They called it elephantiasis
A disease said to be caused by a strange mosquito
I was at the Bible College at the time
I had been sent for my Teaching Practice at a church located at Ogudu Ori-Oke
The pastor of this church was a gentleman
He and his wife were chartered accountants

and they were blessed
I was a personal assistant to another pastor and the coordinator of the Bible College had to practically beg my boss to allow me to observe the Teaching Practice at another church (He had insisted I do it with him and I would have spent the time carrying his

Bible and practicing nothing)
When I reported for duty, I was assigned the duty of follow up and evangelism
My primary assignment was to liaise with the follow-up lady and visit all the members who have not been to that church in weeks
I was also given the altar to minister one

Sunday a month (sermon) and other Sundays in various capacities like leading the church in prayer, taking testimonies, and closing prayer
We met this brother on the way to a member's house early one Sunday morning
He was sitting outside a building, wearing yellow slippers and

looking hopeless
We had walked past him but my spirit reached out to me, so I asked the sister to turn around with me so that we can minister to this brother
He was happy we came around
He said he had spent everything he had on the leg and he was desperate enough to accept any

An apostle was addressing his own members
If not for technology, you wouldn't be privy to his discussion with his members
He was sharing with them within the context of their understanding of his message, nature, and personality how he thrived in the middle of a season of casting

down
He mentioned what he achieved and even though it might sound like a boast, he was not boasting to you
He was boasting to his church members and as such, you cannot call it a boast
A father does not need to boast to his children and a shepherd surely does not need to boast to

his sheep
Newspapers needed a scandal and felt the message of the apostle was the right fit in their quest to get eyeballs
You read it and you began to insult the apostle
You, the son of a dog from Abatan refuse dump decided to drag an apostle on Twitter
Do you understand what it

means to be an apostle?
The angels working with an apostle are innumerable, they do not only work at his command, but they also work at his behest!
They are entrusted with the duty of ensuring that the Lordship of his office is respected by both spiritual and mundane entities

In the days of Jesus, many of the Pharisees and religious leaders treated his words and actions the same way many of the gutter bred stone casters with 100 Naira data and stolen or London used phone treated the words of the apostle
Jesus warned them at the time that they were

In Genesis 15, right after God sealed his covenant with Abraham, God told him his descendants will spend 400 years in Egypt
God also promised that he would bring the descendants of Abraham out of Egypt with a mighty hand
Abraham didn't argue with God, he accepted God's verdict as

law
But he was smart
He told Isaac to keep far away from Egypt
As a young man, Abraham and Sarah had gone to Egypt in Genesis 12:8-13:2 to avoid the devastating effect of a famine
When they were about to get to Egypt, Abraham pleaded with Sarah to introduce herself as his sister

and not as his wife because of her beauty
(This was a half-truth but the intention was self-preservation and not faith)
When Pharaoh was told of Sarah's beauty, he immediately sent his servants to go and bring Sarah to his palace

(Collecting beauty is an obligation of royalty)

Abraham had no say in the matter
Pharaoh paid him Sarah's dowry and he collected it
Pharaoh became the legal husband of Sarah
Abraham prayed that God would somehow step into the matter
God did.
Pharaoh and his household were afflicted by a strange disease
Pharaoh called for his

diviners
His diviners told him Sarah had to go
Pharaoh sent for Abraham
Why did you lie?
Abraham claimed he was afraid for his life
Pharaoh wanted to be rid of the affliction
Pharaoh paid Abraham and Sarah appeasement/compensation offering
Abraham practically came out of Egypt

I found myself unable to discuss or see people in a negative light
It was a strange place to be
A whole new realm that isolated me in some way
When I am among people and the topic goes in the direction of Mr. So and So did this evil thing to me or Mrs. Such and such said the

following things about me
I find my skin crawling and my defences up
I don't do this naturally, it just is.
When I am with my team and we're discussing stuff, I dodge all the unnecessary stuff
I don't want to know who is doing that bad thing or who is not performing up to par

