In the beginning of the year 2016, I was promoted from Oxford Combined College as a Geography educator to a Principal position at New Millennium College. The Director of the school wanted the school to adopt and maintain a new culture of excellence — academic, moral, sporting and cultural. I was given the mandate to steer the school from its underperforming culture.

It came to my heart that in order to propel the school to excellence, I needed to surrender it to God. I needed a true servant of God committed to ministering to our learners. After praying, I was surprised that Pastor Mpilo Ndlela came straight to my office seeking time to minister to learners. After a brief interaction, I could not doubt that he was the answered prayer to my petition to God.

Every Friday at midmorning we had school assemblies for the whole school. Pastor Mpilo Ndlela committed and attended all these assemblies every Friday without fail. He would encourage, motivate, advocate and instill discipline using biblical principles relevant to each group. He touched contemporary issues affecting performance like drug abuse, alcohol abuse, pre-marital sex, peer pressure, ill discipline, lack of respect — and above all he emphasised the benefits of surrendering life to God.

Our Matric class of 2016 had only one learner that failed to make it — a significant pass rate above the district, provincial and national average. The class of 2017 achieved a 100% pass rate — a school record. The school was awarded a district academic certificate of excellence. The class of 2018, one of the most challenged classes in terms of academic performance and notorious behavioural tendencies, also achieved a 100% pass rate — against all odds.

Before Pastor Mpilo Ndlela began to minister at New Millennium College, we used to experience a pattern of accidents in front of the school gate. After sharing this with him, we never again experienced any accident at that black spot.

In a nutshell, God used Pastor Mpilo Ndlela to amazingly change New Millennium College for the better. The school moved from being perennial underachievers to perennial excellence. When the history of the school is authored, Pastor Mpilo Ndlela will be inducted in the school Hall of Fame as a servant of God who worked tirelessly using biblical principles of discipline, hard work and commitment to God to achieve success. The school has maintained its 100% pass rate up to the present.