Cliffhanger

The boy was caught inside the car park of a 
popular religious centre
He was trying to remove the side mirror of 
a vehicle
The church had security men located all over 
the various car parks
But the boy was small in size and wily
He knew how to blend with the shadows 
He had been very well trained!
He had tools at his disposal
Some keys that could be used to open the 
car doors or booth
He was fourteen years old but he looked 
more like a ten 
year old due to malnourishment
His father was a mechanic
Whenever his Father had any car to repair
He would compile a list of engine or body 
parts for his son
His son would go into the religious centre 
whenever there was
a major programme and get the parts off 
the cars driven
down to the centre and parked in the car parks by 
unsuspecting worshippers
His Father coached him well
He was told to claim he was ten years old 
if he was caught
He was also told to cry and insist 
he was an orphan
His Father figured it would be a win-win situation
If he was caught, the church wouldn't 
dare harm him
They would hand him over to the police
Being a juvenile, the police officers would 
detain him  until a family member shows up
And then release him to the family member
On the other hand, the church might decide to take up
his reformation
In which case he would get free education and
a glorious future
His Father kept at it
Training him both in the crime and survival 
manipulation
He was taught how to beg and plead for mercy
He was taught how to exploit the milk of 
kindness in the heart of people, especially 
religious folks
He was the first child of his Father
His Father impregnated his mother while he was still
undergoing training to become an auto mechanic
His mother was a food vendor at the time
He didn't have the capacity to father a child
He told his mother as much
He told her to get an abortion
But she was too scared to do so
Eventually, she had the child
One morning he woke up to find his 
mother by his door
A baby in a shawl hanging loosely in her arms
She said somebody knocked on her door at 
5 AM in the morning
By the time she opened the door, she found a 
baby in a basket
She said she figured out it must be his child
He went to check on the baby's mother
Hoping to strike a deal with her on the upkeep 
of the child
He was prepared to do odd jobs to give her a certain
amount of money monthly for the upkeep of the baby
But she was long gone
her Family members said they had no idea 
where she was
His mother cared for the child for eight years
He was forced to take over when his mother died
By then he had finished his training and set up 
his own workshop
The boy was in primary two in a public 
primary school
After closing from school, the boy would join him
at the workshop 
They had managed like that for two years 
before he got married
His wife hated his son with a passion
She maltreated him badly
He didn't know at first because his son did 
not complain
But as time went on he saw the signs
By then his wife was pregnant
So he made a space in his workshop for his son to 
sleep every night
He would stay in the workshop till 10 PM
Make sure his son was asleep and fine
Before going home!
Of course, he knew it was foolish of him to leave
a ten-year-old to himself all night
But he didn't see any other option
He didn't know when his son started going to the 
big religious camp
located about fifteen minutes away from his workshop
His son told him he went there on some nights to see the 
bright halogen lamps and watch the crowd
Even though they were non-Christians, he didn't 
see any harm in it
His wife seemed happy to be rid of his son
And his son had not said anything about going back home
As far as he was concerned he was doing the best he
could under the circumstances
Sometime later he stumbled upon the stash of car body
parts in his son's room at the workshop
He asked his son where he saw the loot
His son told him it was his past time at the camp
Harvesting good motor parts just for the fun of it
It was his idea to turn it to a money-making venture
He taught his son how to scout an area, 
how to blend with the shadows
How to be quick-fingered and above all, 
how to take advantage of believers who would most
likely strive to outdo one another in their quest for 
human validation!
Sometimes when he was in dire need of good money
He would follow his son to the camp and boost a car
while his son and a friend acted as a lookout for him!
Most of the time, the cars he boosted would end up
in a junkyard where the parts would be removed and 
sold off to car part dealers
But on rare occasions, he would get an order for a
particular type of car which he boosted and sold off
to neighbouring countries!
The day his son was caught, one of the volunteer
security personnel on the camp strayed off is beat
and found his son struggling with the boot lock of
an SUV!
His son was so engrossed that he couldn't run on time
He was picked up and beaten mildly before being 
handed over to the police
He waited for the case to cool down
He knew most of those who came to the camp for that 
meeting would be gone by morning
Once the crowd thinned out he would get the boy
easily
The police would warn him that they would take the boy
to a remand home if he wasn't bridled
But he knows they really wouldn't want to go through
the trouble of prosecuting a child!
As he planned, he went to the Police Station on the
evening of the day after his son was arrested,
but to his shock, he was told that his son was never
brought to them!
He checked three other police station
but it seemed as if his son had disappeared 
into thin air!