I find it nauseating to say the least
Talking ill of people even when it ought to be discussed
A brother caught covid from his girlfriend
They were not married and ought not to be together that way
Someone pointed my attention to it and I felt somehow
Like the person wanted to

force-feed me poison
The person meant well and I should know what is going on but I really couldn't bear the heaviness of such talks
I understand that it is normal for people to share such talks and bond over it
I once worked as a personal assistant to a pastor who will pick a

person and talk about the person with his wife all the way from Lagos to Ibadan and will still chew the person like a bone all the way from Ibadan back to Lagos
He will keep digging out faults and misdeeds like a dog unearthing buried bones
It was a crazy habit I could barely

He was a cheat
The first time she discovered he was cheating on her was two weeks to their wedding
She was four months pregnant and had woken up that morning with the intention of paying him a surprise visit at his crib in Magodo
He was still sharing a flat with three of his

friends at the time
She got to Magodo at about noon
The apartment was right behind the main house and the gate was almost always locked
Usually she would call call him once she got to the gate so that he would come and open the gate for her but on that fateful day, she met the

gate ajar
Someone was driving out of the compound and the big gate was wide open
She walked in, climbed the stairs to the boys quarters and met the door open
She walked in and found them (Her man and a lady) doing it
It was the last thing she expected to see, especially because

he had never given her a reason to assume he was unfaithful
The good news she wanted to share with him evaporated immediately
She found her feet trembling and her knees buckling
It was a terrible experience
The lady saw her first and shrunk from him in shock
He looked at her and

quickly rolled off the bed
Her first thought was to walk away and not to look back, she didn't see any other sensible option
Her people will say when you put a foot in the river and a crocodile pounces on it, you don't need to put the other foot in the river before you know you

A wife cheated in a marriage and it was found out. The husband felt used and abused. After a long time of reflection, he decided to revenge
To repay cheating for cheating! He got online and started following hookups and chat rooms with sexual offerings
After sometime he got what

he wanted, a sexual engagement with a lady online
They met at the hotel & he slept with the lady
In his mind, he had evened the score
Days after the deed, things started falling out of place for him
His conscience became heavy, he couldn't concentrate at work and he felt no peace

He experienced all the emotions that cheats and unfaithful people experience all the time that robs them of self-respect and human dignity
He had mortgaged his worth like Esau mortgaged his birthright
He couldn't confess the deed to his wife because he was certain it would make

him look small and perhaps prompt her to cheat again
While wallowing in his guilt, the lady he cheated with chatted him up
It felt like a sign to him
A sign to see her again and connect with her and unburden
He met with her again and she became his escape from reality
She helped

him to put things in the wrong perspective
"Everybody cheats...
"You're wise to get yours...
"Live your life to please yourself...
"You never can tell what your partner is up to...
It was what he wanted to hear
Before he knew it, he spent less and less time at home with his wife

He was at the office when he received the phone call
It was from the most unexpected source
It was from the administrator of the Headquarter of the church he was attending
He joined one of the branches of the church as a young man and had grown to become an altar minister. He had

always known he was called into ministry but he didn't know why he had been summoned to the headquarters.
He got there very early the following morning, he was barely seated when the pastor of the branch he was with also came in
They were ushered into the office of the pastor in

charge of the headquarter church
There was a few chit-chats
More like a job interview and then the pastor of the headquarter church told him his pastor was being transferred abroad on mission work and had recommended him to take over the affairs of the church
He didn't see it

coming
The Pastor in charge of the headquarters parish told him he came highly recommended and she believed he would deliver
She prayed for him and told him she would come to their parish the following Sunday to come and make the announcement official
He drove home with his head

in the clouds
He was aware the pastor would be traveling for mission work but had assumed the church will post another pastor to the parish
He was just 33 years old at the time and it was the last thing on his mind
When he got home, he told his wife the good news
He also told som

