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The Redemption of Ray Maposa

Ray Maposa

Today I met Ray Maposa, age 20, who was born again when he was 8. Since January, he has been attending vocational training classes at the “Space of Hope,” one of Heaven’s Family’s Christ-centered partner ministries in Zimbabwe. At the Space of Hope (SOH), during 18 months of daily classes, students master four life skills: farming, sewing, cooking, and raising egg-laying chickens, all of which equip them to earn a living to support their families. They also attend Bible classes where they learn to follow Jesus.

Ray is the third of six children. He only ever attended primary school, which is 1st to 7th grade in Zimbabwe. There was no money to continue his education.

Just three months ago, Ray’s father died unexpectedly at age 54. He was what is known in Africa as a “day laborer.” Every morning he would stand in a public place with other men, hoping to be hired for the day to earn $5 or $6 for the entire day. Ray’s father did own a small plot of land outside the city where he grew vegetables, but it never produced enough food to feed the family for an entire year. When the family had a harvest to eat, they rationed it by eating just one meal a day. During the annual hunger season, which Ray told us generally lasted three months, they relied on the handouts of “well-wishers.”

So, all of Ray’s life, his family was in survival mode, and then they lost their breadwinner. Ray’s mother couldn’t work because there was and is no work available. 

Worse, in some African cultures, when a married man dies, his property may be confiscated by his extended family, leaving the widow and her children completely destitute. Ray’s family has always lived in a tiny concrete-block house in what is known in Zimbabwe as “high-density housing.” You and I would refer to it as uninhabitable slums. Crowded one-room concrete and tin shacks—that were meant to house single people—are often occupied by two impoverished families who separate their living space with a hanging sheet. That is the only kind of housing Ray has ever known. And now, a group of Ray’s uncles could come and evict him and his family.

In spite of all his hardship, Ray is amazingly optimistic. He told us that he previously felt trapped in utter hopelessness. But then he heard about SOH, learned that there were no tuition fees, applied, and was accepted. He walks  a couple of miles back and forth each day to the SOH campus which was all built several years ago with funding from Heaven’s Family.

Ray is ecstatically thankful for his opportunity. And he is already applying what he is learning. On his family’s small plot of land, he is growing carrots, tomatoes and beans utilizing the “Farming God’s Way” methods he has learned, and he is expecting a cash crop. He is also baking for his family. And he has been earning money by repairing damaged clothing using the SOH sewing machines. He even sewed a new skirt for his mother, and when she learned about it, she cried. She told him she always thought he would never rise higher in life than his deceased father. 

But for the first time in his life, Ray has hope. His story, like so many other stories I heard from SOH students today, had me wiping tears.

Right after I took the photo above of Ray, I gave him a “hallelujah handshake.” He could feel that my hand contained some currency, but he didn’t know what value it was. He put it in his pocket without looking at it and then hugged me! I had immense joy imagining him later discovering that it was $100, equivalent to what his father would earn in about a month. I’m sure he will not waste it, but invest it to make it multiply. Below are a few more photos from the day with captions. Thanks for bringing joy and hope to Ray and to about 25 other students, mostly women, at the Space of Hope through your investments in Heaven’s Family!

Esther Dhlakama (at right) and Mildred (didn’t get her last name, at left). They are SOH grads who have earned enough money by selling their expert sewing services (using SOH campus sewing machines) that they both were able to purchase their own sewing machines. And because they are responsible for SOH’s 100 egg-layers (behind them in the photo) and marketing and selling about 100 eggs each day, they’ve both earned enough money to purchase very sophisticated sewing machines known as “sergers” (or “overlockers”) used to finish edges, trim excess fabric, and seam garments simultaneously. When those machines soon arrive from India, they will take Esther and Mildred’s businesses to the next level.
Student Tendai Tswaki, age 23, who has been married for three years and has two-year-old son. She lives in Nwangani Village, which is a two-hour daily walk to the SOH campus via paths. That is four hours of walking in total every day, and sometimes she carries her son the entire way!

Tendia just started attending SOH in January, but she has already earned money sewing uniforms for her church and she is applying "Farming God’s Way" methods at home. With great joy she showed us the Bible she received at SOH, telling us that she never dreamed she would own a Bible, as they are unaffordable. She loves to serve others and is now filled with hope that she will be able to make something out of her life. She and her husband have been living on an income of $150 per month from her husband’s meager earnings as a day laborer.
Heaven’s Family’s Africa director and my traveling companion, Jerry Jefferson, with student Millicent Ndlovu. She walks one-and-a-half hours each way from home to the the SOH campus. She is age 24. She and her husband, who is a day laborer, have two young children who are being watched by their grandmother when Millicent is learning at SOH.