Monday morning (6/15/09) Bro. Tankiso passed away. Earlier this year he had been diagnosed with HIV and he had begun treatment, but apparently he waited too late to start the ARVs. Bro. Tankiso has been my friend since we arrived here back in 2006. He attended my discipleship class faithfully and was a blessing in the church. I remember how happy he was last year when I had the privilege of baptizing him. Right before we returned to the U.S. in March last year Bro. Tankiso looked at me and said: "I'm saved. I know I'm saved". He went on to say that someday he would preach. He did begin to preach last year, but his last message was in December 2008. He spoke about trusting God. He was scheduled to preach at the end of January this year but by then he was already declining physically. I remember on different occasions that Bro. Tankiso told me that God was dealing with him about certain issues in his life and that he was going to stop doing whatever it was that God had spoken to him about. Bro. Tankiso was a changed man. He loved to tell me about how God had transformed his life. He loved to talk about how great God was. Just about a week before Bro. Tankiso passed away I was encouraging him to not lose his faith and hope in God. He whispered back: "I can't do that".
We already deeply miss Bro. Tankiso. Sometimes he called me his spiritual father, though we were about the same age. I was his mentor, but he was always a blessing and an encouragement to me. We just pray that God will give us many more men like Bro. Tankiso. Join with us in praying for his wife and family.
1 comment:
He's been in our prayers. We will pray for his family and you in your loss. Heaven's gain!
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