My name is Ayabulela Marikeni, most people call me “Aya Mac”.   I am from the Xhosa tribe, the same tribe as Nelson Mandela. I moved to Cape Town with my father and sisters. My mother abandoned us when we were just babies and continues in active addiction even today.  My father came here for a better life and to provide for his children. But it hasn’t been easy. We moved into the township of Masiphumelele, an overcrowded village with shacks that leak and limited water and sewage capabilities.  Life is hard here and many turn to drugs, gangs and more. To help my father, I was fortunate and got a job at a garden center. I started working on the weekends in the 9th grade and have worked there full-time until the end January of 2024 over the last few years. And so begins my new adventure as a coach of a nonprofit (NGO) rugby team called the Archangels.   

I became a Christian a year and a half ago, when meeting Alan Murdock “Pops” from Oikos INTL. I, like many others in our community turned to gang life, drugs and alcohol to dim the pain of hopelessness and in particular when our rugby field and rugby was taken away to a wealthier community. When I came to know Christ, I gave up those worldly things immediately and today I’m walking with other youth and young men from my community into a path of hope and wholeness with the Gospel and Rugby.  

As I wrap up my time as a barista, I'm diving headfirst into a cause close to my heart – the Archangels Rugby team in my community of Masiphumelele. I have partnered with Oikos INTL to help educate and minister to our team through several programs and my team is excited. Will you pray for us, as our competitors are trying to tear down our men striving for hope by calling them “Hookah Pipe Boys” and “addicts”. Together, we can overcome this stigma and show the world that God and others care for “the least of these”.