Dorcas

Tshiswaka, who goes by the nickname Dorcas, was born into a family of six children consisting of three girls and three boys. Upon the death of her father in 2007, they went to live with his sister in Kipushi, a town thirty kilometers from her home town of Lubumbashi, Congo. They spent three years there in terrible difficulty, plagued by the reality that her uncle didn't want them. Eventually, Dorcas’ mom was able to get the children back in spite of her lack of resources to support them. At age twelve, Dorcas started helping her mother support them with her small business selling any food and household items she could spare. Her mom fought for Dorcas to study and she became the only one out of six to get her state diploma.
Dorcas met Jesus at Young Life camp. Dorcas shares that it was at camp where she learned that “Jesus Christ really loves me. I was a desperate person who thought that I was abandoned by everyone, but Jesus has remained my best friend.” She's come to understand that Jesus is the one who comforts the hearts of broken people. From that day, Dorcas has remained connected to the ministry of Young Life, growing in her relationship with Jesus and leading club in her community.
Now a Developing Global Leader, Dorcas is pursuing a degree in journalism at the University of Lubumbashi. She hopes that her education will allow her to have a good job that enables her to support her family as well as her ministry with teenagers. Dorcas is driven to be a model for the young people she is training and is committed to the welfare of ministry in her community.