Climbing Shoulders

It was a meeting like no other 
Fresh dews poured upon them in a 
tangible way 
Some cried like babies, sobbing 
and wailing Some fainted even as 
their lips continued to mutter 
The fire was tangible, real and burning 
hot 
Some with unholy spirits took off 
The ushers knew the manifestation of 
the spirit whenever this man ministered 
They were prepared 
They positioned themselves around the 
church exits and even the windows 
Many of the desperate ones who couldn't 
take the fire attempted to jump out of 
the window 
The meeting happened at Ikire in 2007
It was a Baptist Student's Fellowship 
meeting 
The name of the minister was Pastor Reuben 
He got on the altar and sang the chorus 
"Dry bones shall rise again, Dry bones 
shall rise again, Lord Jehovah is able 
to do all things, He is able, able. 
Dry bones shall rise again" 
That was all he did for almost an hour 
The Holy Spirit took over the atmosphere 
like fish to water 
I was there as the head of the team of 
Students fellowship leaders from Bowen 
University 
I was on the altar with this chubby-cheeked, 
babyface pastor in Buba and Sokoto 
This pastor looked so simple, so unassuming, 
so ordinary without any shoulder pads or 
air of self-importance 
I was designated to interpret for him that day 
He was the revivalist and i was the leader of 
the team from the fancy private University 
Bisi Morakinyo, a law student from OAU was 
the conference secretary for that year 
(I remember her very well because we 
were bro and sis at that time hoping to 
mature into Daddy in the Lord and Mummy 
in the Lord. That never happened but we 
remain good godly friends till date) 
Standing on the same altar with Pastor Reuben 
was not a nice experience 
At a point during His ministration, it felt as 
if hot oil was poured right on my head 
I began to scratch my head and then the 
whole of my body caught this fire 
(ayaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah) Aye, aye, 
aye 
As i write I am bursting forth in tongues 
and sighs and groanings
It was the same move of the spirit that 
turned the whole church upside down 
This was not a "Coordinated Baptist service" 
by any means 
Indigenous students present at the meeting 
whose parents dumped on the host church 
for the three days of the camp meeting 
got baptized in the Holy Ghost 
Those who came in with strange spirits 
and realities got delivered and healed 
I was a witness 
I saw Pastor Reuben a few months later 
at another Baptist ministers gathering at 
Oritamefa Baptist Church Ibadan 
I went to this meeting with @biolaakin 
who drove us down in his car
I felt like falling on my face before this 
great man of God that day but by the 
time i was done with Martha's activities, 
he had left 
That Pastor is a humogous blessing to me 
Some years after that meeting, i was a 
youth pastor in another denomination 
and I found myself in a tight situation 
A fifteen-year-old girl, ran to me on a 
Saturday morning to report her mother 
Her mother was operating a beer and 
pepper soup joint 
Her mother had five children, all girls 
The fifteen-year-old was the third child 
When customers took an interest in any 
of the girls, their mother would pimp 
them out 
It had happened constantly to the first 
two girls, they had practically become 
prostitutes due to their mother's antics 
This young lady had been at their shop 
serving customers when a particular 
pedophile started groping her 
Her mother saw a chance to make 
some extra change 
Her mother discussed terms with the 
pedophile 
The pedophile paid 
The next day, her mother dressed her up 
(even used makeup and wig on her) and 
instructed her to go to a certain hotel not 
too far from her shop to wait for the 
pedophile at the reception. 
It was her turn to become a woman 
Instead of the young lady to go to the 
hotel as instructed she came to church 
The youth usually played football games 
in the church compound on Saturdays, 
so she knew we would be there 
This young lady wanted me to intervene 
by speaking to her mother
She was scared of what that pedophile 
would do to her and she didn't know how 
to say NO to her mother 
I left the football game and strolled to 
her mother's shop 
As soon as I opened my mouth and 
mentioned the young lady's name her 
mother flared up "What is your business 
with what i instruct my daughter to do? 
Are you her boyfriend? 
Is it because you are sleeping with her 
that you don't want to share? 
Are you the only man on the street? 
If you are not sleeping with her, why 
would she find you to be the one to 
confide in?
Did you give me anything? 
Did I collect anything from you? 
So you're sleeping with her for free 
and you dare come here to tell me 
who she can be with and who she 
cannot be with? Hmmm" 
I almost fainted 
I didn't expect the conversation to 
go that way 
The mother was screaming at me and 
causing a ruckus, people were looking 
at me and what she was saying made 
