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The woman of God had so much to
say that morning, she was the pastor
of a thriving parish of a pentecostal
church
Her husband was a big shot, an Army
General
They were as rich as the sea
The church she was heading was in the
middle of a crisis
The usual church member’s unrest
People are difficult to lead
Sometimes they act as if they know
what they want even when they had
no clue
The church had been under the
leadership of another pastor before
she was transferred to the church
The church members were used to
the way the previous pastor handled
the church
She understood that but she was
not going to handle the church the
same way
The church members wanted to pray
Pray about everything, even the things
that needed the application of
common sense
She felt that was a bit unwise
Why pray when you can act?
She spoke with some
friends who owned their own companies
She tried to get jobs for church members
It was a pragmatic approach in her
opinion
The church members that got the
jobs stopped coming to church
She felt she had been taken advantage
of and stopped the recruitment drive
Church members were still restless
Some left
Those who didn’t leave kept spreading
rumors
“Mama is not spirit-filled”
“Mama does not speak in tongues”
“Mama does not fast”
“Mama listens to secular songs”
“Mama still drinks wine with her
husband”
The accusations went from foolish
to ridiculous
Eventually, she got tired and decided
to resign as the church pastor
She had tried everything she was
taught and more
She cooked rice for the members
every Sunday because she felt many of
them were poor and they would be
grateful
They ate her rice and still complained
Some would come to her secretly
begging for financial support to pay rent,
school fees and all
She always did her best to help them
She singlehandedly bought about 200
plastic chairs for the church
Nothing she did changed their opinion
of her
It was depressing
She called the previous pastor of the
church and explained her predicament
He counseled her
He told her to find vibrant young
ministers who can do the things the
church members wanted
He told her the church members
really didn’t care who led them as
long as they were being led properly
She felt it was a good idea
She drove to the ministry’s Bible college
and recruited four ministers
She chose prayerful and vibrant
young men and women and brought
them to church on a thanksgiving
Sunday
When she made the announcement,
the people cheered
Their cheering got to her
Nobody was bothered about her feelings
Their cheer felt to her like a total rejection
The new pastors took over the leadership
of the church
Weekly services, vigils, and counseling
sessions resumed in earnest
Church members were happy
She felt she had been relegated to
the position of the church administrator
Overseeing the payment of salaries
and remittance, as if the oil on her head
was a joke
She was not comfortable with it
Whenever they made a ministration roster,
she ensured she was given the altar to
preach on just one Sunday a month
That Sunday always recorded the
least attendance
Even when she reintroduced the sharing
of cooked food to members on that
Sunday she was designated to minister,
the attendance remained under one
hundred
It was very frustrating
She had somehow for the first time
achieved a form of stability as a leader
of the church
That in itself was a miracle but a sense
of personal inadequacy plagued her
She wanted to be their pastor, to be
treated the same way other church
members treated their pastors, not
like some bimbo in a collar
The thought plagued her for several
nights
It was like having children who wanted
nothing to do with you and yet expect
you to pay their school fees, feed them
and provide for all their needs
She was the one paying the salaries of
the four ministers from her pocket,
she was the one practically paying the
church rent from her pocket and despite
everything she was doing, she was
uncelebrated!
After a year, she told the four ministers
they had to leave
Shee announced to the church that she
could no longer afford to pay the church
rent and the salaries of their beloved
ministers
As she made the announcement, she saw
the gloomy shadow descending upon the
faces of the church members
She felt deeply satisfied
They had finally come to see that the
pleasures they had been enjoying for
free were paid for by one who could
take it away at will
That night, she wrote her letter of
resignation and decided she would drop
it at their headquarters the next day
She was right where she wanted to be
emotionally
It was for her a form of victory
Nobody in the church will be able to
despise her any longer
They will always remember that she
sponsored the ride until she could no
longer afford to do so
That night, as she slept
The Holy Spirit walked into her room
She saw herself lying down on her bed,
sleeping peacefully
The Holy Spirit came in and woke her up,
he held her hand and led her into an office
He told her he wanted to mark her script
and pointed to a safe in the office
Excitedly, she opened the safe and
started searching for her script
She searched and searched to no avail
She started to cry
She felt the gulf deep in the core of
her heart
She had failed at something important
After a while the Holy Spirit lifted her
up from her knees and told her to sit
down
He said “Do you remember that I called
you to lead the welfare committee, and
you said yes. For how long were you the
head of the welfare committee?” Asked
the Holy Spirit
She said “Six years sir”
“Did I promote and celebrate you?”
