Profile in Perseverance: Ba Mayo
John Maleya Kilaha • March 8, 2021
“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13b-14
(NIV)
The Apostle Paul faced many challenges and pain in his ministry, but he persevered and pressed on to the spiritual finish line.
In Lusaka, Zambia, Peace Mwitwa, known as Ba Mayo—translated as “our mother”—is someone who presses on and perseveres through the painful challenges of life. She’s such an inspiration. Ba Mayo has endured pain for most of her life. But when you meet her, you wouldn’t know that. She has the most welcoming smile and the warmest heart.
At 78, she’s been a disciple of Jesus for over 20 years. Way back in 1978, at 36, she suffered a massive heart attack coupled with a stroke that paralyzed her. She spent considerable time in hospital–unable to sit, talk, eat or do anything for herself. That lasted almost a year, with her children often left alone at home.
Ten years later, she suffered another massive heart attack and stroke. It weakened her even further. Meanwhile, because of her sickness and stay in hospital, her marriage suffered, and so did her kids. Ba Mayo was in pain and unable to do much for herself.
She lost her first five children while they were babies. It was a big blow. Ba Mayo had five more children who became adults. Along the way, she lost one child to a heart attack. Another succumbed to a terminal illness, while one other disappeared on campus. She currently lives with a grandson who has a medical condition caused by a bout of cerebral malaria.
She’s been on medication for over 40 years. Most nights, she’s unable to sleep because of pain. She can’t even attend church because any vigorous activity causes attacks.
Last year, she lost her husband in a road accident. Talk about pain. She has seen and felt so much.
Yet, when you talk to her, she’s so encouraging. She’s not bitter towards God. Instead, she has a positive outlook on life. Whenever anyone visits her they end up leaving encouraged and uplifted.
How is she still standing despite all that she’s gone through? This is her advice: “You must know whose you are. You belong to God, and His presence and influence will help you stand in times of suffering.
“You must learn to encourage yourself during times of pain and struggle. Fix your thoughts on Jesus and not on the problem. Because He is the problem solver. If you are connected to God, no matter what you go through, his presence swallows it up,” she adds.
Ba Mayo is pressing on towards the finish line. She has learnt to await with eagerness the crown of righteousness kept for her by the Lord. She has words of encouragement for you. “Focus on God because He will turn your pain into gain and your scars into stars. So regroup, refocus, and resolve to press on.”
So I ask you, how are you doing? Are you bitter about the pain and challenges you’ve gone through? Or are you pressing on to the finish line, forgetting what’s behind and straining towards what is ahead?
Ba Mayo is a living example of what it means to persevere through pain and suffering.
More from Southern African Churches of Christ
Imagine you are at a neighborhood barbecue. Your new neighbor arrives late, dressed casually, and barely speaks. Someone whispers, “She thinks she’s too good for us.” You feel the quick sting of that snap judgment. Later, you learn she just lost her husband and is quietly grieving. In that moment, you sense the discomfort of judging wrongly, a rush to conclusions that harms relationships and reveals more about our own hearts than the other person. Yet, the same evening, when another guest makes a racist joke, you feel an inner nudge to speak up. Is that also “judging”? This everyday tension captures what Jesus presents in Scripture: a divine balance between grace-filled restraint and righteous discernment. The two commands in tension “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” – Matthew 7: “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” – John 7:24 At first glance, these seem contradictory. Don’t judge. Judge correctly. Which is it? Matthew 7 warns against a critical, hypocritical spirit that condemns others while ignoring our own faults. The context continues: “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:2). Jesus then uses the vivid image of someone with a plank in their own eye trying to remove a speck from another’s. Notice the aim: “then you will see clearly to remove the speck.” Self-examination is not a reason to stay silent. It is how we become safe enough to speak (Matthew 7:3-5). John 7, however, shows Jesus defending his healing on the Sabbath. He challenges the religious leaders: stop superficial, appearance-based judgments and instead apply right, truthful judgment aligned with God’s character and Word. This is not a contradiction but a divine tension, two truths that must be held together. We are called to humility and self-examination (do not judge harshly or hypocritically), while also exercising discernment and moral clarity (judge correctly, according to truth). Christianity rejects both naive permissiveness (“anything goes, no one can say anything”) and harsh legalism (constant condemnation without grace).
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about next year’s trip to Mt. Kilimanjaro.
The physics of the pendulum Picture an old grandfather clock in a quiet hallway. Its long brass pendulum swings steadily: tick, tock, tick, tock. Now give that pendulum a hard shove to the right. It does not simply glide back to the center and stop. It races right past the middle and sways just as far to the left. Left to its own momentum, a pendulum never rests at either extreme; it finds peace only when it hangs still at the center, held by gravity and its fixed point. The church behaves in much the same way. Push her too far toward one side of a truth and she does not gently settle into balance, she swings. Often for a whole generation toward the opposite error, and then back again, wounding people at both ends of the arc. And here is the crucial thing the clock teaches us: the pendulum comes to rest not by being frozen in place, but by being held. Balance is not the absence of force; it is the fixed point that keeps opposing pulls in tension so that the weight can finally hang still.
