THE EVANGELIST 8
© Temi Akintade
"Sit down." I don't know how I got the courage but the moment I called on the Holy Spirit to help me, I suddenly loosed interest in her. Suddenly it didn't matter to me that she looked very attractive right now, reminding me that I had not slept with a woman after Ifunaya's saga.
She sat down, fluttering her lashes as though her eyes needed something.
"You are a beautiful woman. But you shouldn't use your beauty like Delilah." She frowned but I continued. "You should use your beauty like Esther instead. You will be a governor's wife someday and is this how you want to useless your life? You want to turn into a village prostitute, slaying the lives of young ministers? God can never forgive you if you continue with this attitude Kauna. Except you turn and repent! After you repent, go back to school and don't end up as a village teacher. You are more than this, you are a great soul Kauna don't let the devil stop you. When the devil sees that your tomorrow is great, he begins to give you a fake gift. He begins to entice you with little gifts that can buy your destiny. Don't fall for it Kauna. Keep your dignity as a woman. Keep your virginity because it is for your good."
She suddenly busted into tears. I was moved. I wanted to confirm her but the Holy Spirit refrained me from doing so. So I sat back and waited until she was calm.
Then she spoke. "I got raped at age 9 by my uncle. I told my mother that her brother raped me but she slapped me and called me a witch. My Uncle kept molesting me until I turned 17. There was a time I got pregnant and I had to abort for him. Then one day when he wanted to forcefully have sex with me, he told me that no man would ever want a remnant like me. That I was a cheap girl. And so after my last encounter with him, I went to look for a medicine that can paralyze him. While I was making him tea, I poured it inside, and up till now, he is paralyzed. That is why I try all I could to win the heart of any man that appeals to me. I am always scared that men will not find me attractive and my boyfriend even told me that I was not beautiful that was why I slept with him so that I can be pretty to him. But he still cheated on me. I'm hurt and that is why I have been hurting any man I come across." She continued to cry.
My heart melted. How could a young lady carry so much burden in her heart? My heart ached for her but I still sat on the seat. "Kauna look at me."
She cleaned her tears and looked up.
"How old are you?" I asked.
"I will be 24 years by October sir."
"I want you to know something today that there is only one person who truly loves you."
"Who is it?"
"It's God. He loves you Kauna. That was why he sent his only son Jesus Christ, to die on the cross of cavalry for my sins, your sins, your uncle's sins, and everyone's sins! Innocent Jesus died like a criminal half-naked on the cross! His body was broken, he was beaten, he was insulted just so that he could shed his blood for our sins. Kauna Jesus Christ became the sacrificial lamb just so that we can be free from the wickedness of this world. And when he died, he rose again after 3 days. Then that same Jesus because he died, his death and resurrection brought life to us, to our relationship with God. We became God's sons and daughters again. And God began to see us through the lens of Jesus Christ." She began to cry.
"Jesus loves you Kauna. He never meant for your wicked uncle to rape you, he never meant for you to feel unloved and I cared for. I want you to love him back because he loves you unconditionally
"Yes! Men have failed me. I feel so empty on the inside. All my life, I have always thought that Jesus Christ preached in the Church would betray me. I never knew that God loves me even before I realized my sins. I am sorry Lord." She kept crying.
"Yes, Jesus loves you. And before you were formed in your mother's womb he knew you. He knew that because you have gone through all these pains, you will be able to reach out to other girls who are in this pain as well. Say, Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that you died on the cross and rose again. Please come into my life, and make me a transformed soul. Forgive me of all my sins and help me to forgive others. Help me to know you more. In Jesus name, we pray." I congratulated her that she was now born again. She gave her life to Christ that night and she stopped crying.
"Try to be attending the Bible study session I always have with the boys every Friday evening okay? So that you can grow and get to know more about this God who loved you enough to die for you. All your life you have always known selfish love, come and know the unconditional lover okay?"
She nodded and thanked me. "I feel peace evangelist but I need you to pray for me. I can't seem to control myself when I see a man. Please help me."
I smiled. "Jesus will help you. One of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control. However, you have only just given your life to Christ. You are not yet filled with the Holy Spirit but I will pray with you and give you scriptures to read. But I need you to know that you will always feel this urge to go back. It is of the flesh. The scriptures say the flesh lusts after the Spirit and vice versa. So you will always struggle and it is normal. However constant reading of God's word and prayer will help you."
"I don't know how to pray and studying the word of God is always boring."
I wanted to exclaim and say, but you are in the choir. But I kept mute. Who was I to cast stones anyway? "Let me pray with you. The Holy Spirit will help you with the rest." I prayed with her and I cast out the spirit of lust from her. She fell under the anointing, jerking for minutes, and then she finally stopped. That was when I heard in my Spirit, that she was free. She thanked me and left that night promising to come for Bible study the following Friday.
Then I smiled because Kauna smiled while leaving. I smiled because God had used me to deliver and to add another soul to God's kingdom. I was still thanking God for the victory when my brother called.
"Mama is sick and the doctor says she needs money for surgery." That was all Chinedu said.
I couldn't sleep that night. I prayed all my heart out but the following day, when I was preparing to go to church for a meeting with the pastors, that was when Chinedu called back to tell me that my mother was dead.
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