The Proxy

There were eight of them at the beginning 
They got married early and God blessed 
them with two sets of twins within the 
first four years 
The other four came one after the other 
They locked up after twelve years of active 
childbearing 
It was what they both wanted a house full 
of cheer and joy 
He was a surveyor 
She had a local cassava processing mill 
They were living along the Old Oyo-Ilorin 
road 
She was trained as a teacher, but the cassava 
processing business was a goldmine 
Her husband saw it and invested his thrift 
collection in it 
The business was so good that she bought 
other machines for processing and grinding 
yam flour, potato flour, pepper, corn, melon, 
and beans 
They were the  "millers" for the eight
communities surrounding them
Within three years of starting the business, 
they were swimming in money 
Although not so rich by city standards but
rich by the standard of their community 
They were saving at least thirty thousand 
Naira in the bank every week 
This is after she had settled the seven thrift
 collectors she was saving money with, 
paid her cooperative dues, paid the bills 
for electricity, fuel and other maintenance
dues 
What they ate in the village was mostly 
sourced locally and they lived in their 
own house
God blessed her children with good health 
and all was well with them 
In the month of July of year 2010, an 
association approached her 
This association was made up of yam flour 
sellers, they got a contract from one of the 
associations of local food vendors in Lagos 
to supply 500 bags of yam flour every 
quarter. 
Only two of the members of the association 
had the capacity to supply 500 bags and 
the contract was too juicy to lose. 
So they came to her to ask for her
support in ensuring that her mill was free for 
certain days of the week to accommodate 
their work. 
She received them warmly and discussed 
terms with them. 
They started bringing in their dried yam and 
dried cassava for milling in August! 
The milling took a whole weekend but it was
done! The first supply was loaded unto a truck 
and sent to Lagos early the following Monday 
Morning 
They also did the supply for September and 
October on time but things slowed down in 
November 
The small scale members of the association 
couldn't come up with the required quantity
of yam flour and cassava flour 
The previous supplies were not paid for 
immediately, according to the terms of the 
contract they will be paid every quarter. 
All they needed to do was supply for the 
month of November and the money for the 
first three months would be paid. 
Even she had not been paid for her work 
and she had to hire three other hands to 
help with the job so that they will hit their 
target on time 
The Association tried very hard, but they 
couldn't raise the money to procure the 
materials needed and they knew they 
would lose the contract once they defaulted 
She spoke to her husband about the issue, 
she wanted to know if they could loan 
the association some money just until the 
money for the first quarter was paid. 
Her husband was a very careful man 
He didn't want people to know he had 
such money in the bank, so he invited a 
friend to stand as proxy
He introduced the friend to the association 
as a money lender and through the friend 
he bailed the association out of their 
predicament. 
They were able to procure the needed 
materials and they beat the deadline for 
their supply 
They got paid!
Two days after they got paid, one of his 
twin sons aged fourteen suddenly screamed 
on his way home from school and fainted
 He was rushed to the nearest hospital 
He died with the sunset 
Just like that, no warning whatsoever 
His wife cried like a mad woman 
They shut down their mill for almost three 
weeks 
People came to their house to cry with them 
and to console them 
Pastors came and so did Imams 
He had become quite popular and he was 
the only one in the community who had 
two sets of twins back to back 
The death came with a lot of explanations 
for closure?
Some said it was Abilu "A spell" 
Others said it was "Afesi" an enchantment 
Some said he was in the Emere cult 
"Some twins are members of the dreaded 
wicked cult" while others suggested it 
was "Owo Aye" the diabolical hand of evil 
He was buried two weeks later 
The living must live on
The association had enough money to 
continue their business, in fact, it was 
because of them that his wife opened 
the mill after the burial of her son! 
She had seven other children and began 
to explore ways to prevent such a loss 
from coming their way again! 
As expected she prey
to many charlatans pretending to know 
the road to death & how to close it 
They were irreligious as a family 
He was born a Christian but what he 
saw of the religionand the bickering 
he he saw in his family while growing up 
made the religion tepid for him 
He just wasn't convinced
Many visions came their way 
She went to many prophets and scribes 
She got soaps, incisions and even sewed 
special sleeping garments for the children 
They completed the milling for that month 
and sent it to Lagos
 Her husband asked her if she had been paid 
the loan they gave out
She had totally forgotten about it 
She called the leader of the association 
The leader of the association said the money 
had been given to the "Moneylender" 
She gave her husband the news when 
he returned home that evening 
Her husband called his friend several times 
His friend did not pick the call 
Early the next morning he went to his friend's 
house 
Luckily, he met his friend on his way out 
He asked his friend for the money 
His friend said "I spent the money on all the 
running around I did when your son died" 
It made no sense to him 
How could his friend spend his money on 
"running around"? 
What was his friend running around doing? 
Why should he have to pay for the running 
around his friend did? 
He told his friend to stop joking 
He lost a son, why should that cost him 
his money? 
