Mbongiseni

Operations

Mbongiseni has much to say about being a leader personally, and about The Luke Commission being a leader in Swaziland. “I wasn’t aware I would get to serve my own people,” Mbongiseni says. “I was just looking for a job to make money. Now I am here for good.”

Not long ago, Mbongiseni used to accompany a community relations team to explain to community leaders what TLC offered. “Now they just want to know WHEN TLC is coming, and they say, ‘Don’t skip us.’”

He continues: “Our king knows his nation is in a war. In this war, we need more hands. Our government realizes this and gives TLC the freedom to help.”

Mbongiseni started out as a gardener for Swaziland’s TLC board chairman’s wife and now manages one of two outreach teams. “I want to deal with character,” he notes. “ Sometimes people look at the boss as just the one giving tasks. But I want them to know I work under people, too. I want to be humble and know the people under me are working even when I’m not watching.”

Quoting Zakes Nxumalo, one of TLC’s favorite Swazi pastors, Mbongiseni remembers: “If you are working with people, you can be hurt. If you are working with bricks, you can’t be hurt.”

But Mbongiseni is not hurt often: “I love the respect we have for each other, with no walls. We can relax in Swaziland.” Mbongiseni has a young son, whose mother he says he is going to marry “soon, soon.”