Two years ago, I had a sit-down with Pastor Adepegba, an elderly man who has walked with God for over fifty years and lived a life of exceptional grace and balance between his calling and the work of God. He was in his seventies at the time, still very active and healthy. I heard about him from his daughter, who is a follower of mine on Twitter and saw all the wonderful feats of the supernatural happening all around and through GSWMI. She said I behave just like her father, and even her mother was always saying so anytime they connect with our programmes online, I got curious and asked what she meant. She told me about the miraculous wonders that God has done consistently through her daddy in the course of his work with the Holy Spirit.
She cited the example of a man who came to his father’s church with a strange disease and how her father boldly touched the man’s stomach and commanded all the strange things in it to come out right away in the name of Jesus. She said it was during a Sunday service, and to the shock of the whole church, the man vomited a lot of things, including seven tiny snails that were still alive with their shells intact. She also mentioned the case of a lady who was an “ogbanje” that had made a covenant with her mates that she would die while giving birth to her set of twins. She said the lady had been in labour at the hospital for a week, the husband of the lady got tired of seeing her in pain and ran to her father for prayers.
Her father prayed and saw the woman who was supposed to be deep in labour laughing at her mother, father, husband and other relatives who were deeply concerned about her maliciously (in a vision). She said her father called the husband and told him to bring the lady to his church When the pregnant woman was brought in, her father asked her what she would like to eat before they started praying She demanded some pounded yam and bush meat Her father ordered the food to be cooked for her as specified, then her father blessed the food and gave it to the lady.
When the lady was done eating, her father said, “You have eaten all the members of your witchcraft coven. They were the little meats in your Ogbono soup. If you die as planned, you will be wandering alone in the realm between this world and the next all alone you will have no friends to share all the tears you have been harvesting in secret with and you will end up as a wraith serving demons. If however you change your mind and stayed here to care for your children, I will give you a new set of sisters and brothers in the spirit you will share with them an eternal fellowship, become a prophetess and be a blessing to the world .
He then asked her what her choice is the lady started weeping, after a while she said Pastor Adepegba should give her new sisters as she had mourned the dead ones and would like to live. Pastor Adepegba led her to Christ, served her communion and she became filled with the Holy Spirit. Within the hour she delivered her twins and she did so without a single tear or any form of complications.
This testimony hooked me to the bone, I decided I had to meet the man myself and hear from him I also wanted to learn one or two things from him about the Lord and how he had managed to sustain his walk without any blemish. His daughter came to pick me on a Saturday morning. I met him and sat at his feet as he recounted testimonies after testimonies and victories after victories. He never for once told a story of being attacked by the enemy or having to run helter skelter for once in his life over his wife and children I had sat with many other older christians whose stories were of witchcraft and demonic attacks and the vicissitudes of life as a believer I admire those believers and appreciated them too but it was different with Pastor Adepegba. He inspired faith in me more than most I saw myself being in his shoes one day as I stare from this life into Pisgah and Paran and tell younger Christians what it means to be a vessel unto honour for the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
The most outstanding story he told me was the story of how he met his wife He said “Gbenga, in ministry there are things that only men can do” I said “Like what sir?” He said “Let me tell you how I met my wife, so that you can understand me clearly. I was born in Ogbomosho and i attended the famous Government College Ibadan. While I was in Government College, I made a friend who was very dear to my heart. After our secondary school, I went off to Sokoto with my father who was a contractor to seek admission in the north while my friend went to UNILAG.
While at UNILAG, my friend met a lady who became his lover at the age of eighteen. This lady was attending a secretarial school at the time and they both planned to get married. When my friend graduated from the University, he got a scholarship to study in London and the scholarship came with an offer of a job in the University. It was the good news my friend was waiting for all his life He told the lady about the news and they both started preparing to travel The lady’s parents however refused to allow their daughter travel abroad because she was their only child and they were afraid they might never see her again once she leaves for the United Kingdom.
The two families met and series of meetings were done, my friend even got the lady pregnant hoping this would force her parents to give their consent. The lady’s mother ate several sleeping pills in protest and was only saved by medical intervention. When the daughter saw that her mother was willing to take her life over the issue, she decided she would not be travelling again. My friend had a date with destiny and he was not prepared to miss it. His lover told him to leave for London and pursue his destiny. She told him to move on with his life and allow her move on with her life too. With tears and a lot of lamentations, they parted ways.
At the airport, my friend gave his lover a letter, addressed to me and told her to find me in Sokoto or at Ogbomosho and make sure she delivers the letter to me by hand. The lady was able to locate me at a teacher training college where I was working as a part time teacher two months later I got to the staff room and I saw a lady seating down at the waiting area Someone told me I was the one she came to see I approached her and she greeted me on her two knees She introduced herself as my friend’s friend from Lagos. She said my friend told her to bring me a letter When I opened the letter, I saw a glowing recommendation from my friend.
He introduced the lady, told me all about her and her family, and asked me to please marry her if I was not yet involved with anybody, as he knew I would give her a good life and she deserved one I read the letter, looked up to God, and smiled, because that morning, I had asked God while I was praying to please guide me in picking a wife. I married her with her almost three-month pregnancy which she had for my friend The child is my first child, and I raised him as mine
Together, we had four other children My friend and his family lived in London for a long time but we all eventually met during the 20th anniversary of my wedding which my friend came to attend with his whole family We exchanged letters a lot in those days and we kept in touch sometimes through telegraph I remember my friend sending me several money orders in those days whenever he had any extra money to spare and i also always send him things like clothes and other things whenever i had anyone around me travelling to London.
Now tell me Brother Gbenga, have you met a woman who introduced her man who she was pregnant for to her best friend willingly and begged her to marry him because she could not marry him for one reason or the other? There was a reason Naomi sent Ruth to Boaz. Men take decisions on more than feelings Do you understand me? I understood him perfectly.
PS: While we have a right to argue over feelings and emotions if we want to While many may want to push ideologies and whatever else as much as they want to It is my duty to remind you that being selfish in the name of looking for love may end up costing you the right to become a parent Women are more empowered at this time in history than at any other time since the beginning of the world and yet we are experiencing a decline in birth rate globally not because people are not making love for pleasure but because @elonmusk is building robots and they see no need to have children if they can buy one. (Not meant to be interpreted literally)
-GSW-