Soteria

Her mother gave her the news immediately she returned home from school

“You will be moving to the United States to stay with your sister

She just got pregnant with her second baby and she desperately needed a baby sitter

We had considered the pros and cons and decided it was best if a family member went over there to assist her

You know how sensitive your brother-in-law’s job is

And the system over there is just too secularized

Before a stranger would teach the children to go wayward

We believe they need to be groomed with one mind

You have been a super example of piety since you were a child

It is time you help groom your sister’s children to be like you”

She didn’t know what to think

She had her own plans

Going to America was very far from it

She had already passed her SSCE and was preparing to write JAMB

She also had a secret boyfriend

She met him during the annual inter-house sports of her high school

He was one of the sprinters from one of the invited government secondary schools

He was in SS2 when they became friends

She was in SS1

They had been pen pals for three years

He was already in 100L and she was so looking forward to joining him in the university

On the other hand she had always wanted to live abroad

Her father had always insisted that all his children would grow up under his nose

The wave of western civilization and its negative moral effect was of grave concern to him.

They are a deeply religious family

Her father had chieftaincy titles relating to religion in four states of the south-west

His children must be seen and known to be strong advocates of his faith.

Entrenching religious tenets in the life of a child is very simple;

Indoctrinate them early until they could only see life through the lens of the belief system.

He wouldn’t trust strangers to do that for him.

So he kept his children under his nose,

Made sure they dressed appropriately as dictated by his religion always.

All his children learnt to recite the Holy Book of his religion from childhood.

He celebrated their graduation with a lot of fanfare.

When her older sister got married to a prominent family in their social circle, her father was the happiest man in the world.

He told all his other children; "your sister has shown you the path to toe, if you follow my guidance, I will ensure you are all properly settled in life.

Her sister’s husband was a nuclear physicist.

A genius

He was working with the American Space Agency.

This was why there was a strong warning against bringing strangers to their house.

The agency is very wary of spies and/or double agents infiltrating their camps directly or indirectly.

When her father came home that night, he told her they had submitted her name and credentials for background checks and security clearance for over three months and the space agency had cleared her to live with her sister.

The agency would also take care of her education forthwith.

She arrived in America two weeks later.

Her sister’s first child was three years old.

She had experienced a little delay after the birth of the child and had just gotten pregnant again

The pregnancy had been a bit challenging

This was why her sister called for help!

She was the help!

Within a month, she wished she had never left her country.

Her sister was on bed rest and she had to take care of everything!

Nurse her sister, nurse the child, cook, clean, do the laundry and keep the house!

At 15!!!

On the very best days, she slept for four hours a day

On the worst she caught her forty winks practically on her feet!

It was a baptism of fire

But things began to ease after her sister’s first trimester.

Eventually her sister delivered!

A baby boy

She was able to sit for her examinations and gained admission into the state university.

She studied communications.

Though she lived on campus, she often spent her free weekends helping her sister out.

American education seemed to actively push for the death of objective truth.

She read this in the textbooks and saw this in the way and manner lecturers conducted themselves.

Anybody with a strong religious conviction was the proponent of negative ideologies and beliefs.

Unless you write their way, (even if you didn’t believe what you wrote) you will fail.

She played along because she realized that as free as America claimed to be, every religion was seen as an enemy of the ideology being propounded by the Universities as the path to world peace, harmony and a prosperous future.

She paid her dues and graduated.

Her parents and siblings flew over to celebrate her graduation with her.

She got a job and started living on her own.

Folks from her country who shared her belief had a close religious group on campus.

They usually met at their religious center once a week.

She met a young man there.

He was the third son of a very prominent politician in her country.

They were both of the same class.

She told her parents about him.

By this time she had been in America for 10 years.

Their parents commenced discussions about their wedding.

A date was set.

The wedding was to take place in Dubai.

Her mother swung into action.

They had to buy Aso Ebi (ceremonial uniform)

They had to book the ball room, hotel accommodation,

Print the special invitation plates and contact the embassy to ease visa arrangements for their guests.

There was so much to do!

Her wedding gown was a dark red lace appliqued wedding dress.

It was specially flown in from the Middle-East

Her make-up artists were flown in from Paris.