it sound as if I was sleeping with the girl 
As a pastor, a HOLY youth pastor with a 
reputation for HOLINESS and Integrity, 
the wise thing to do was to back out of 
the issue for the sake of my good name 
I had been falsely accused of sexual 
immorality by the mother of one of the 
members of my fellowship 
I left her mother's shop deeply offended 
The mother was a member of our adult 
church and I expected her to behave 
like someone that had the fear of God 
Her words injured my soul deeply 
When i got to church I told the young 
lady to go home 
I told her I had done the best i could do 
regarding her situation 
The next thing I could have done was 
speak to the Pastor of the adult church 
to intervene, but the Pastor of the adult 
church had traveled to Abuja in pursuit 
of a government contract, I was manning 
both churches in the pastor's absence 
The young lady didn't believe I had fallen 
for her mother's "getoutofhere" tactics 
I told her she had to go I had a good 
name and i disliked her mother's 
insinuations 
I called a sister in the church, and i 
narrated everything that had happened 
to the sister 
The sister agreed with me that I had 
no right to keep the young lady in the 
church if her mother had decided to 
pimp her out 
I was advised to wash my hands off 
the matter like pilate 
I turned to the young lady to dismiss her 
The Holy Spirit restrained me!
I felt a welling up of hot energy within me 
I began to sing that song "Dry bones 
shall rise again, 
Dry bones shall rise again 
Lord Jehovah is able to do all things, 
he is able, able 
Dry bones shall rise again" 
As i sang, I remembered the wordings 
of a hymn "Rescue the perishing, 
care for the dying Jesus is merciful 
Jesus can save!" 
I really wished I could do more 
but I had neither the authority nor the 
jurisdiction 
I told the young lady to let us pray 
I held her hands and began to pray in 
tongues 
Suddenly that inner fire surged and the 
young lady began to manifest 
She screamed and sobbed and at a 
point fell on her knees and rolled on 
the floor 
When she was done, I told her to go 
home (Not to the hotel) 
She said "My mummy will kill me today" 
I shook my head 
Something had happened but I could 
not predict how things would play out
She left and I heaved a sigh of relief
The football match had ended for 
quite some time
The choir members were arriving in
church for their rehearsals
It was around 5pm 
Suddenly, she was back
This time she was in a panic mode
Something strange had happened 
to her mother and she needed my
attention
We (Myself and a member of
the choir) followed her to her mother's 
shop
She said her mother had been moved
into the house
We got to the house
We found her mother on the floor
Speaking in tongues
I asked her what happened
She said as soon as she got to the shop
her mother started shouting on her
and threatening to beat her blue-black
Her mother told her to go and wait at
home
Her mother got home and tried to slap
her
The next thing she saw was her mother
falling on her face and speaking in a slurry
manner as if she was in a trance!
I had never seen anything like that
before
I laid hands on the mother and prayed
for her
I couldn't remember what I said
exactly
Her mother recovered but she was very
scared
She kept saying "I want to be saved"
over and over again
I led her to Christ and got her filled 
with the Holy Spirit
We spent about an hour with them
Things changed quickly for that
family after that day
The young lady's father who had
abandoned the family for many years
with claims of infidelity against his
wife, returned to their lives
The young lady and her two younger
sisters were sent to a boarding school
The woman and her husband moved
from Ikosi-Ketu to Ifako-Ijaye area
of Lagos
She started working with the waste
management agency of the state

PS: I woke up with pleasant thoughts
of Pastor Reuben and Brother Biola
Akinola
The thought reminded me of this
testimony
There are many who the Holy Spirit
used to help us grow in our walk with
the Lord Jesus
There are many whose gifts were of
a tremendous help to us in our spiritual
growth
Their sacrifice made it possible for
us to be useful to many others
To these selfless teachers and leaders
I am saying a very big thank you

GSW's notes: There are times the
work will pit you against parents
and wards with ungodly mindsets,
dont depend on your human skills
and senses alone
Talk to the Holy Spirit
The last time I saw this
young lady, (2018)
She was getting married
She designated me her "Pastor" and
made sure she brought her husband
to me for prayers immediately after
they concluded their nuptials at the
registry
Truth be told, I could barely remember
her story by this time but she made
sure she reminded me of all the details
She said "I changed the course of
her life by the power of the Holy Spirit!"
I told her it was all trial and error at 
that time.
I was still praying as one beating
the air, at that time, due to limited
knowledge
Glory be to God for growth