Inside Story ~ Zimbabwe

Secret to Happy Home

By Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission

Home was not a happy place for Hazel Moyo. Her father drank, and her parents argued frequently in Gwanda, a small town in Zimbabwe. Hazel longed to have a happy family.

Image © Pacific Press

At the age of 14, Hazel made a decision that triggered a chain of events that would change her home forever. She started going to church. She saw other children heading to Sunday services, and she wanted to go, too. So, she took her 9-year-old brother by the hand and went.

After high school, Hazel saw a newspaper advertisement for Solusi University, a Seventh-day Adventist institution located about 2 ½ hours by bus from her home. She met university recruiters when they visited her town, and her father agreed to pay for her tuition.

At Solusi, Hazel soon joined a singing group and asked them many questions about the Sabbath. One of the group members, a young married pastor named Elyght Nyatanga, announced, “I want this girl to be my daughter”, he said. “Every Wednesday, I will pray and fast for her to know God”.

Five other group members liked the idea and, together with Hazel, joined in.

For three months, they prayed and fasted. Then Solusi University held a week of prayer, and Hazel was baptized.

When Hazel turned 23, Elyght presented her with Ellen White’s book “Messages to Young People”. Hazel was touched by the advice for happy families. She wanted a happy family.

“I learned how you approach an angry parent, how you address some of the issues that you have with parents, and how to show honor to your parents”, she said.

A favorite passage says, “There are many children who profess to know the truth, who do not render to their parents the honor and affection that are due to them, who manifest but little love to father and mother, and fail to honor them in deferring to their wishes, or in seeking to relieve them of anxiety”. (page 331).

Joy began to fill Hazel’s home as she followed the book’s advice.

Then during a school break, Hazel invited her parents to read the Bible and pray before going to bed. They agreed! The next evening, Mother asked Hazel to read the Bible and pray again. Soon the family began having evening and morning worship every day.

Happiness now permeates the home, and Hazel is praying for her family to be baptized.

“Now we are a happy family – the kind of family that I always wanted”, said Hazel, left.

Part of a 2015 Thirteenth Sabbath Offering went to Solusi University to double the size of its cafeteria from 500 seats to 1,000. Thank you for your mission offerings that allow Adventist schools like Solusi to work with the Holy Spirit to change families for eternity.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

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Amen!