Perhaps the most admirable thing about Thuso is that while he helps himself, he makes sure to help others as well.

Out of his commitment to serving his community, he pastors a small church in Messina, Zimbabwe with no financial support. So he runs a small business that buys and resells cell phones so that he can take care of his family’s needs. Thuso has had to rely on his own resourcefulness for survival.

Angered by him becoming a Christian, Thuso’s grandmother stopped paying for his schooling and kicked him out of the house at 17 years old. With no access to education and no means of financial support, Thuso turned to selling products to earn money.

When Thuso was called into ministry, he relied on another pastor to bring him materials and lessons from Bible college. He studied with borrowed materials and was ordained as a minister at 21.

He soon moved to Kwe Kwe––a rural village in Zimbabwe––to pastor a church. But this would prove to be a test of his faith and commitment.His congregation suffered beatings and had their houses burned to the ground by rebel forces.

He refused to stop serving Kwe Kwe, so someone tried to kill him by poisoning him.

When he survived the attempted murder, Thuso never lost his desire to help others. Thuso came to the Paradigm Shift training a church was offering in Zimbabwe, and he didn’t just see an opportunity for his own business to grow, he also saw an opportunity to share the knowledge he learned with his congregation.

He explains, “I came to the Paradigm Shift course to benefit both my business and my community. People come to me and say, ‘I don’t have a job.’ Knowing business is an opportunity for me to share a way for them to provide for themselves.”

Through the program, Thuso learned the importance of record-keeping and budgeting. He also learned about God’s desire for us to work and was able to lose the guilt he carried about running a business while serving as a pastor.

When Thuso dreams of his business expanding, it isn’t just for his own benefit. He dreams about how financial security could pay for his children’s education and give his family a good life. But most importantly, he dreams about how he could help others in his community even more than he already has.