“Glory be to God, people of God. My name is Mandela. I am from Ghana, studying in China. I was introduced to God’s Heart TV by my wife, and she always reminded me to send my prayer requests, feeling I wasn’t serious enough about this altar. I decided to take it seriously, listening to the testimonies and praying along seriously with Brother Chris. I’m a PhD candidate here in China. I submitted my thesis for external review, and I had two out of three passing me, but here you need all three to pass your review to graduate. I re-submitted again, just in case one more random professor would review it online and pass me, but it failed, actually having more questions than the first time. Mind you, my thesis is in Chinese, even though I’m a foreign student from Ghana. This meant I had to re-submit for December graduation. This time around, I needed three professors to review. I went ahead to go and celebrate my marriage in South Africa, which was a miracle on its own. I still can’t believe God added me to those who prayed for godly women and actually got to marry one.
“September came; I re-submitted my thesis, and this time around, guess what, people of God? All three failed me woefully. I was broken and couldn’t even eat for almost a week, but I kept my faith in God. I knew He has a bigger testimony for me. 2025 came, and I was hoping to graduate in June, but upon changing some of the chapters and submitting to my immediate professor, she said it wasn’t fit and that if I submitted to the college, she would tell them she didn’t approve and that I was on my own. I felt sad, but my wife encouraged me in the Lord. She was by me, praying and encouraging me. Well, I’m actually the best foreign student in that university by God’s doing, as the first Ghanaian student and first African the university has ever had. Nobody from the college to the school academics could understand what was happening to me because I already have a Chinese patent in the pipeline showing my research work had substance, but here I was, struggling to graduate. I decided to give up in my anger, but the Holy Spirit would rebuke me, and I would correct myself and do some positive confessions.
“In September 2025, I decided to re-submit after several back-and-forth discussions with my immediate professor, coupled with agony, but I knew in my heart, with all the prayers from this altar and testimonies, that God wasn’t dead to my prayer. On November 4, I received a call from the college secretary to tell me all three have approved my work, and she wanted to tell me herself before sending the official review report. It came with high marks; in fact, I just need a few points in my defence to enter the distinction zone. I’m here to give all glory to God to encourage a student out there that it is possible to shine with God at the centre of it all. Man of God, may you grow from grace to grace. My academic journey has been testimony after testimony and has brought me to have a personal encounter with Christ Jesus. From a high Second-Class Upper to graduating with a Third Class with an award to a PhD holder with a patent to his name – if this isn’t the hand of God, let the world tell us.
“If you are out there in a foreign land contemplating your faith and the power of prayer, studying the Word, and fellowshipping online or offline, please be encouraged through my testimony that God is forever God. Stick with Him because if you leave the sheepfold, you will be back to see more wonderful things. Never lose your faith out there. I will be back to celebrate more testimonies before the year ends. People of God, stay blessed and connected!”