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Moithati Mahlangu: Still, she rose

Genesis

Moithati “Nthati” Mahlangu, also known as Pastor Tee by the congregants of Vertical Life Ministries is no stranger to the punches of life but the beautiful thing is, they didn’t keep her down. Still, she rose.

Raised in the Free State, in Qwa Qwa, she describes the type of child she was when growing up. “I was always a quiet child, reserved and always kept to myself”, she says. Her parents worked in Gauteng therefore she was left behind with her siblings and raised by her aunt. Her beautiful almond-shaped eyes lit up when she found out her father was coming back to stay with them permanently. Little did she know the excitement would be short-lived, the picture she painted of her father was about to be tainted.

Her father was an alcoholic, she remembers that every time he would get paid, he would go to the pub, drink the money away with his friends and come back home with nothing left for his children. “His room was opposite mine, so I would literally have to wait for him to snore so that I can sneak in and see how much is left in his wallet and use that for food and pay for other things in the house”, she says.

 Having a father that was not present and being given adult responsibilities at a young age resulted in her childhood flashing right before her eyes. The dark period was sometimes lightened by drops of colour on days where he was sober. “Look, without the alcohol, he was a great guy, he was funny, he used to love food. He used to love to buy food and put it down on the floor on a mat and we all sat together, and he’d tell us stories and we would eat. That’s a good childhood memory I have”, she says.

The young Nthati felt like things were beginning to look up when her mother suggested she go to boarding school.  “Because home became bitter and sour with everything that papa was doing, when my mom decided to take me away to boarding school I felt like it was going to be a new beginning for me, I was excited, I was looking forward to going to boarding school”, she says. The moment was bittersweet, she was leaving her siblings behind, in a world she so desperately wanted to run away from. She was excited, this was an opportunity to turn a new leaf. Her excitement again was short-lived when she realized she had left one trauma and was walking into another. “There was no happiness and peace at home, so I carried that to high school and my excitement was that I’m leaving all these negative things behind. And then I find myself transitioning into a different type of unhappiness”, she says.

She was bullied a lot, and to make it worse, her bullies shared the same room with her. The young Nthati would lock herself in the bathrooms and release the rivers she was harboring within. “I remember there was a girl who came to me in the bathrooms and said to me that there is a place where people that cry everyday go and cry. I did go, the organization was called SCO, School Christian Organization. When I got there, for sure people were crying but for a completely different reason. That’s where I found Christ and I never left”, she says.

 For someone who grew up without knowing Jesus, receiving Him was the best decision. That’s where she knew there was a God that loved her for who she was, and at that time in her life, that’s all she needed to know. “I wouldn’t have gone through all the challenges if it wasn’t for Christ, it sounds cliché but it’s true”, she says.

It is in SCO where she met her lifelong friends and Goodwill Mahlangu who was the leader of the organization then and is her husband now. “The most painful things with understanding and insight produce the most beautiful things. Had I not been bullied, I wouldn’t have seeked a place where people cried, I wouldn’t have been here”, she says.

Years later, she and her husband had an awakening that they had never had before, and this time it was to start a ministry.  At first this seemed impossible, barely making it on their own income how were they going to manage the costs of running a church? Despite the concerns, they took the leap of faith and trusted that the same God that sustained them throughout the years would do the same if this ministry was really part of his plan. Nthati remembers them going to view different venues where they would literally start planning church services without having the funds to secure the venue. For the naysayers who called them crazy they were right, this chapter required people with crazy faith, and they were just the people to do it.

Today they run a beautiful ministry and have formed an unbreakable bond with their congregants, more like a family. The church aims to provide a bridge between God and his people. “We have realized that there are many reasons that play part with people not wanting to come to church and thus the aim of Vertical Life is to be that bridge”, she says.

Moithati Mahlangu is proof that where you come from does not determine where you are going. Life has thrown many punches at her but with Christ, she rose.

Written by: Dimpho Malatjie

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