Money called to money.

There was to be a simultaneous party in her country.

The political base of both parents must not be left behind.

This was the worthy reward for her years of obedience, diligence and strict adherence to the tenets of her religious beliefs.

She was to fly to Dubai a week before the wedding.

On her way to the airport

A tow truck directly in front of her lost control.

Her driver tried very hard to move their vehicle out of the way.

He succeeded in swerving the vehicle sideways.

The tow truck smashed into her side of the vehicle.

Darkness!

Later, She was told it took the fire department officers and police, two hours to extract her from the vehicle.

Her skull was heavily fractured.

She lost a lot of blood.

She was unconscious

The paramedics patched her up as best they could.

Once she was stabilized

She was rushed to the hospital.

She went under the knife for fourteen hours.

By the time she came out of the theater, her parents were waiting.

The doctors declared her comatose!

She was breathing with the aid of a machine.

It was very expensive to keep her alive.

The doctor recommended that friends and family members should say their goodbyes.

From a financial point of view, it would be a waste of money to keep her breathing mechanically without any brain activity.

Even if she comes out of the coma, chances were she would be a vegetable!

Her Father said No!

Her mother said No!

They prayed!

They cried!

One week!

Five weeks!

Twenty two weeks!

People spoke with her father;

“We came from him and to him we shall return”

Let her go.

Her mother saw reason.

Her father saw reason.

They came to say their goodbyes.

When they got to the hospital,

A young man walked in

He greeted them politely

Asked them if they could pray for their daughter the Christian way and see if things will turn around before they pulled the plug.

Her father considered it

They had nothing to lose at that point.

Her father consented

The young man and his team went into her room.

They surrounded her.

They prayed in understanding at first

For the benefit of her parents.

After a few minutes

The team started praying in the spirit.

Their leader laid hands on her.

“Come out of darkness now!

Come into His marvelous light

Let there be light in Jesus name!”

The entire team laid hands on her

They spoke in the language of the Holy Ghost

They invoked the power of resurrection!

They upturned the norm

The sinus rhythm improved, then the pulse

Her hands and legs grew strangely warm.

She saw herself, on a bed

Surrounded by angels.

All breathing warm breathes all over her body.

She heard a voice calling a name from afar, the voice drew closer with every heartbeat.

Suddenly she understood.

The voice was calling her!

That must be her name. 

She wanted to answer.

She gasped and coughed!

She opened her eyes

They were still there

Exactly as she saw them moments before

Only this time they were not angels

They were praying Christians surrounding her bed!

Wow!

Her parents rushed in

“She lives!” screamed her mother

She had never seen her father cry before.

He cried inconsolably that day.

The Christians left

The next day, she told her parents what she saw.

Her father listened.

Her mother listened.

They heard her but acted as if they didn’t.

She asked that the Christian team be invited to see her.

They came back

She told them what she saw.

Did they know anything about it?

They didn’t, but they suspect it was the Holy Spirit beckoning to her in response to their prayers

They were just Christians in the hospital ministry, doing the Master’s bidding.

She asked them what so and so (the name she heard in the dream) meant.

They told her it is a Christian name

She said that was the name the voice was calling her

“How can I become a Christian?”

She asked!

Right in front of her parents and her husband to be…

She gave her life to Christ!

The next day she was baptized

One month later she was discharged.

Talks about her wedding died a natural death.

She started attending a church and learning about Christianity.

She received the gift of the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues.

Four years after the accident,

At the age of 29

She met a dashing young man

He was from a prominent Christian family in their country.

He came to the United States of America on holiday.

They met at the beach

She saw love in his eyes right from the first minute.

He proposed after six months.

Her parents went along with it.

She married him.

Two years later she delivered a set of twins

She relocated back home in order to be with him

Today, she hosts a popular TV show with other ladies on a national TV in her country.

PS: Pray, Christian, pray!

The life of a praying Christian is like a fruitful tree with fruits of great testimonies

If you dont pray, you dont testify!

If you dont try, you wont raise the dead!

Her parents recognized this and refused to question her decision to become a Christian

Please don’t give up on your unsaved family members, friends and strangers

Jesus is willing to save

Are you willing to pray and love?