At 14, Sandile was a regular drinker and smoker, now he is an exemplary soldier for Swaziland’s military

Popularity, getting high and being the strongest quickly took hold as priorities in Sandile Thwala’s life as he began sniffing glue and benzene with school friends when he was just nine years old.

However, one typical day in junior high school, Sandile’s plans to drink beer with his school buddies after school were interrupted when a Christian preacher visited his class and shared a message that hit Sandile between the eyes.

The preacher talked about those who are “useless giants”, and 14-year-old Sandile knew he was one of them, because, he confesses, “I was violent and naughty in the night clubs and I hit people for no apparent reason”.

The preacher then explained that a true man is one who has received forgiveness and strength from God to help others.

He read from Psalm 23: “The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul… Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

The writer David, one of Israel’s kings, concludes by saying that because he has trusted in God “goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

Sandile had never heard something so real and promising in his life.

The preacher explained that God will forgive all our sin if we believe Jesus, God the Son, died on the cross for our sins and accept Him as King of our life.

Sandile eagerly prayed that prayer, asking Jesus for this to happen.

“I will never forget the day I received Jesus Christ into my life,” Sandile says.

“After school that day I ran away from my friends because I knew my friends would have deceived me and convinced me to drink alcohol since I was the one who had wanted to buy it. As the saying goes, ‘bad friends corrupt good character’.”

The next big test of Sandile’s relationship with God came seven years later when he joined the Swazi military.

“The last day before beginning my training, my mother wept vigorously because she believed the life of a soldier would lead me away from God.”

Sandile admits that the training was tough and challenging, “but I knew God was beside me at all times and I did finish my training while remaining in God’s will.”

However, serving as a solder at the Swaziland border was an even tougher challenge.

He knew he had to respect and obey his fellow soldiers and superiors. “But if their standards are different to my own, how do I maintain God’s standard for living?” Sandile pondered.

During a deployment in Mshololo, south of the Kingdom of Swaziland, Sandile discovered God’s answer while reading his Bible.

“I came across Ephesians 6, verses 11-18Ephesians 6, verses 11-18, where a picture of a soldier is revealed in the Scriptures,” he says.

The passage tells Christians to put on the full spiritual armour of God so that you can stand your ground against the schemes of the Devil, the enemy of God.

Stand firm with the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, the shield of faith that extinguishes the flaming arrows of the evil one, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Christian believers,” the Bible passage finishes.

Sandile continues: “These verses gave me courage and began to understand that being a soldier was not a sin, but instead I have a ‘double impact’ because I am a soldier physically and spiritually.

“This is a great advantage for me because I could preach the good news of Jesus among my military colleagues and sometimes I was invited to preach to the neighbouring churches around Mshololo.”

Many people came to these churches out of curiosity, Sandile says, because they had never heard of a Christian soldier before.

“Thank God my life convinced a number of them that a soldier can honour God in his career and many decided to trust in Jesus as their King and Saviour.

“I thank God that I still preach about Jesus even today in the army without shame as God is sustaining my life, He has been faithful to me.”