A Johannesburg beggar, who was helped by a good Samaritan to get a job and a place to stay, has quit and gone back to his life of homelessness and drug abuse.

Joseph Phukube was first noticed by Sandton resident Pam Green, who posted his matric certificate and curriculum vitae on Facebook.

Phukube had for months stood at a Sandton traffic light with his CV at hand begging for work. Job and bursary offers poured in and within days, Phukube had landed a job at a company called Locomute in Midrand, as well as a furnished apartment and a second chance at life.

Video footage of Phukube was posted on YouTube thanking all the people who had helped him turn his life around.

On Friday 4 September, however, Green announced on Facebook that Phukube had given it all up and returned to his life on the streets.

Below is a  Facebook status of Pamela Green titled: ‘Today the dream ended’

It is with the heaviest heart and tears in my eyes that I am writing this.

Joseph’s actions have lead him back to his previous life choice. He has left the home given to him, and he is once again homeless and unemployed. Our hearts are broken, and I sit here, still hoping that one day he will choose a healthier future for himself!

At this time, it is important to remember the other side of the last 2 months……

I left my corporate job and followed my lifelong dream to formally create ‪#‎SecondChances. In the last 2 months, with the help of the page’s followers, we have helped to successfully create second chances for over 25 people, resulting in 84 lives being changed for the better, forever!

Together with YOUR help, people are believing, people are doing, we are restoring humanity!

I will forever be grateful to Joseph for helping me to create my ‪#‎SecondChance. I might not have been able to change his life, but he has forever changed mine, and I am committed to continue striving to change the world, one life at a time!

“It’s really amazing when two strangers become the best of friends, but it’s really sad when the best of friends become two strangers.”

Hamba kahle (Farewell) Joseph……

Each and every day we do things in our daily routine that have become habits. Some habits that are good and some that are bad. Regardless of the type of habit it has become, it can always be changed. This is all up to choice and commitment. But then again, some habits are hard to die.

The Bible does not specifically speak of “habits” as such. However, much is said about the meaning of the word: “a thing done often, and hence, usually done easily; an act that is acquired and has become automatic.” We all have habits, whether good or bad. Even newborns may come into this world with the habit of already sucking their thumbs. However, for the Christian, the whole of their lives is one of being transformed by the renewing of our minds. This implies exchanging old (bad) habits for new (good) ones, in order to please the Lord. For instance, “Do all things without grumbling and complaining” (Philipians 2:14) may demand a new habit on our part.

For those who belong to Jesus Christ, forming new habits by being controlled by the Holy Spirit becomes a way of life.

Do you have bad habits that you struggle with and want a whole new pattern of thinking, from negative to positive? Click on the banner below.