Model of faith/Faith: Nelson Mandela
Source:wikipedia
Nelson Mandela has been a man of faith since his entrance into the world spotlight. Born on July 18, 1918 in the town of Transkei, South Africa, Nelson was the son of the tribal chief of the Thembu Tribe. Nelson Mandela first attended school at the age of seven which he attended all the way until his college days at the young age of sixteen. Even in college his political interested were sparked by his countries, South Africa, apartheid laws which severely limited the basic human rights of many black South Africanders. He joined the African National Congress in 1942 to help the people of his country by being their voice in a government that suppressed their freedoms. When the election of 1948 took place a group called the Afrikaner party took control of the government. This group was strong in its belief in apartheid laws. Nelson Mandela became one of the leading figures in African National Congress (ANC) to voice the anti-apartheid message of racial equality.
In 1961 Nelson Mandela was very irascible in his apartheid views, so much that he organized a sabotage of the South African government, military, and even civilians. If his plan of sabotage did not work he planned on guerilla warfare in order to ensure the freedom of the South African people. After Nelson Mandela’s arrest on charges of conspiracy to overthrow the government by means of violence, Nelson was found guilty of the charges brought against him and on June 12, 1964 he was sentenced to life in prison.
Even from his cell in Robben Island Prison, Nelson wrote letters to fellow members of ANC displaying his faith that the people of South Africa will see a day where racial segregation is no more. Many times Nelson was delivered the ultimatum of denouncing his political beliefs and gaining freedom or doing his full time in jail because of failure to denounce his beliefs. Every time he choose to do his full time in prison.
On February 18, 1990 Nelson Mandela was released from prison and wasting no time getting settled back into normal life he propelled himself forward into the political and world limelight once again. On April 27, 1994 Nelson Mandela was elected the first black President in the history of South Africa. During his term in office he worked to end apartheid in South Africa and gain racial equality for all people.
Nelson Mandela was challenged in his faith in the goodness of people many times, being arrested twice and convicted once, but he never lost the faith that his country could see a day where racial segregation and inequality would be a thing of the past. Nelson Mandela is the very essence of faith, his faith was so strong he was willing to put his livelihood and more notably his life on the line for the millions of people in South Africa who were experiencing racial prejudices. He believed so strongly in an idea that he never gave up or wasted a single breath to speak out against racial inequalities.
