Lindsay Chikanda dreamed of attending university, but financial hardship forced her to wait for five years while helping her parents’ struggling tailoring business in Botswana. Embarrassed to admit the truth to her friends, she told them she was already studying. When the opportunity finally came, she chose Solusi University in Zimbabwe because none of her friends were there. Unexpectedly, that decision led her not only to higher education—but also to a life-changing encounter with God.
Lindsay didn’t go to Solusi University, a Seventh-day Adventist institution in Zimbabwe, because of her faith. She wasn’t Adventist. She didn’t go because she had friends there. She didn’t know anyone on the campus. She went to Solusi because she didn’t want to be caught in a falsehood.
As Lindsay completed high school, she dreamed about studying at a university. But then her parents broke the news that they didn’t have the money.
“You have to understand,” Mother said. “I promise that you will go to the university even if it takes time.”
Mother was a tailor, and Father sold the dresses, curtains, and sofa covers that she made. But the business wasn’t doing well when Lindsay finished high school, and her parents decided to move to Botswana.
Father tried to encourage her. “Things will get better,” he said.
Lindsay helped with the family business for the next five years. Old friends called from Zimbabwe to see how she was doing.
“What’s happening in your life?” they asked.
“I’m studying just like you,” she replied.
As time passed, she nearly gave up on her dream of going to a university.
Mother’s business gradually improved. She got more customers and opened a shop. One day, she and Father called Lindsay over and, with smiles, announced that she could choose a university to continue her studies.
Lindsay was thrilled, but she unsure where to go. She considered the University of Zimbabwe, but friends were studying there, and she didn’t want them to know that she hadn’t been studying. She looked at Midlands State University, but friends also were studying there. She had friends at every university except one: Solusi. So, she decided to go there.
When Lindsay arrived, she was unfamiliar with the Adventist Church. But she went to church every Sabbath and, eight months later, was baptized. Her parents celebrated her decision to live for Jesus.
Today, Lindsay Chikanda is 24 and finishing her first year of studies. She is ready to tell her high-school friends the truth, saying, “I’m so sorry, but I didn’t tell you the truth. I wasn’t studying. I actually was in Botswana because my parents couldn’t afford to pay my tuition and I was working with them. But then I came to Solusi, and I found God. Would you like to know God, too?”
Your Sabbath School mission offerings support Seventh-day Adventist education around the world. Thank you for giving for mission. Watch a short YouTube video of Lindsay at: bit.ly/Lindsay-IS.
Gina Wahlen
is the editor of Adventist Mission’s Sabbath School mission quarterlies and Inside Stories
