How One Class Changed Promise’s Life

When the funding stops, the ministry stops.

African Christian College saw that reality early and made a deliberate decision to do something about it.

Twenty years ago, Dr. Ira Hill taught a course at African Christian College titled, Tent Making Like Paul. The goal was straightforward but transformative: to raise ministers who would not sit and wait for international support but would build their own means of sustaining both their families and their ministries.

One student who sat in that class and never forgot it was Promise Mabuza.

Promise enrolled with a singular passion: to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. That was all he had ever wanted. But inside Dr. Hill’s classroom, his understanding of what it meant to be a minister began to expand.

“It dawned on me at that time that a minister must not just preach and fold his arms, but work to provide just like every other man out there,” Promise recalls. The class walked students through a careful study of how the Apostle Paul never relied solely on offerings and donations to fund his missionary journey.

Paul worked with his hands. And so could they.

That lesson stayed with Promise long after graduation. After trying several initiatives, he returned to the tent making principle and applied it with what little he had. “The mindset was already transformed and I did not waste time asking for support. Instead I used what I had to start a chicken and piggery project,” he says.

The results have been remarkable. Today, Promise stands in ministry without depending on support from any overseas church. His farming projects generate enough income to school his children, support his family, and even fund ministry activities out of his own pocket.

What Dr. Hill planted in a classroom two decades ago is still bearing fruit. Promise has not just survived in ministry . . . he has thrived. And he knows exactly where the turning point was: in a classroom at African Christian College.

At African Christian College, equipping students with practical skills for self sustainability is not an afterthought. It is a core part of the mission. Promise’s story is a living testament to what that investment produces.