The Contender

I went to visit a family
several years ago, it was a
modest family that was going
through some life challenges.
The father was late, the mother and
her three children were very close-knit.
I was asked to come by the mother,
to pray for her children because
they were not making headway in life.

I got to the house and the
first child spoke, he was a
single guy in his thirties. He said,
“Sir, look at my younger sister
she is well educated, she has fine hips,
a well-rounded backside, perfectly shaped
boobs and she is pretty to look at.
Why is she not married?’’
I was shocked.

I didn’t know guys can talk
like that about their sisters.
I mean, describe them in such a manner.
Then he pointed to the second sister,
a young lady in her twenties.
He said “Pastor, look at my other sister,
she is the most brilliant of us all.
She passed her WAEC and
cleared her JAMB at once.
Look at her boobs sir, firm and lush
Look at her well-shaped rear,
she doesn’t even have a boyfriend
and she is twenty-six.
Now, sir, this is my point,
when they are dressing all decently,
how do they want to attract a husband?

I have girlfriends and I know
what attracted me to them.
Instead of praying sir, I will like you
to talk to my sisters and encourage
them to do away with the baggy
gowns and sacky clothes.
You must use what you have
to get what you want.
I have discussed it with mummy
and with them several times,
maybe they will listen to you.”

I was twenty-nine at the time,
and even though the power of
the Holy Spirit was evident in my life,
I had been brought up in
a very religious home.
I found the words of this man
offensive or provocative in a certain way
and decided I was not going
to pray with the family.

I was offended by the way
he talked about his sisters and
his suggestion that they had to
dress in a certain way to attract a husband.
Their mother turned to me right
at the moment. I was looking
for an excuse to leave and she said
“Even my son too, he has many girlfriends
and I welcome all of them into this house
with an open arm but none of them
has ever come back here to report
being pregnant or carrying his child
I am getting worried, Pastor,
Is this not a curse of
the enemy at work over this family?
Wow!

You need to imagine how her
words hit me.
What kind of people speaks like this?
I picked my Bible; I had heard enough.
I strongly felt it was time to leave but
I needed to extricate myself politically
So I said “I will give you
some passages of the scripture and
ask the Holy Spirit what to do,
and then I’d get back to you on
the things I have heard”.
The sisters looked at me.
The mother looked at me.
The brother looked at me.
They didn’t know why.
I was suddenly curt and impatient.

The mother said “Pray with us, Pastor,
this is why I invited you
to our house this morning”
I said “I am sorry but
you are not believers and I feel
I had been somehow misjudged
as a prayer contractor.
I don’t go around praying for unbelievers
so that they can get married
and get good jobs.
It is not what I do, I am sorry.”
I walked out.
Every step I took away from
their house was heavier than the last.
I knew I had done something wrong
but I didn’t know what or how to fix it.
In my heart, I felt what I
did was right.

I rationalized my heavy spirit as
a result of my bluntness and
lack of political correctness.
I was too obtuse and I ought
to have left graciously instead of
saying all the things I said…
A few steps further, I heard
a patter of footsteps behind me.
It was one of the sisters.

She said “Pastor, please be patient.
It is only I and my sister that is
born-again Christians in that house.
Our father died as an unbeliever
and my sister and I are determined
to bring my brother and mother
into the knowledge of Christ.
I am in a relationship, and so is my sister
but we have kept it a secret
from them because we know our
mother would be forced to seek
the Lord if she felt we
are not making headway in life.
She would have gone anywhere out of
desperation but she heard testimony about you
from a family friend and told us
she would find a way to invite
you to pray with the family.

My sister and I have been praying
and fasting that salvation will come
into our home today and we
are shocked that you didn’t even
tell my brother and mother about
Jesus or pray with us.
If what they said offended you, sir,
It is because they don’t know any
better and how can they know
if they are not taught?
Wow!
I stood still.
I felt Yeesh.
I knew I didn’t act the way
Jesus would have acted
I turned around and apologized
to the sister.

I followed her back home
and apologized to the family.
I told them I had culture shock and
had to process the things I heard
Apparently, nonreligious unbelievers talk loosely
about body parts and stuff like that,
and even though I was just two
years old in faith at the time,
my religious background wouldn’t let me speak
the way the mother and brother spoke
But I wasn’t better than them in any way
A religious unbeliever may have certain
moral standards but this does not make
him or her better than a murderer.
A sinner is one who has not
accepted Jesus Christ as his or her
personal Lord and savior.
I sat with this family and
shared my salvation story.
They had questions that the Holy Spirit
enabled me to answer.
I spent almost five hours with
them that day. By the time
I was leaving, the mother and
brother had given their lives to Christ
and gotten filled with the Holy Spirit.

I also became good friends with
the sister that came to speak with me.
This morning, as I woke up in
my hotel room in Cotonou, Benin Republic,
I remembered that this sister had relocated
to this city with her husband in 2016
Her younger sister had also gotten
married in 2018 and relocated to Germany.
So I picked up my phone and
placed a call to her on Whatsapp.
She was shocked to hear my voice!
She said she just had her second
baby two days ago and had imagined
that I would be around to bless
the baby. I said “Wow”.
She told me her brother now works
with a bank and is married
with a daughter.
She said her mother is in Germany,
helping her younger sister nurse
her second baby.
I reminded her of the day
I met her family and thanked
her for ensuring that her the
the family got saved before they “scattered”.
It paid off.
She told me I have matured
a little since then because she saw
some of my recent ministrations in
which I was a little too blunt
with some religious people
We laughed over it.

PS: I usually don’t do threads on Sunday
but I did this to celebrate a sister and
a friend who contended for the faith of her
household intentionally and ensured she
delivered the unsaved to Christ.
God bless you sister Adebola and
the entire Sampson family.