Of the reasons Vezisizwe and Noma Bhebhe had for moving from Zimbabwe to the United States nearly a decade ago, discovering their identity in Christ wasn’t one of them.

“Mostly for us, it was trying to prepare for our kids’ future,” Vezi said of his children, who are now 16 and 10.

With the political and economic challenges in that part of the world, they felt moving would give their family a firm foundation to grow on.

As Christians, building that foundation started with finding a church where the doctrine, structure and programs aligned with preaching the Word of God to the whole family while also being a place they could build community.

“We wanted to make a new family,” Vezi said. “We were looking for a church that was going to welcome us and see us as part of them. In short, we didn’t want to miss home.”

They found that home in Life Church International, which is now known as Grace & Purpose Church. 

But what looked to be a smooth new beginning for the Bhebhes became a season where God challenged them to find their true identities in Christ.

A child of God 

Noma was working in accounting in Zimbabwe and was on a path to becoming a certified accountant. Moving to the U.S. meant she had to start fresh with that goal, but no one would hire her.

“I placed my identity in my career. So that, for me, was like my badge. ” she said. “I didn’t have that for the first four years of our lives here. Without it, I didn’t feel like I had value. I felt like I’d lost something of me. And part of wanting to get back [into accounting] was so that I could feel like I got my value back.”

Noma had a similar view of her faith — placing value in how she was seen by the people around her. She had grown up in a Christian home and given her life to Christ at an early age. In high school, she recommitted her life to the Lord at 18. But even as she made her faith her own, she felt she had to earn her salvation.

“I still felt like I had to achieve and maintain that identity of being righteous, of being holy and doing something to make sure that I stayed worthy of God’s presence,” she said. “I placed my value in how people viewed me, starting with people in church.”

Through the years, she involved herself in ministry — youth ministry, praise and worship ministry, ladies’ ministry — and she enjoyed it.

“But there was also a sense of I needed to prove myself that I’m a Christian,” Noma said. “I needed to prove that I’m worthy of God sending His Son to die for me — I felt I needed to keep that up.”

As she navigated through her season of unemployment, Noma began to feel God revealing truth to her, including Psalm 139:14 (NIV): “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

“God made me more aware of the fact that I was placing my identity in my achievements, like looking at my career, looking at what I had financially, and in this world, especially as a woman … the standard of what an ideal woman should look like. And then you place your value in that,” Noma said.

As she became aware of God’s truth, she began to view herself in a new light.

“I am living out that knowledge of the fact that God accepts me as I am,” she said. “God loves me as I am. I am acceptable. I am good enough.” 

Validation versus purpose

For Vezi, he placed his identity in his family and its culture for many years. He looked to the people around him, like his parents and uncles, for his validation.

“That’s how I viewed myself before I came to Christ,” Vezi said. “I just wanted to achieve things for my family and be that guy the whole family is proud of.”

When he first became a Christian, he saw his relationship with God similarly. Going through school, he found a world of opportunities, and he started pursuing them — even praying for them — and finding success.

He felt that achieving success was God’s call on his life and was where he would find validation with Christ.

“I’ll prove it to him that I can do it, and then God is going to be super proud of me the same way my family and parents were going to be super proud of me,” Vezi said.

But pursuing accomplishments solely for validation became dissatisfying and tiring, and he started questioning the point of success for the sake of success. In that journey, Vezi began to discover how God sees him and can use him. 

“It’s not really about proving to God that you can do stuff, because God already knows what you can do,” he said. “Instead, it’s living from a position of being enough.”

In reflecting on Philippians 4:13 (NIV), which says “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength,” Vezi is eager to fulfill the purpose God created him for, and he’s listening for that call. 

He’s not sure what it might be exactly, but he’s committed to following God’s will instead of how he’s viewed. 

“I’m not scared to go out there and do it, even if it’s something that costs $1 million and I only have $1,” Vezi said. “I’ll go out and do it for a million because I know God is going to provide.”

For both Vezi and Noma, this discovered truth of their identity in Christ has been liberating.

Instead of identifying herself by the roles she fills, Noma is more confident about speaking up about her faith and her identity as a child of God.

“Before, I wouldn’t mention that I’m a Christian or talk about going to church on Sunday. I would be scared to be confident about my values,” she said. “But now, it’s changing. People are aware of who I am.”

“We just want to be ambassadors of the gospel,” Vezi said. “Our desire is just to live that life, be examples and be used by God.”