The first time he heard that his wife was cheating on him
He cried all the way from Atlanta to Nigeria
He saw a message from his mother
The message said one of the instrumentalists in his church went to report himself to some elders in the church for disciplinary action because

had been engaging in sexual immorality.
Upon investigation, it was discovered that the person he was having sexual relations with was the pastor's wife
The elders didn't know how to go about it
Some said the instrumentalist was framing the pastor's wife in order to bring down

the pastor's ministry and tear his family apart
Others said the pastor's wife should be invited to face the elders and defend the allegations
it was a political issue
Had it been any other person, they would have acted swiftly but the pastor's wife was off-limits, even for the

elders
So they took the case to his mother and his mother sent him a message asking for directions
The message was not such a shock to him
His wife had been threatening that she would ruin his ministry for several months if he does not quit the ministry and return to his medical

practice
He had told her what she was asking him to do was next to impossible
He knew from the age of twelve what his calling was in ministry
He preached his first sermon at a village crusade at the age of fifteen
He got his B. TH degree at the age of twenty before proceeding to

Rather than cheat on your spouse, the honourable thing to do is quit the marriage
I know many people would rather want to eat their cake and have it, in principle, people who do that are scums and cheats
Either you are the husband or the wife, you have a duty to yourself to stay

faithful to your spouse regardless of the circumstances or the situation you find yourself in
If the situation is such that you cannot cope with the relationship, the best thing to do is walk out and stay out.
A lady came to my office claiming her husband was a two minute man and

the lack of sexual satisfaction had almost driven her into the street in search of a lover
She hadn't done anything yet...
She was just considering it because of the frustration the quick ejaculation issue the husband has was causing her
She made sure she dragged her husband to

my office too
She had been talking to him about it and she really wanted him to take her serious on the issue so that they can address it
Her husband didn't form
He acknowledged that he had a challenge and had tried so much to address it to no avail
They have a daughter and the

husband was willing to do anything to keep his home
His openness and sincerity impressed me
Many men do not like to talk about their sexuality or deficiency in that area because they assume it belittles them
He was not like most men
I asked him a salient question that day
I said

Their mother gave birth to five girls
Their father wasn't particular about having a son but their mother insisted she must have a son
She said she had seen a vision when she was a teenager that she gave birth to a male child and was even given the baby's name
She married quite

early, so she had some time to relax after the fifth girl was born
They were living at a "face me I face you" apartment in Eleyele at the time
Her husband was a cook with IITA
She was a typist
They both attend a uniform wearing church where all forms of manifestations were the

norm
After she had the fifth girl, she went to church to pray one evening, asking God about the vision she had and why it had not come to pass
She really wanted to have only four children but she didn't want to ignore the vision because she was convinced that male child could be

God's purpose for her life
She told herself if having that male child was not important God wouldn't show his birth and naming to her in a vision
A prophetess came to her while she was praying
The prophetess said "Wait for five harvest ceremonies, after the fifth harvest you will

have this boy
That was exactly what happened
She got pregnant five years later and delivered the boy a few months before the sixth harvest
Her last girl was five years and ten months older than the boy
She named him Imole (Light)
Coping with six children was very difficult
They

They were at a vigil when the issue came to light
The pastor of the church heard the testimony of one of the men of the church earlier that week and decided to allow him to share with the brethren
The man took the microphone and explained how he had

survived for two years without a job!
As soon as he said "Without a job" the congregation gasped!
It was impossible to even contemplate that the man was out of job for a second
He always dressed corporately and drove a good car
Everybody saw him as one of the gainfully employed

members of the church
The man explained further that a week after he lost his job in a stock brokering firm, his wife found him crying and promised him she would ensure his shame was covered
The man said at the end of every month, his wife would hand over her ATM card to him and

they would both go shopping for the family and for themselves
She knew he would eventually catch a break but she was determined not to let him suffer simply because times were hard
The man talked on and on about his wife's support
and love
While the talk was going on, the

assistant pastor watched the man with awe
When the man was done, a lady raised up her hand in the congregation
She said she wanted to ask a question
She was the assistant pastor's wife
When she was given the microphone, she said she didn't see any wisdom in what the man's wife