He didn't know what to do
After two days, he went to the office of the security
people of the Campground and demanded that they
produce his son
Alas! They were as perplexed as he was!
They told him they apprehended a young man
who fit his description but on the way to
the police station to hand him over to the law,
the boy bit one of them and ran off into the bush
They tried to chase him but he was very fast
Since they didn't tie him up or handcuff him
It was difficult to limit his ability to move
They had to let him go
They invited him into their security control room
They also invited some key police officers
They all reviewed the CCTV tapes together and 
found the story told by the Camp's security volunteers
to be the truth!
He saw his son run off into the night through
a barbed wire fence with his own eyes until
he ran out of the camera's coverage range
And that was it!
The camp authority and some local hunters
went searching for his son the next day
The search went on for a week!
His son was nowhere to be found!
Nobody saw anything! 
It was as if he just dropped off the face of the earth!
Nobody knew where his son was!
He tried everything in his power!
Nothing worked!
After a month of touring police stations, morgues and
hospitals around their neighbourhood
He gave up!
He took the incidence as proof that God punishes
sinners and his sin had found him out
He stopped boosting cars and faced his work
Always he looked to the streets hoping to see his son!
And the years rolled by!
In 2013, he heard of a Tuesday morning programme
hosted by the Brother in Jeans and T-shirt
He attended and after the service, he explained 
his dilemma!
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt led him to Christ
and told him he would see his son again but
first, he must bring his wife
He brought his wife the following Sunday
They prayed!
His wife confessed that she was told by a herbalist
that the boy was the reason she was having stillbirths
and unless the boy leaves his Father's immediate 
environment, she would never have children
So she paid the herbalist to send him on a journey
far from home!
She claimed she had told her husband to take him
far away but her husband went to hide him in his
workshop!
She knew she had to do something drastic if she
was to become a mother in life! 
Have you now become a mother? Do you have your 
own children now? The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt
asked her!
She just shook her head!
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt told the missing
boy's father, he would reunite with his son!
But he would have to wait for another five years!
The man wanted to know why it would be 2018 and not
immediately 
But the Brother in Jeans and T-shirts couldn't
explain it also!
He said all he heard was June 2018, Jubilee!
All he was able to say was 2018, sometime in
2018!
The man left the meeting very disappointed!
But he parted ways with his wife afterwards!
He married another wife in 2015 and had a baby girl
Life moved on!
In 2018, the man got a job with an auto-dealership 
company in the east
His job was to service and repair Toyota 
brands which
the company deals in exclusively
Sometime around June, a young man came in driving
a Toyota Prado with a failed braking system
He was the mechanic on duty and he worked on the car
diligently
A month later, the owner of the Prado Jeep 
made him an offer
He said he was opening his own auto dealership
and would like him to come and head his team of
mechanics
He took the offer and moved to the company!
He was given the discretionary right to hire and fire
mechanics 
He was at the workshop one afternoon when 
his son walked in
searching for a job
His son recognized him immediately!
He screamed and shouted "Baba mi, Baba Mi" 
(My Father, My Father)
Everybody came out to see the drama
It was a day of happy tears!
His son told him he managed to escape from those
who caught him while they were taking 
him to the police
Station
He just ran into a bush and kept running 
until he found himself 
on an unfamiliar road
Hungry and tired he sat under a tree to rest at dawn
He slept off
The next thing he remembered was waking up to find himself
behind a pickup van
He had been bound hand foot!!
The pick-up van travelled for a long time
By nightfall, he had managed to untie his 
hands and legs
and waited for the van to stop
As soon as the van stopped, he jumped out 
and started running
as fast as his legs could carry him
He got to a village and discovered he was at 
Paraga, a town on
the outskirts of Ondo State
He was taken in by a church and stayed 
there for many days
He worked as a farmhand, a labourer 
and did other odd jobs
He stayed in Parage for one year
He could have returned home but he was 
afraid he was a 
fugitive from the law and would be 
arrested once he got home
So he journeyed east and became a mechanic's 
apprentice
Until he qualified as a professional 
auto mechanic
He had the plan of setting up his own 
auto workshop
but needed to work and save some money first
That was why he came to the company 
looking for a job!

They found their way to the office of the 
Brother in Jeans and T-shirt today
11th June 2019 (Almost a year after they reunited!
The young man would be getting married on Saturday
15th June 2019 somewhere in Ogun State
We prayed and glorified God for his faithfulness
Their testimony is a refreshing delight to my soul!
The Word of God does not FAIL!
If there are promises of God that seemed to have
failed in your reality, I speak to them now!
in the name of Jesus, starting from this minute,
let them come to pass!