MY JOURNEY TO LIFE!

INTRODUCTION

LIFE is a special gift from God, the very essence that we exist in and the reason we were protected in the conception, birth and longevity its mind blowing for the love God bestowed on us. What is life? Life is the passing of time. What is time? Time is the passing of life. Time is categorized into two facets, Chronos, which means the ordinary time, determined and calculated within our solar system and Kairos is God’s divine timing, the perfect time. I was born on 14 August, 1965, at Hope Fountain clinic in Matabeleland North, although this is not my official birth date as my birth certificate got lost after the family disintegrated after the death of my father, Joseph Gasela and my mother, Josephine Gasela, could not hold all things together alone. My mother, Josephine Nyathi Gasela, told me the true birthdate years later after much inquiry. I was the seventh child from my mother’s side to be born and my father named me ‘Sabelo’. The meaning of my name is “My Portion” because when I was born, my father told his sister who was living in South Africa that he had another son, instead of congratulating him, she scorned him saying that he had too many children. My father told her that it was God’s portion that He had given him, thus “Sabelo” means my portion. I have a faint idea about my father. This book narrates the life that was preserved, protected and unleashed into the world with a special purpose to change the world and human limitations. This book articulates the journey and adventure of my life into a broken and unfriendly world yet to the world with kind, compassionate and loving people who overcome evil with good.

The purpose of this book/autobiography is to show God’s hand in my life, His guidance, His protection and sailing through the challenges and hurdles of life but yet it calls for patience, perseverance, resilience, faith, staying focused and pushing on regardless of the situation one encounters and confronts. Sit back, relax and buckle-up as we prepare to take off on my life journey and enjoy the ride! My hope and prayer are that this memoir/autobiography will inspire you and compel you to keep moving and believing regardless of your circumstances or situation. The book documents the genesis of the Gasela-Mhlanga family tree, the disintegration of my family, my departure from Hope Fountain, my life in Tsholotsho, my departure to Botswana, then to Zambia and my return to Zimbabwe in 1980 after independence. My life journey in Zimbabwe after independence, my education, my service in the church, United Baptist Church, my struggles and my challenges. The last chapters detail my departure to the USA, the pursuit of my education and my second commission as a missionary in the Northwest. Let me begin at the beginning.