Waste

The first time they met 
They met at a bar 
The bar was located in the 
premises of an old hotel 
The hotel had gone out of business and a

church had taken over the premises 
He was invited by the pastor of the church 
to hold an impartation meeting with the 
workers of the church
When he got to the church 
He saw the young man with a thick afro 
The young man was drinking 
and smoking a cigarette 
His spirit honed in on the young
man
He was early and had some minutes 
to spare 
He walked up to the young man 
They exchanged greetings 
He asked the young man what he 
did for a living 
The young man said "hustling"
They chit-chatted 
He prayed for the young man 
They exchanged numbers 
He went to the church 
The meeting was a success 
When he left the church 
The young man was gone 
He made a mental note to tell the pastor 
about the young man 
He said "the Holy Spirit drew my 
attention to him"
Some days later 
The is phone rang 
It was the young man 
He had been arrested and locked up 
at Ketu police station 
What happened? 
He had an altercation with a food vendor 
He slapped the lady 
The lady's husband got the police involved 
He had been jailed 
He had nobody to bail him
The young man cried "Please help me" 
He called the pastor 
The pastor told him the young man 
was a riff-raff 
He had been in and out of police custody 
for many years 
His family members lived around but 
they wanted to have nothing to do 
with him 
He had no friend or loved ones
The pastor thought that he should 
be left in jail for some time 
He needed to face the consequences 
of the lifestyle choices he was making 
As long as people continue to bail the 
young man out of trouble, he wouldn't 
learn his lesson! 
He agreed with the pastor's view
A week later, the young man called 
him again 
He went to the police station 
He bailed the young man out 
He told him about Jesus 
Young man kept nodding his head, 
like he wanted the sermon over with 
He sensed the resistance and let young 
man be 
He had planted the seed as instructed
The next time he saw the young man, 
they met at a petrol station during the 
fuel scarcity! 
The young man was hustling for fuel to 
sell at black market price 
They greeted 
The young man approached him 
"Pastor, pastor, settle your boy! 
Give me something to eat" 
He was shocked!
The young man was almost 
rough handling him 
Other touts like the young man 
surrounded them 
He had nothing to give and he said so 
The young man got angry 
"And you call yourself a pastor, you collect tithe 
and offering and you refuse to settle 
your boys!" 
He was so embarrassed!
By the time he left the fuel station 
His phone and some money had 
gone missing 
He regretted ever getting to know the 
young man 
Familiarity had bred contempt 
He vowed to keep away from that area 
He didn't believe he would be rough handled 
by someone he had done so much for 
Wow!
He kept away from the area 
About a year later 
He saw the young man by the roadside 
He was on crutches 
The young man had gotten one of his 
legs broken 
He parked his car and approached the 
young man "What happened?" 
The young man told him he had a 
motorcycle accident 
They talked!
He told the young man about Jesus 
Young man said he needed some money 
He gave the young man a lift, gave him some 
money and took him to a proper hospital 
for treatment! 
He nursed the young man to health! 
They became friends 
He took the young man to his house, 
accommodated him
After a year, young man was already a 
Christian Young man told him he wanted 
to go and see his folks 
Young man left on Friday morning 
Around 2 AM on Saturday, 
there was a noise on the street 
Security men engaged some armed
robbers in a shootout 
Neighbours came to call him
When he got to the street 
He saw young man and some other 
members of his gang 
They had been shot dead! 
He remembered telling the young man 
he would be collecting some money for 
his building project 
The money was what the young man was 
targeting He wept bitterly 
What a waste!