Yes, exactly
seventeen years ago today, in a hot afternoon, I stepped into the city
of Sokoto. As my foot touched the ground, a voice spoke on my inside,
you have come to suffer and waste away. And I quickly replied,
according to the word of the Lord,
wherever the sole of my foot thread upon, that I take for
a possession. It’s been 17 years of great adventures (good, bad,
ugly, threatening, victorious, disastrous, great experiences etc.).
However, in all, the faithfulness of God cannot be denied.
That day, I came with
a box and a bag filled with books, some clothes and less than thirty
thousand naira with me, home and abroad as the saying goes. It was
like starting life all over again not knowing when I will see anyone
again. Remember at that time, no GSM, email etc.
When I arrived, I
squatted with some Corpers, made benches, a pulpit, opened a savings
account with First Bank and opened a postal box, then made
payment for the first month of service (which eventually did not
hold because there was no member, couldn’t really take off till
June). Then the money finished, brethren, fellowship of his suffering
and fellowship with suffering began oh.
I still remember
one of those days, I told God if 1, two or three of these seven people (I gave Him names, interestingly, they
were all LOCCAFITES) would call or write me now to say COURAGE, you
took a wrong step, I would retrace my steps. No one called or wrote.
The story long let me put down a few highlights that I can
recollect now.
MY FIRST OFFERING
Very interestingly,
it came from my wife not even my fiancée then, though, I had proposed. To
keep track with my proposal, I had to be writing letters, it got so
bad that Iran out of writing sheets, I had no one to ask. I had to
get some from the waste bin to finish up my writing. I was taught how
to trek honourably on streets by some professional trekkers I met. I
became a member of the free newspapers readers association because
that was the only way to keep track with the outside world. One
of those days, I trekked to the post office just to see if I had any
letter, lo and behold, I got a letter from my wife, loaded epistle with a fine writing and twenty naira (N20)
inside (mint). Brethren, I sat for a while tired with a heart of gratitude. For me,
that was a green light that there is hope for me from God and her
then the purpose why I was here.
BANK EXPERIENCE
I had a car in Benin I wanted to sell
before coming but never could. My dad promised
to do it on my behalf and remit the money. Trekking every other day
to the bank became part of my work to see if it would come.It never
came and the car actually rotted away there. God wanted to do it
His own way. However, two main experiences in the
bank, one with the branch accountant. I was hungry that I went to him
and said I wanted to withdraw below the minimum of five hundred naira
(N500) then. I went up charged up in my spirit, he looked at me,
approved my withdrawing three hundred (N300) and said, please don’t
come for such a request again. And I said ok. To the glory of God, it
has been so. The second has to do with when one of the staff said my constant
coming to check, he called me and asked for my address and said when
this money comes, I will let you know.
CHURCH GROWTH – With all the word
of faith and church growth messages I knew, I didn’t see any reason why
the church shouldn’t explode after one or two messages.
I remember telling folks in Benin then that any pastor
that can’t have at least a hundred people after one year is lazy
or not called. Brethren, all these theology slapped me in the face. I put
all the principles to work, exercised
all the faith, in conclusion, I came to the end of myself.
I had to go on another retreat, seeking God for a definite
detail for this task in this place.
Days into weeks, praying, meditating, and studying. In the
process, two things happened:
ONE: The Lord told me
any unbeliever
that’s your crusade ground and any believer you meet
that’s your teaching centre. After that, the first unbelievers I
would meet, I preached to them
till one of them gave his life to Christ and later became
a member of our church, five or more years after, while the other
abused me and left. The believer I would meet happened to
be a pastor; we shared for hours non-stop till I
was exhausted and hungry. We grew to become very good friends. He is happily
married now and based in Australia with his family. Will tell you more about
him another time.
TWO: It was while
praying that God showed me two faces, a male and a female. He told
me those were my members. I went to the male that night, spoke to him and
gave him two weeks to come join me.
