Have you ever had someone in your life who affected you so much that just the fact that you were around that person made you better? That is my feeling about my friend Sisana. Sisana is one of the first people that I met when I came to Swaziland, and she was already, without any outside help, serving orphaned children in her neighborhood.

She, like many of us, had a past full of hurt and heartache. But unlike many, she allowed it to make her better instead of bitter. She allowed Jesus to take those hurts and use them to help her empathize with the people suffering around her.

Sisana lived in one of the toughest places in Swaziland, the community known as Ka Khoza. Most people in Swaziland would tell you that this is where they make prostitutes and thugs. This community is a hurting place, and many people get hurt if they go there. But Sisana helped to turn this hurting place into a healing place.

She gave everything she had to help children who had nowhere else to go. She came five days a week to our CarePoint in Ka Khoza and cooked and cleaned as a volunteer. She helped children needing to take medication by visiting their homesteads. She even took into her home two community children who had no other options.

Sisana lived in a small 3-meter by 3-meter home with six children (three of which being her grandchildren whose parents have already died). Her husband had passed away, and she had little to no income. On top of this, she was suffering from TB.

Sisana passed away this past weekend from complications of TB. As our ‘Cup team and I mourn because we have lost a trusted friend, we also rejoice because there is no doubt that Sisana is with Jesus now.

I believe this was her secret for being able to overcome such tremendous adversity: She gave the pain, disappointment, and hurt to Christ and allowed Him to make it into something beautiful.

Sisana maybe didn’t lead millions to give their lives to Christ, but she made a huge impact on several children whom she helped mother. She affected a community that is hurting but saw a woman of love and servant hood. She inspired many more to do their small part by serving others in their world because of her example.

And this is Christ’s definition of love:

“No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.�
John 15:13

NOTE: You can read more about Sisana in this post from Daran and Teresa’s blog.