Rencounter

The crime he committed was defending
his mother from his father's physical
abuse
He grew up with it
It is true that his mother had some
mental challenges that made her
burst into fits of temper and pick
fights with everybody
It is true that one day when he was
seven years old, his mother got
annoyed with him and threw a stone
at him in anger
It is true that he was wounded and
had to suffer through weeks of
treatment at the hospital
It is also true that his mother bit
a neighbour so badly during a fight
one day that a chunk of meat from
the neighbour's arm ended up in
his mother's mouth
Her mother was arrested and the
neighbour was admitted for three
days
He had to run to friends and relatives
for help to raise the money needed
to pay the hospital bill before his
mother was granted bail by the police
His father was not a saint too
He was a drunk who spent all the
money he could lay his hands-on
on local gin and cigarettes
He was the only child of his parents
That was the world he was born and
raised in
His Father had perhaps developed
a coping mechanism with his mother
Since he didn't have the money to
take her to the hospital for proper
treatment whenever she was going
through any of her spells, he would
beat her until she bled
That was the culture he met on
ground
His mother's spell came once or twice
a month
Those were the only terrible times
At other times she was very functional
She spoke well and took good care of
herself
She also raised him despite all her
challenges
His father, the supposed sane one,
was never around until late in the
night when he would stagger home
from his daily drunken stupor
That was usually when the drama
starts
If his mother opened the door too
early, she got slapped
If his mother opened the door too
late, she got kicked
His father would call his mother
all sorts of unprintable names
and walk all over her
He watched in silence until he was
sixteen
One day he told his father never
to touch his mother
He was not coached to say so
He had just had enough
His father couldn't believe it
When his father raised up his hands
to strike his mother, he stood in
between them
His father tried to move him but he
refused to move
His father started cursing him
but he refused to move
For him, enough was enough
His father felt very disrespected by
his action but he was powerless to
do much about it
He was physically as strong as his
father was at the age of sixteen
and his father was neither responsible
for his feeding, school or welfare in
any way
So there was no way his father could
get back at him
His mother's relatives were the ones
who usually rallied around their family
His mother's older and younger sisters
were the ones who paid his way through
school and ensured they had a roof on
over their heads
After his secondary school, he found
it difficult to secure admission into the
university
His mother's younger sister asked him
to come over to her house so that
he could get some personal lessons
and pass his examinations
By this time his father had not lifted
a finger against his mother for almost
two years
His mother encouraged him to go
He left
Three weeks after he got there, his
mother's younger sister told him
to pack his bag and leave her house
He didn't do anything to deserve
being sent packing
When he got home, his father began
to laugh
He said "Those who have seen you
as a glory before now will begin to
see you as an object of derision
henceforth.
I will so deal with you until you know
that you may have more strength than
me but I have been in this world much
longer than you"
He tried calling his aunty to know what
he did
His aunty stopped picking his calls
He called his mother's older sister
(She was located in Ukraine)
She picked the call only to tell him not
to call her again
He was shocked
They were the pillars that had held
him and his mother since he was born
He was perplexed
He went to beg his father
"Please sir, whatever you have done,
undo it so that I wont have to suffer
with my mother"
His father said "I paid her bride price,
I own her and you claim i cannot do
with her as i will. It is because your
plate has been left empty of trouble
all your life.
When you have enough on your
plate you will not be putting your
nose in other people's affairs
He tried everything he could to get
across to her aunties
It was all to no avail
Eventually, he got a job at a carwash
in order to earn some money to
feed himself and his mother
His father would taunt him every day
"Your mates are in school, you are
a failure"
He would sometimes lay awake all
night, crying his eyes out
The little he made daily, at the
carwash was barely enough to sustain
him and his mother
He didn't even have enough money
to enroll for his examination into
the university
One Saturday, the Brother in jeans
and T-shirt drove into the carwash
with a driver in a coaster bus
Somehow they got talking
He told the brother in jeans and
