THE ADVENTURES OF TOLU (T.A.O.T)
PREVIOUSLY ON EPISODE 21
EPISODE 22
That was the beginning of another journey into the unknown. I was completely disappointed in myself. “How on earth did I let Desola get into my head and use me? How on earth did I lose Focus? Why didn’t I listen to Chibuzor when he warned me at first? Why did Desola not stand up for me? Did she not tell me that I meant the world to her? She just totally denied me and lied against me. What exactly did I do to deserve all this? Is Rebecca responsible for all this?” I kept asking myself questions I had no answers to.
I had enough money on me. So I just kept moving without a specific course. I actually don’t know how I chose places to go. But somehow I just knew where to go. I would have said that my mom’s spirit did not depart from me, but where was she when Desola was hunting me down? What was she doing when Desola lied against me that I was harrasing her sexually? Those were my thoughts.
I walked to the main road, and going back to Ibadan was the last thing on my mind. I had been hearing about Ikeja in Lagos. So when a bus conductor called for people going to that area, I just joined the bus and it moved immediately. The bus after a long journey caused by traffic finally reached Ikeja in Lagos. On getting there around 12pm that Monday afternoon, I was really confused as I did not know what to do. As I walked around. I kept roming around the streets of Lagos till around past 5pm in the evening. That was when I heard a very sonorous voice singing. I followed my instincts and located the church. I looked, and I saw a church. It was just a street not too far from the main road. I saw on the sign post outside “Way to Salvation Bible Church”. I was never trained to be a church going type. Even in Mrs Adebiyi’s house, nobody goes to church. I have always known people in church to be nice people. So I decided that I was going to try to enter the church. So I carried my bag and entered the church. There was an on-going programme in the church and a young lady was singing. I entered the church, dropped my load at the back, and sat for few minutes. It occured to me that there was a piano and a drum in the church. A pianist was playing the piano, but there was nobody to play the drum. I used to drum well, when I was in secondary school. So I asked a man standing beside me “Sir please, why is nobody drumming? You don’t drum here?” I asked. “The drummer only comes on Sundays.” He answered. “Please, can someone be allowed to play the drum?” I asked “Yes of course!” He answered. I went to the drum, picked the drum stick and started playing the drum.
Everyone in the church including the Pianist and the lady with the sonorous voice singing started nodding their head in approval. People started dancing than they were doing before I started drumming. I was encouraged and I gave my best.
In no time, the praise and worship was over and the pastor came up to give a short charge before he prayed. It was as if he knew everything that was wrong with me. The things he said appeared specifically for me. I can not forget everything he said…
”Our God is a God of possibilities, we serve a living God who makes something good out of our mistakes. When we think he’d totally forgotten about us. Then he wrought wonders through us and in us, showing us his unconditional love. David had more than one son, but the one that was born out of his ‘mistake’ with Bathsheeba was the one that God chose as the next king. Who says that God cannot turn your past mistakes into your future advantage? The woman that was caught in the very act of adultery, Jesus said to her “I do not condemn you either, go and sin no more”. Are you under the sound of my voice and you have made some mistakes in the past that makes you think that God hates you. Listen! God can never stop loving you because God himself is love. If you are here and you know that you are not in the Family of Jesus. If you are not yet born again. You are not responding well to God’s love for you. He loves you so much that he gave his only begotten son just that you can be saved. This is the right time to come into God’s family. This is the time to reciprocate God’s affection…”
The words the pastor spoke really touched me. I didn’t know when I raised my hand that I wanted to be ‘born-again’. I came out with five other people making six of us. So I did not feel like anybody was looking. Even if they were looking, the pastor’s words were just too strong. It touched the core of my being.
He told us to say some things which we said. After which he prayed for us. He led prayers and after an hour plus, the service was over. I was determined that I was going to see the pastor,maybe he could help me. Many people waited to see him, but after waiting for a while, I finally got a chance…
TO BE CONTINUED…