His friend took offense and started 
screaming 
"You're an ingrate 
I had to run to Oshogbo and from 
there to Ilorin to stop you and your 
children from dying off like fumigated
cockroaches
You guys were under a siege and 
I was doing my duty as a friend which 
was to watch your back but if you 
insist you want your money, I will give it
to you Just know this for sure I will 
not be responsible for anything that 
happens to you or your family 
I have used the money to secure 
your redemption from the powers that 
be in this world and they will do and 
undo if I tell them you want what has 
been sacrificed back from them
His friend said a lot of things 
He knew his friend was lying 
His friend wanted to keep the money 
for himself and was blackmailing him 
emotionally 
Of course, the friendship was dead but 
he was determined to collect his money 
When he left his friend he went to see 
one of the elders of his friend's compound 
The elderly man listened to him and told 
him he will get his money back 
That night, a little boy came to his wife's 
shop with the money wrapped in banana 
leaves 
Two days later, a truck veered off the road 
and killed the second set of twins right
 in front of the barber's shop
The barber was also seriously injured
They said it was brake failure
The news was beyond heartbreaking
But they didn't get to mourn the children
As soon as their mother heard the news
she fainted and was rushed to the hospital
The doctors battled seriously for
her survival and they prevailed
She was discharged two weeks
later and sunk into deep depression
Her husband hired people to manage
the mill and started seeking for a
solution to the problem
They went everywhere
Sometimes she would get better and
at other times it would seem as if
she was never better
It seemed as if her mind couldn't bear
the pain
She kept slipping in and out of reality
Nothing was the same again
Minutes grew into hours and hours
grew into days
A day became four years
Their first son (The only twin alive), 
now 19 gained admission into the 
University
When he got to school, he was guided
by some campus fellowship members
through his registration
He joined the fellowship and gave his
life to Christ
Two weeks later on his way back to class
from the lecture hall, he was bitten by
a snake
By the time they got him to the hospital
his legs were swollen and he was gasping
for breath
One of his classmates called the Brother
in Jeans and T-shirt
They prayed over the phone but there was
no change
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt couldn't
get the young man out of his mind
He asked his friends "Is that person
born again?" 
They said yes!
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt drove
to the hospital the next day
When he got close to Ogbomosho, he
called his friends
His friends said he had been moved to
another hospital and his parents were
with him
They sent the Brother in Jeans and T-shirt
His parent's phone number
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt called
them and they gave him the address of the
new hospital
When he got to the hospital, he started
making inquiries
He saw two elderly people seating just
outside the main hospital building
He walked past them into the hospital
He saw the young man
The young man was in a coma
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt spoke to
the venom, he neutralized it in Jesus 
name and commanded it to find its way
out of the young man's body
After praying for him for about fifteen
minutes
He left the room
When he got outside he saw the elderly
couple again
He guessed they were the young man's
parents
He approachd them
The woman smiled and said "Where are
the doctors you went into the ward with?"
Doctors?
He went in alone!
He smiled and said "I went in alone"
The man looked at him and said "My
wife had not spoken any coherent
word in four years, I have forgotten how
her eyes could brighten up when she is
excited. Who are you sir?"
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt 
introduced himself
Just then, the doctor came out of the
hospital to announce that their son
was out of the coma and asking for them
When they got to him, the drip they set
for him was all black
The doctor said the venom somehow 
found its way out of his body into the
drip
The doctor declared it a mystery!
The drip was taken away
The young man's father said "Brother
I want to become a Christian, just like 
you"
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt led
them to Christ and filled them with
the Holy Spirit!
PS: There is a mad man that frequents
the towns of Ilora, Fiditi and sometimes
Akinmorin
He suddenly got sick a month and one
day after the young man and his mother
were totally healed
Witnesses said he kept screaming that
a light was chasing him 
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt and
other men of God were invited to pray
for him but he wasn't healed
He had crossed some rivers and had
gotten himself sunk for a season
like Demas the sorcerer
He was the "Friend" 
He confessed that he afflicted the family
with the hope that they would be too
grief-stricken to ask for the money
When that didn't work, he decided to
afflict them as punishment for calling
his bluff!
The siege lasted eight years
Kehinde had graduated since and now
works in a bank
He is also happily married and manages
a microfinance bank in the same community
he grew up in
He said he couldn't live in the city because
he wanted to be close to his parents
The other children are all born again
Christians full of the Holy Spirit
Their father built a church next to his house
where many come to worship every Sunday

GSW's Notes: We dwell in Zion with innumerable
company of angels
They work with the heirs of salvation
They work with you and I (If you're a believer)
Even when you don't see them, they are there!
It is wise to be "inside" the 
name of the Lord
It provides safety!
While I was teaching the PSSBC class 
yesterday, this event came to mind
I made a call today to get the full story
and a sense of the timing
I couldn't be too accurate but I tried
to be as close as possible to give the
testimony some depth!
You need not remain a victim
Call upon the name of Jesus today
His name is a strong tower, once
you enter into it
You will be saved