T-shirt his story as he began to
wash the car
The brother in jeans and T-shirt
told him about the Holy Spirit
and how in 2020 all the promises
of God came to pass in his life
He was shocked to hear that the
coaster bus was bought within
six hours and another Hiace bus
was bought within four hours
What sort of God answers someone
else's prayer that way but neglects
to answer the prayer of a poor
boy with a sick mother who needed
divine intervention in his life
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt asked
him if he was a believer
He said yes but he had not been to
church in months
He was a member of the oldest
orthodox church
He did what he can but he really didn't
know much about the Christian faith
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt
invited him into the coaster bus
and led him to Christ, then he got
him filled with the Holy Spirit
He told him to read the book of John
He taught him how to pray effectively
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt told
him turning his situation around is
simple: Follow the leading of the Holy
Spirit and be true to Him
They exchanged phone numbers
He returned to his car washing duty
When he and his colleagues were
done washing the car, the Brother
in Jeans and T-shirt gave them some
nice tip apart from the bill
It was the nicest thing that had
happened to him in months
When he got home that day,
he started praying in the spirit
Joy flooded his soul and a calm
assurance came upon him
He was able to sleep very well
for the first time in many months
The next morning, he greeted his
father just as he was about to
step out of the house
His father hissed and looked
away
He smiled and started walking
towards the gate when he saw
a lady selling bread and cooked
beans
He bought some and blessed it
as he turned back to go home
When he got home he served the
food in a bowl and placed it
before his father
He said "Daddy, I don't have much
but I want you to eat something
I bought for you with my money"
His father didn't say a word
He left for work
Later in the evening, when he got
home in the evening
He met his father picking beans
with his mother from a tray
They were talking like friends and
there was no hint of animosity
He went to the well outside the
house to fetch some water
When he was done, the time was
about 8pm
His father was still at home,
listening to the news on his
transistor radio
Usually, his father would have gone
off to drink
His father didn't
Before he slept that night, he said
"Holy Spirit, i dont know if this is
you or if it is because my father
didn't have any money but I must
confess that it feels good to see
my parents talking like this.
Thank you"
One week later, his mother's younger
sister called him after almost a
year of abandoning them
She asked him if he had done his
National Identity card enrolment
He said Yes
She told him to go to an address
the next day
He got to the address early and
discovered it was a travel agent
His international passport was
made that day
Three days later, the papers were
put in for a visa for him to travel
to the United Kingdom
Her aunty's husband had been
transferred to the UK and the family
was willing to sponsor him through
school
It all happened so fast
Right in the middle of a pandemic
lockdown
In a year many insist was the worst
The Holy Spirit changed his story
He sent his testimony announcing his
visa miracle to the Brother
in Jeans and T-shirt on the 29th of
December 2020
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt
screamed over and over for joy
Indeed, God answers prayers.

PS: The events described above
took place in Shangisha area
of Lagos
We were having a huge party
at Rehoboth (My house)when this
testimony came in at 4:30 pm on
December 29th, 2020
The young man would be traveling
to the United Kingdom on Saturday
2nd January 2020
His father had not taken alcohol
(Miraculous break of the yoke of
addiction) in two months
His mother had also not had any of
her spells in almost two months
His mother's sisters had resumed
supporting her financially and it
seems all the T's and i's of his life
had been crossed and dotted
I screamed for joy
My brothers and sisters also screamed
with me
We celebrate miracles like little
children
We never take His wonders for granted
Thank you Jesus

GSW's notes: The recent lockdown
announcements in Nigeria has made
it a must for GSWMI to organize a
cross over service to accommodate
those who will be willing to crossover
into the year of The Burning and Shinning
Light with us from across the globe
Year 2021, is a miraculous year
I can state this categorically
"Those in Him shall walk on water
that year! Unprecedented supernatural
miracles shall happen in the Kingdom
of the Lord Jesus and we will be as
a burning and shinning light across
all realms"
What our eyes have seen are worth
sharing and exploring as we go forth
into the year
Please join us if you can