My name is Faith Siboza but I go by Faith Tlou, my mother’s maiden name. My parents were friends at 15 and had met at Lutheran Evangelical Church in Witbank in a Church doctrine called ‘I class’. I was born in 2005 on September 21st in Life Cosmos Hospital at 4:30 in the morning. I weighed 4.13 kg; I was a big child so my mom had to be operated on due to some serious complications. I was named by my dad when he heard that my mom was pregnant.

At the time I was born she was working as a secretary at Aphane Consulting and my father was working for the municipality office in Lynnville. I didn’t know what it was that he did.

We lived at my great grandmother’s place as my granny had no house and my mom had no house. In 2006 my mom bought a house in extension 4 KwaGuqa; that’s where I grew up until 2007 when my mom was no longer working. We had to be back at my great grandmom’s place where things were not easy.

My father left my mom while she was still pregnant with me and went to live in Pretoria where he married another woman.

My mother is a prayer worrier and has always instilled the value of prayer to me. Since I was conceived my mom was always sick and was attacked spiritually.

She suffered a lot; she went to different doctors and was told different stories. One time she went to the clinic and she was told that they couldn’t see me, but my mom did not believe that and she continued to pray and believed God for my safe delivery.

When she was in her third trimester the worst happened; she had a sickness that doctors did not understand. Others said it was her kidneys, that I was too big inside her so I pressed her kidneys. That doctor ended up saying he couldn’t help my mom.

My grandmother decided to call Bishop Elias Dunu Msibi who was my mom’s pastor. The pastor came and prayed for my mom. I thank those men of God because had he did not prayed for my mom, almost to the end of her pregnancy, maybe I should’ve died.

My life was never easy; I was a sickly child and every month I would be taken to doctors with a severe bronchitis but with the help of God I survived that. After that sickness I developed other sicknesses that followed. Chronic kidney disease started when I was in grade 1 and was 7 years old. My mom at that time did not understand it and in grade 2 it started to be serious.

She took me to the clinic that she usually preached in and the nurse there checked me and said that my kidney had lots of proteins; that was called proteinuria. They transferred me to hospital but I did not arrive there as my uncle took me to a private doctor. I was given antibiotics and they helped for a while.

My mom never stopped praying.

In grade 3 it was bad; I could not attend school regularly. I went to doctors, specialists, had tests done. My aunts paid for my doctors as my mom was not working. That stressed her so much. She would cry to God every day in her prayer sessions, for God to help he get a financial breakthrough.

When I started school my mom had to take me to school by taxi as she had no money to pay for transport. She had to stay in town up until school was out to come and fetch me. After that we found a khumbi for me.

My mom wanted the best for me so enrolled me in a multi-racial school and I studied with government exemption. She was helping my granny with the business of selling cakes. Every day they baked cakes and my granny went to town to sell them; that’s how we survived and that’s how I could be like other kids in school and be able to pay for fundraising and other stuff.

My grandmother, Velephi Tlou, made sure that I had a lunch box to school and that my life was better like the life of other kids.

My father was never there for me yet he had lots of money. He never paid a cent for me; never helped with my school fees, never even took care of me. He once bought me Christmas clothes in 2010 when he claimed he had a prophecy but after that it was nothing only false promises.

I have 2 aunts by the name of Queen and Sphiwe Tlou who have played a huge role in my life.

Aunt Queen comes after my mom. She worked at Pick n’ Pay in Witbank Highveld mall as a deli cook. She loved me very much. When I was sick she paid for my radiography which was very expensive, taking the last that she had for me to be healthy.

She always bought me stuff; clothes and food and I’m grateful to her a lot for what she did for me. She was my sitter when my mom was still working. She has 3 kids; 2 girls and 1 boy, named Bongnkosi, Njabulo and Minihle. Bongnkosi and me grew together as brother and sister, we were very close.

Sphiwe Tlou is my cousin’s mother yet my aunt, that how we call them in our African tradition.

Sphiwe used to pray for every doctor I went to when I was sick. She went to an extent of wanting to put me in her medical aid. She worked at BHP BILLITON as an artisan. I appreciate everything she did in my life.

My mother raised me and trained me in God’s ways.

“Faith, you must honour your father, respect and love him even if he does nothing for you, for that is what God expects from you. Your father has your blessings,” she would say. She often quoted Ephesians 6v1-3

Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honour your father and your mother which is the first commandment with the promise that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on earth.

So that’s what I will grow up doing concerning my dad.

In 2014 my mom had a dream about herself in Apostle Timothy Mabena’s church. The apostle asked to her come and dance. When they were dancing the apostle said to her, “Are you suffering from kidney disease?” My mom answered that I, her daughter, suffers from it.

In the morning my mom in-boxed the apostle on Facebook and the apostle was kind enough to answer my mom. He told us to come and we went. He prayed for me and I was healed completely.

My story, in short, is to tell everybody reading that God is alive and He stills heal. I give honour and praise to God Almighty; Jehovah is His name.

A special thanks to my family, my mom, aunts, father and my grand mom for supporting and raising me. I’d also like to thank the 2 men of God in my life, Bishop D. Msibi and Papa Apostle Timothy Mabena.