The brother came into his DM like a thief in the night
The brother said he needed some help
Things were tight and love was scarce
The brother said he was a Christian brother
The brother played the Jesus card
He told the brother to send his bank account details
The brother said

he would prefer that they meet
Silver and gold can come later
Can you please meet with me?
He told the Brother when and where
He sent the brother transport fare
They met and talked like brothers
The brother was quite smart
What he got when he was leaving
was ten times what he

would have gotten had they not met
The brother became a regular visitor
to his office
They would sit and talk about life and the gospel
The brother's situation was quite pathetic
No job, no money, nothing to show for his almost forty years of existence
He said he once had a job

and even bought a car
But when the wind and the waves came, he sold all he could to keep body and soul together
After about three months after meeting the brother
His younger sister came to the office to see him
She was a software engineer working with a blue-chip company abroad

Just as he was seeing his sister off
The brother arrived with a friend
The brother said he had a visitor from out of state and wanted to ensure that his visitor met his new friend in Christ
He knew what the brother wanted to do
Yet, he smiled and said hello and shook hands with

He knew marrying her was a mistake on their honeymoon,
she suddenly went into an eerie silence when they got into the hotel room.
He was still all bubbly and happy
He didn't notice her change of mood until he finished undressing
By that time, she had taken offense that he didn't

pay attention to her change of mood which happened about an hour earlier
He asked her what was wrong with her
She flared up
"Is this how you are going to do husband? If I had died right by your side, you wouldn't have noticed for one hour and three minutes?
Is this was I settled

for?
He was taken aback
It was the last thing he expected
The surprise showed on his face
She saw it and shouted "Oh my God. You regret marrying me right? You are already weary or is that disgust i see on your face?"
He didn't even know what to say, so he sat down and kept quiet

while she ranted and cried
When she was done, he wanted to hold her and placate her
He felt the events of the day had gotten to her and she was just venting
As soon as he touched her on the shoulder, she flared up
"Dont infect me with leprosy. Just go. Get out. I don't want your

sympathy. I dont want you consoling me. Just get out.
He did
He left her in the room
He went into the restaurant of the hotel for two hours
He bought some sparkling water because he wanted their first meal as a couple to be together
By 1AM, he went back to the room and knocked on

She kept hanging around him
She told herself she was just being a friend
He was somebody she could talk to
He was somebody she could relate to comfortably
She enjoyed being around him
He enjoyed being around her too & he made it obvious
But he told her right from the outset that

he was a single parent with children
His wife had died giving birth to his twin girls
He had a thriving pharmaceutical drugs import business and was making a lot of money
She met him by chance
She imported some goods for her online business from China
When the goods arrived

the country, she realized she didn't have enough money to clear them
She reached out to some people for a loan
A friend told her about this guy in their church who definitely had the money and would love to help
She went to the church the following Sunday and asked to see him

the service
She told him what the problem was and he sent her the money she needed instantly
He was rich
He was the kind of person she would like to relate with on more than a transactional basis
He was a friend worth having but they had nothing in common
There was no basis for

any familiarity
She cleared her goods and went to return the loan two weeks later
He thanked her for keeping her word and that was it
She changed her church the following week
She wanted to be around him
Perhaps its the money or the fact that she didn't have such as him in her

I know a Christian who prayed fervently for up to 9 hours a day for about five years. On many occasions, she turned hunger to a fast for lack of food to eat with her children
This woman didn't have a job or learn a trade. She was a full housewife before her husband died.

All she did was sit at home and pray
She was dirt poor and even her children despised her
She invited me to her home one day and asked me why God has not changed her story despite all her hours of praying and fasting
I said "Why didn't you get a job? Start a trade? become an

apprentice
somewhere? Is praying a job? Is praying a source of income and blessing? No.
The next day, she went to a friend who has a pharmacy and asked if she could be coming to work for four hours every day for a stipend
The friend agreed
Two weeks later, somebody came to the

shop to get some drugs
The person's baby was convulsing and the doctors told her to rush to a pharmacy and buy a particular drug
The drug was available but the person didn't have enough money
The person begged her to please give her the drugs on credit
The person promised to pay

up as soon as her husband returned
home from the office
She gave the person the drug
Her friend got back to the shop and saw that the expensive drug was
missing
She explained what happened
The friend embarrassed her and sent her out of her shop
She cried all the way home
The