Unencumbered

He worked for five years before he could save enough money for his JAMB form

His salary was good but his family needed the money

His father was a carpenter

The menial repair work he did was not enough to sustain the family

His elder sister got pregnant at 16

The man responsible for the pregnancy refused to be responsible for the child

This really complicated matters for the family

The less mouth available to be fed, the better

He worked as a gardener

Watering plants in 34 houses all over an estate

The money was good but the responsibility was way more than a 21 year old could shoulder alone

He had almost given up on getting an education

When he got the break he had always longed for

A customer paid him 5000 extra for a good job he did with his avocado plant

It was the extra money he intended to use for his JAMB form

He knew God had a hand in it

He had told God to make a way or he would have to assume God didn’t want him to go to the university

He became born again in the student union fellowship during his secondary school days

He knew God would prosper whatever he did

But he desired to get an education and become a lawyer

His best friend, the one that led him to Christ also had the same problem

Poverty was the only thing they had in common apart from Christ

He told his best friend he had gotten money for JAMB

His best friend rejoiced greatly

One of them would be moving upward and directly towards the goal

That would be a great improvement from their previous years

They talked about helping each other out

“I will help you work on the gardening business and keep some money for you for your education”

His friend was such a rare Christian

They were the same age but his friend's maturity in Christ was light years ahead

They discussed the pros and cons

He introduced his friend to all his customers

The source of income should be kept alive if he was to make it in school

They had worked together for some time

But he did a better job at gardening and earned more

The d-day came and they decided to go to the JAMB office together

It was about 15 kilometers away from the slum they live in

The form was 5000 and all they had was 5000

They had to walk the distance to and fro

They left home at 5 am praying in the spirit and discussing about this and that as they walked

Suddenly his friend said “I wish I were also buying this form and getting admitted into the same school with you!

Do you know what the two of us can do in a university?

We would turn logic on its head and bring the light of Christ to many”

He acknowledged this to be the truth

When they were in high school they ministered together a lot

The power of God was always evident and mighty!

But there they were, their realities refused to align with their faith!

The journey took them seven hours, they got to the JAMB office at 12 noon!

There was a long queue

They queued behind each other!

His friend said he needed to experience what it took in preparation for his own JAMB office trip the following year

One hour later, they got to the cashier

He was supposed to pay, collect his receipt and then proceed to the next line for his form

He counted the money

It was 10000

What!

The money had somehow doubled

He paid and gave his friend the 5000 extra to pay for his own form

They felt goose pimples all over

What had just happened?

The got to the next line and obtained their JAMB forms

His friend started crying

Oh God!

My God!

Oh God!

My King!

He started crying too

How could this have happened? When did it happen?

They were together all the way

Nobody gave them a penny

They walked many kilometers

And wow!

They got the forms

They knew they would get admitted

It was God’s desire to grant them admission at the same time

They did

One year later they both set off for the same university to study the same course

The thought of feeding and school fees was far from their mind

Would God start a project and refuse to complete it?

They became ministers of the gospel on campus as they desired

Somehow, their needs were met

Until they got to the final year

One week to their final examinations, they were yet to pay their school fees

They had fasted and prayed and praised

Nothing!

Examination day came

Nothing!

They went into the examination hall

They didn’t have the examination card and receipt to show they had paid

They got booted out

One of them got despondent

"How could they have come this far only to be deserted at the last minute?

Was it something they did?

Have they somehow missed the voice and motive of God?"

The other one suggested that since they were idle and mopping around, perhaps it would be wise to keep themselves occupied

What should they do?

The fellowship needed some devotionals

The fellowship’s bus was available

They had a higher calling to preach the gospel

Examination and schooling were nothing?

Would they have even gotten this far without God?

They encouraged each other

Told the driver to take them to the missions’ office in another city

The mission was in charge of the daily devotional widely used on campus

They got 3000 copies for free every quarter

They sang hymns and worshipped God all the way to that city

By the time they got there, they were in full worship and skabashing mode

They filled the request form

The stock keeper saw the volume of their request and asked them to come with him

That was strange!

They usually fill the form, get the devotionals and distribute on campus without any fanfare

Would they experience another delay here?

The stock keeper led them to the manager of the company and introduced them

“According to your directives that those ordering more than a thousand copies of the devotional should be brought to you, I present Mr. So and so and Mr. Such and such, student representatives from this and that university!”

The manager looked at them

“Aren’t you guys supposed to be writing examinations?”

They told the manager their financial challenges and narrated how they decided that instead of mopping and gripping, they would put themselves to work while glorifying God!”

The manager was pleasantly impressed!

How much is your school fees? The manager asked

They stated the amount

The manager wrote them a cheque!

Wow!!

They got the 3000 copies of the devotional and left

They sang and shouted all the way back to school

They would have to re-sit for the three papers they missed that day but their circumstances was much more better than when they left campus in the morning!

They got to school

Many students started shouting

Their classmates were jibby-jabbering!

 “Did you call the Dean of the faculty?”

Did you send an e-mail to the Head of department?                  

They couldn’t make sense of what they were saying!

What happened?

The dean and the HOD were caught up in traffic all morning

They couldn’t get to campus on time

The invigilators went ahead and distributed the examination questions and answers

Students wrote the examination

The dean arrived

The HOD arrived

The typist had made mistakes while typing the questions

The Dean was not there to correct the errors

The HOD was not there to correct the errors

The students had answered the questions based on the questions they saw

The dean cancelled his examination paper

The HOD cancelled his two examination papers

They set a date (two weeks after the general examinations) for a re-sit of the cancelled papers for all the students

The student’s would have to spend extra two weeks in school and they were upset about it

That was why the students thought they had something to do with it

They couldn’t believe it

They wouldn’t even have to carry over the three courses

JESUS!!!!

A month later they graduated with their peers

Without a carry-over or any form of embarrassment

Many who heard their stories marveled at the wonder working power of God

The ever present help in time of need!

PS: They both graduated with good results and were gainfully employed

They still preach the gospel

They are also happily married with children

Glory to God!