Asked the Holy Spirit
She nodded
She was made the Director of Global
Missions of the ministry at the age of 41
She was the inaugural head and she
had to deal with missionaries of the
ministry from all over the world.
“Why did you leave that position?”
Asked the Holy Spirit
She kept quiet
The position she held attracted a lot of
envy and side talks from members of
the church
Some said she was sleeping with the
General Overseer, others said the money
they were using to sponsor the missionaries
was stolen by her husband from the
government purse and she was the one
overseeing the money laundering process
Some said she was the financial backer of
the General Overseer and gets to demand
where she wanted to be placed in the
ministry willy nilly
Some even said she was the one controlling
the General Overseer because she was the
one financing the ministry
None of the accusations were true but the
spiteful words kept getting to her
One day she got tired of it all and
decided to leave the limelight so that the
rumors can rest
She went to the office of the General
Overseer to inform him of her decision
and he felt very disturbed by her decision
He told her to disregard the noise and
face her assignment
She had handled the work excellently well
and used her influence when necessary
to get things done
(Their work involved sending missionaries
overseas and getting supplies and
materials to them. Sometimes they face
a lot of hurdles with the government but
her position helps to smoothen the
process because people respect her
husband so much)
He had no substitute for her at that time
but she was adamant that she wanted
to leave the position
The General overseer asked her what
she wanted to do after leaving
She told him she wanted to be a pastor
at a small parish
A church where she can serve in
anonymity and have her peace
The General Overseer said okay and
anointed her as a pastor
He then posted her to a parish to
serve as the assistant pastor
That was how she found herself
at the church
The same church she was about
to resign from because of her feelings
The Holy Spirit said “You were led
until you started leading yourself.
Like Moses, you allowed the voice
of the untaught and the unbridled
to determine the course of your life.
You chose to satisfy the negative
whims of men!
How then should I grade your
script?”
That was when she came out of
the vision
She cried awake from her sleep
She was 55 when she saw the
vision
She knew she must do better
She started fasting and praying
“Correct my course o Lord, order
my footsteps, lead me aright!!”
Two weeks later, she met the Brother in
Jeans and T-shirt
They met at an open-air crusade
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt
ministered and his ministration
resonated with her
They got talking
She invited him to her church
The church was filled to the brim, he
taught the church members the topic
“Perils of followership”
The Holy Spirit took over
Her heart and that of the church
members melted
Another pastor was posted to her
church a week later
She was transferred back to the
headquarters to serve as the Assistant
Director of Africa missions
The Lord restored her to her ministry
Glory
Hallelujah
PS: People can be malicious with words
Most times without cause
When you hear some things that are
being said about you as a minister of
God, you will feel like crawling under a
rock and not seeing the sun again
It is tough leading God’s people
You must do it as unto the Lord
There are some who delight in peddling
all sorts of rumors about you
They are members of the household
of faith
Some are even close to you
Their relevance to others lie in the
amount of information they have to
give about you
So they talk on and on and on
Sometimes they guess or make up
things just for relevance
At other times they won’t agree with
your decision and they will decide
to talk it out with some other members
in a despicable way
You must wear a coat of armor
You must learn how to ignore their
wicked mouths and face your
assignment in peace
Remember, you have an audience
of one