Rehoboth

In 1998, just as i dropped my pen after 
writing my WAEC
I left the boarding school with a head under
a cloud of uncertainty. 
When i got to my mother's rented flat at 
Bolajoko Estate, Opposite General Gas, 
in Akobo area. 
I was welcomed by a very intimidating sight 
The House had been sold and was undergoing 
renovation My mother and siblings were 
nowhere to be found 
It felt as if my life was being dismantled 
in front of me The time was around 7 pm, 
I strolled to a friend's house & was filled in 
on what had happened 
He said the house was sold and my folks
were thrown out. 
I couldn't believe it 
Before I left for school that term, I knew 
we were owing up to six months rent 
The caretaker had come to our house several 
times to beg my mother to pay up 
He knew it wasn't in my mother's nature to 
owe 
Things suddenly took a negative turn for 
my family that year 
Things were so bad that my mother couldn't 
afford to pay the fee for my valedictory 
service. 
My mother told me it was either I have my 
valedictory service or my older sister had 
her matriculation service, we couldn't do 
both and the matriculation service was 
deemed as more important it was a tough 
year but I didn't expect things to even get 
worse 
My friend told me my family had moved to 
a place in Bodija Estate extension 
He told me only one person knew the exact 
location and the person was not in the 
estate at that moment 
Wow!
There were no phones at the time I got on 
a bus going to the University of Ibadan 
My older sister was in Room B23 Queens Hall 
I knew she would show me the way home 
I found my sister at about 7:30 pm 
She told me they were not expecting me at 
home that early I told her there was no
point waiting for the valedictory service 
My sister took me "home" "Home" was a 
dilapidated building in Bodija Estate Extension 
A pastor with twelve children was the only 
person in the world who had chosen to take 
in my mother and my siblings 
I didn't even remember how my mother
came to know this pastor 
All i could do was cry that day 
I cried because i knew the rent my mother 
couldn't pay was the cost of the Bikers, 
Sanchez or Chelsea boots that some of her 
friend's children were buying and discarding 
for fun! 
We lived among the rich and we had seen 
many rubbish money just for the fun of it 
We spent 10 months in that dilapidated building 
No doors, no windows, the cold was crazy 
and the heat was unforgiving 
There were no toilets, no water 
We ate toads or was it frogs? 
(The one drained from the swamp behind 
the house by the Pastor's hardworking children, 
I tried my hand at tilling the soil that season 
I cleared a plot of land and planted maize 
The pastor's children were very hardworking 
and they shared their fufu and toad soup 
with us daily 
The pastor's wife was also very warm 
But we didn't belong there! 
No!!
I still remember my mother singing hymns in 
that house 
It seemed to be as if nothing could dampen 
her joy (I might be wrong but if she was shaken 
by what we were going through she didn't 
really show it) 
My elder sisters stayed back in school because 
we were all living in a room!
My mother, my immediate younger brother 
and my mother's last child were the ones who 
really lived in that house We played football, 
took long walks and avoided our former 
friends like a plague 
We didn't want anyone to see us in our tattered 
reality 
We spent the Christmas and New Year of 1999 
in that house 
In March 1999, Late Reverend Dr. S. O. Abegunde 
of University of Ibadan Baptist Church came to 
visit us in that house 
Within a month, he had arranged for us to be 
moved to a rented flat in Orogun Area of Ibadan 
He said the Holy Spirit stirred his heart to help
The same reverend asked a principal Mrs.
 Ayoade to register me for a re-sit of my WAEC 
when my result came and i failed mathematics 
The same Pastor raised my registration fees 
when I got admitted into Bowen University 
some years later 
When we started living in a flat again, my
mother would tell the story of how God 
gave her a house while she was praying 
fervently for a way out of the pit while
we were still living in that "Hell"
My mother said she named the house 
God gave to her REHOBOTH, meaning 
(God has given me my own space) 
I listened to her unshakable faith in
awe and i was inspired 
Today, I am proud to announce that 
I officially moved into REHOBOTH! 
(My own God-given space) 
It was a gift that was signed, sealed 
and delivered (fully furnished to taste 
by the power of the Holy Spirit) 
This is my testimony! 
Praise the Lord!!! 
Hallelujah!

PS: Somebody close to me said 
"Only you can announce your new
home so publicly and loudly.
A yoruba adage says "When the yam
of the slave is done, he eats it in
secret"
Remember that there are some who
wouldn't be happy
The enemies who always long to
spoil one's joy
I laughed 
I am not a slave
I dwell in indelible light, in Christ
I am a house on a hill, I CANNOT BE HID
I am a citizen of Zion
I am an inspiration, a role model
God is raising a generation that does
not know or recognize the power of
darkness in their reality through me
I am a Christkind, a Homochristus
If my own life cannot be poured out
as an example to the world, I will
be a bad teacher
We must lead by example

GSW's note: There is a mentality that
you must change
It is prevalent in religion
It is the mentality of a prostitute
Claiming to be born again and serving
God while still conscious, scared and
mindful of what the "enemy" can do 
to hurt them
As long as you think this way, you give
the enemy a foothold in your life
"It is true that we should not be
ignorant of the "devices" of the enemy
at the same time, the weapons of
our warfare are not "carnal"
This means carnal wisdom cannot
stop the enemy
What stops the enemy is the mighty
power we have in the name of Jesus
who is the head of all principalities
and powers...
2 Corinthians :3For though we live in 
the flesh, we do not wage war according 
to the flesh. 
4The weapons of our warfare are not 
the weapons of the world. 
Instead, they have divine power to 
demolish strongholds. 
5We tear down arguments, and every 
presumption set up against the 
knowledge of God; and we take captive 
every thought to make it obedient to 
Christ.…

In Christ, I am a Principality and Power
The enemy is scared of me
I am the full expression of Jesus Christ
to the world of men, I show them the
way of salvation
Through me, men become the light and
are equipped to destroy all the powers
of the enemy (Amen)
Hallelujah