After three days, he came over. He became
the first and only member of the church for one month. While the lady eventually
became a member months after. In the seventeen years,
these two are the only ones I personally have been privileged to
invite to church.
LOCCAF
– In the course of my waiting on God, one of the instructions
I got was not to travel out till after one year.
I came in February, the ministry/church took off in June. Since I didn’t know which
one He meant, I had
to make sure that both marked one year before stepping out
of Sokoto for any
reason. Of course, I knew the Lord wanted me to stay, concentrate, give the work
attention especially considering the hard, hostile nature
of it. It needed some
serious, consistent, spirit filled word pressure. Moreover,
even if I had wanted
to travel, that was not even possible because there was
no means to. But one
thing was certain, I was determined to keep the fellowship
bond of my company (LCC/LOCCAF), I also knew one
way to stay up and fresh
here was to create
the avenues to go refire. So I began to attend LOCCAF,
and the common question everyone
would ask me where’s sis. Bibi, the family? Hearing
the question and trying to answer was painful but inspiring. My pain, you are seeing
me, it’s a miracle, you don’t even know how I will go back, inspiring in
the sense that my faith
was rising. One day, you wouldn’t need to ask, you will
see. At this junction,
I will speak to two sets of people.
The First
Don’t just ask, find out why and see how you can make it
happen.
The Second
Their asking shouldn’t
embarrass or make you withdraw rather, it shows you are
important and they care. One interesting experience I will
never forget, that was before Rasheed relocated abroad. He came for one Loccaf
and he and Pastor Bankie were talking about a camera which
belonged to one of them. I was completely lost and it occurred to
me that realistically, I must have owned a camera before any of them but right
now, I didn’t know anything about the camera. I told myself the more I
should keep coming to stay current
and keep track. And it occurred to me some others would
have stopped coming. For me, the scripture that says iron
sharpeneth iron, a company with the
wise makes you wise is what coming to LOCCAF against all odds
have been for me. To the glory of God now, Loccaf
is a fixed yearly programme in my ministry and family programme.
We plan and look forward to it yearly. Don’t wait till you are somebody
to come, rather coming is part of the process to becoming somebody.
The old, young, contemporaries all used of God to bless, inspire you
in diverse ways.
I
STOLE – How can
I forget that I deliberately went out of my
way to steal one day? What did I steal and why? I stolea cloth
from a passing out Corper. They were the
ones I was squatting with for
that whole period. They never bothered about my
welfare. They just moved
on though they were
Christians and I was suffering. So it was time for them to
pass out and they decided to clear all their properties to travel with, knowing
full well that I had nothing to my name. In
Sokoto, all weather is extremes
and this time, it was extremely cold. Sleeping without a cover was unimaginable.
So when they had packed up everything, they
went to arrange their transport,
I opened their bag and stole a wrapper so that
I would not die of cold
and since their heart
had become cold too, I knew they will never need the wrapper
nor will ever know it was stolen. Selfish brethren – anyway, I STOLE.
Time
will fail me to tell of the
deliverance from sickness, accidents, and threats. In all, where
are we? God has
been faithful in these seventeen years. Blessed with a wife
and four children. Blessed with members. Been
an active leader in the land
and region. My case has become though poor making
many rich (spiritually, physically etc). In the same land, I have been honoured
by God spiritually, physically etc.
Brethren, please
join me to thank God. Indeed He has been faithful. I don’t want
to commit the sin of omission or water down anyone’s blessing and reward from
God, that’s why I don’t want to call names. But these seventeen years
have not been me, I am sharing
this with the house because you’ve been a part of it and
it’s your testimony. Thank you for all of your support one way
or another, known and unknown. Gabriel, your call for write ups
helped pull this out of me against all odds and it’s dawned
on me that the book titled MY STORY – MY SONG that I always joked
with my wife about, is long overdue. Let’s call all these
extracts from the book and pray it will be a blessing.
