“You shall be the talk of the town” – a prophecy foretold by Prophet Cedric and now, unravelling itself in the life of Emmanuel Pax Makhura who is a 3G Ministries PPS scholar having just graduated as the Valedictorian of BIUST class of 2019. He joined the Botswana International University of Science and Technology as an undergraduate in the Chemical, Materials and Metallurgical department of Engineering. He describes his initial encounter with the tertiary institution as nothing short of life- changing. The work load was immense and required a higher level of devotion to one’s studies. Fortunate for him, he had Prophet Cedric’s message titled ‘The Power of Choice’ to help him decide and navigate through the early gates of commitment to his course.
He successfully sailed through his first year by somewhat, limited ambition however, when he returned to the church during his academic calendar break, he met a new message that became the turning point of his schooling career. “Your Dream is your engine- keep your dream alive” – this fully expectant message propelled Emmanuel to reconsider his goals. From the core of his heart, he delved right into a high educational tide with a vision of one day becoming the best student in his institution. This called him to commit to his studies, to go beyond his scope of learning, to consult his lecturers, to work as if it all depended on him and to pray as if it all depended on God.
This particular moment of self- realization presented so much opposition which only oiled his zeal for success. Pax as known to his inner circle, reiterates an incident where one well-performing student took time out to challenge Emmanuel, specifically telling him that he will never surpass his own level of intelligence as recorded in his good performance. Other students gave him so much backlash for trying to assist his peers who were lagging behind. Nevertheless, the young man persisted and he states that he asserts his tenacity to the words of his mentor, Prophet Cedric who counselled him through his five year journey. The man of God said to Emmanuel, “This journey will not be a walk in the park but worry not, to show you that you have met a Prophet- you shall be the most talked about.”
This minute yet pregnant advice carried Emmanuel through his five years of study. At one of his lowest learning points, he had scored a GPA of 4.46 for the semester and although he underwent what he considers a temporary setback, he managed to carry out a project and published an article on “The Pyrolysis of Plastics to produce Paraffin.” This was beyond the expectation of his scope of learning and he didn’t stop there, he went on to work on four more projects making a total of five projects; three which are now published articles circulating on online and printed learning platforms whilst the other two are awaiting publication. Atop his consistently high performance at school, he also managed to complete a Solution Manual which is awaiting publication. He is currently working on a second edition book to this Solution Manual and has partnered with one of his academic mentors and Professor to complete it. Apart from these, he made time to partake in the 2018 CEDA/DBSA University Challenge where he finished off as a top 5 finalist with a cash money reward for his project of “Biogas Production to generate Electricity” and one of his excellent works is currently under scrutiny in the 2019 KBL Kickstart Youth Entrepreneurship Development Program.
Emmanuel never lost sight of his dream, rather he channeled all of his efforts, thoughts and time to become the best student and this meant that he had to forgo worldly pleasures like dating, partying, drinking and pushing circles of friendship. It came as no surprise at all when he received the long awaited call- letting him know that he was indeed the best student. For a moment, he was dumbfounded by his results but quickly realized how his genuine willingness and God’s ability had silenced all of the naysayers that had tried to discourage him. Graduation day approached and on the day, he was walking tall with a bounce of humility, clad in a classy suit and draped in his graduation robes, Emmanuel was the picture of perfection!
The Awards ceremony begun and soon enough, his name was called up in order to be capped for his Degree Qualification. His name soon became a repeated rendition as he was called back up to receive the following awards;
– Best Student in the Chemical Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Department.
– Best Student in the Faculty of Engineering
– The Valedictorian otherwise Best Student of the Graduating class of 2019.
Emmanuel received these prestigious awards alongside cash rewards sponsored by various reputable organizations and closed his first degree scroll with an overall GPA of 4.68. Media houses fought for his attention after the ceremony ended- proving that his name was just about to become the talk of the town! When he speaks of his future- he looks back to Christ, whom he describes as the Best Engineer the world has ever known as his compass. He states that his desire is to pursue his second degree, now a Masters in his field. Surely, the good Lord who started a good work in him shall see it to its completion in Jesus’ Name.