirit was telling him to help me… and that is how I got to U.S.

So he literally pays all my expenses so on average a year he's probably paying 40,000 US dollars- for this 
random chap from Africa. *Laughs*

So what's the moral of the story?

First of all trust in God.

It's important to utterly trust in God.

When we feel that God is calling us somewhere no matter the resources that we have we always have to look at him.

There was a time when I was questioning and wondering, 
“God, are you going to do this?”.

He was there a month after the normal date to accept colleges.

Another thing that I learned during this time was that 

sometimes things may not always go the way that we would want them to go but God will always sort out everything if we just trust him.

My dad died when I was young and I told most my friends back in school that my dad dying is one of the things that I'm most thankful for and people are like “okay how!?”.

It is because I was able to learn a lot of things to my dad's death.

I was able to learn more for my mother and I was able to rely on God more and be able to receive the love 
that my extended family had for me.

We all go through various trials.

Two years ago my dad's sister died on my birthday with cervical cancer. 

We go through several trials in life but if we keep trusting in God and keep on looking on to him and having an honest relationship with him he's 
always going to be there for us.

The road is not always going to be easy but if he wants to do anything for his glory he's always going to do anything he wants.

That's my story and that's how I got to the US." - Zaithwa Gwaza

To listen to the full story: Listen

https://soundcloud.com/daniel-barry-715696072/zaithwa-gwaza-testimony