TWO WEEKS - PART II

#2

“… if you lay gold in dust, and gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent bed, and if the Almighty is your gold, and your precious silver, then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God. You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you, and you will pay your vows. The verse 28 of Job 22 says; you will decide on a matter and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.” A black pastor preached with emphasis in front of a mass of about 200 college students.
“Amen.” The congregation chorused.
“People, you have to understand that, for you to pray and for the Lord to hear you: for you to decide on a matter and it be established, depends on you making God your gold, setting him as the first priority in your life. Ask yourself, what is first priority in my life? Is it your family? Is it your boyfriend or girlfriend? Is it your favorite TV program? Have you valued these so that, you avoided to pray, to come to church or to hear the words of God? Is God first in your life?” The preacher went on and paused, wiping sweat that wet his face. “Children of God, we need God more than what we think. The Bible says in Matthew 6:33; seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. Put God first in everything you do, ask him for directions. Tell God how much you need him. He is able to fix your family, he is able to fix your education, your life; only if you let him.”
“Amen.” Most of the congregation members shouted.
Vicky sat among the front rows, nodding often to what the pastor said.
“Allow God to be first in your life, people. Let him in in your spiritual life, welcome him in your family; allow him to lead you and to guide you. Tell God, please lead me in this. And Our God, who never lies, will surely make you prosper in all that you undertake.”
“Amen!” the crowd cheered.
After the end of the sermon, a blonde walked to the stage and took the mic. “Thank you pastor. Indeed, as we have heard, we are supposed to put God first in our lives so that, we can access all the blessings that he has already entitled us to.”
“Amen.” The church replied.
She went on, “I have my own example in this, a long time ago; when I was still a teenager, I begun to allow God in my studies. I had a very difficult problem in Math and then I just started praying before beginning my prep. In time as I did so, I begun to automatically solve at least five questions of Math before revising my courses. My grades started elevating in the Assessment tests and I remember that, a year later, I embraced an A plus in my Mid-term exam.”
“Amen!” the church roared.
“Now can we please stand up? Yes… Please stand up for the glory of God.” She asked, as a pianist on one side of the church, begun playing music. “As the song keeps on playing. Let us meditate on the greatness of God. Let us ask him to give us the ability to make him first in our lives. Only he has the ability to change our hearts.” She said and paused, glancing at Vicky seated at the front seats. “Vicky, please come lead us through the worshipping.”
Vicky nodded and dashed to the stage, receiving the mic from the other lady. “Let’s shut our eyes.” She begun, closing her own eyes. “Tell God how much you need him. Tell God that, you can’t live without him. Forget all that weighs your mind. Put it all behind you and allow God to enter in and do his fixing.” She said as the music raised, filling the room with the worshipping atmosphere. “God is more important than anything we need right now. He is the only one who has the power to fix everything. We need Jesus. We need him.” she added and begun to sing;

“I have decided, to follow Jesus.
I have decided to follow Jesus,
I have decided to follow Jesus.
No turning back, no turning back.
Oh no turning back, no turning back…

Most of the members begun mourning, pleading to God Almighty for his presence in their lives.
They prayed for a while with the presence of the LORD flowing in the church.
After concluding the service, Vicky resumed her seat whereas, the first girl walked forward to close the mass with prayers.

“Congratulations, Vicky.” Emeka came behind Vicky and told her.
She spanned around to face him, pulling her shoulder bag well over her shoulder. “Oh. Thank you Emeka.”
“Seriously, you have a very nice voice. Why didn’t you tell me that you could sing?”
“Amh. Maybe we never had the time to discuss that.” She replied modestly, holding a smile on her face.
He grinned back at her. “I also sing.” He said before a guy joined them.
“Hello brother, sister.” The guy greeted enthusiastically. He was averagely short and had, dark brown hair. “You should join the band.” He said to Vicky.
She smiled. “Thank you.”
He stretched out his hand for an arm shake. “I’m Kyle.”
“Vicky.” She replied, shaking it.
“Can you be coming for the rehearsals every Monday and Thursday at 8?” Kyle asked, when their hands parted.
Vicky took some time, reviewing her schedule in her head. “Amh. Yeah. My shift ends at seven so, alright.”
“Great. Then, I‘ll be seeing you from tomorrow night.”
She nodded, smiling. “Thank you. Where?”
“The music hall. It’s in the West Circuit.”
“Okay. I will surely find it.”
Kyle smiled at her, nodded to Emeka and walked away.
The two turned to each other afterward and begun leaving the church.
“It’s amazing that you always save time for God.” He said.
“Well, that’s also what the pastor just preached, making God first in your life," she replied.
He smiled a little. “Yes. Exactly.”
The continued silently, exiting the house of God and begun walking on the sparsely crowded lane that stretched around the campus.
Vicky looked around the extended compound around her. She saw some girls strolling together, holding smoothies. Just then, her initial thought of starting a food business, came to her mind. “You know, Emeka? Just last week I agreed with my friends to start selling food stuff around the dormitory.”
He turned to her. “Oh. That is great. Are there any procedures to follow?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think that, I’ll make more money that way than the one I get, working at the CD store.”
“Food business is one thing that will always have profit.”
“Yeah. Because people have to eat, right?”
“Yes. So, what happened and you could not start anymore?”
“Ah. One of my friend had an accident and the other left after her father became ill.”
“Oh. I am so sorry for your friends. So, you haven’t had support since then?”
“No.”
“What do you need to start the business?”
“We already made a budget of at least 13 dollars. My other friend also offered to get plastic bags for the packaging.”
“Alright. Need any help?”
“No, no. I am contented with just telling you.”
He laughed too. “What will you be making? Any African food that I might know?”
She giggled. “Oh, you miss home food too?”
“Yeah. I miss Garri. Have you ever heard of that?”
“Yes. I had a couple of friends from West Africa. We shared a lot about our cultures. That was before even coming here.”
“Yeah. So, Garri is cooked from meal of cassava plantain. I don’t think that I can get that flour here.”
“That will definitely be hard.” She replied. “Maybe in the large supermarkets, out of campus.”
“Maybe.” He agreed and thoughtfully added, “we should really start a center for African foods.”
She smiled. “Great idea. I will put that thought in my prayers.”
He begun to laugh just when he felt his trouser pockets. He took out his phone, halting.
Vicky halted too, watching him.
He checked the cell phone. “Sorry a bit.” He said, tapping. “Chai!” He exclaimed, frowning at the phone.
She was amused. “Anything wrong?”
“Nah. This friend of mine. We came together to study here now, he is telling me that, they are moving our things.”
“Moving your things?” She repeated. “From where?”
“Our stay. We live outside campus though. I don’t know what is happening.”
“Oh. I hope you fix things.”
He tapped the phone quickly and hastily pocketed it. “Let me go and see.”
“It’s alright. All the best.”
He thanked, turning around and running away.
“God please help that, it goes well with them.” She murmured, sighing.
She positioned her bag well over her shoulder and resumed her stroll, aiming to the dormitory pathway a couple of meters from where she was.
From yards away, she caught sight of Wayne’s gang.
They sat with him on a rock bench, below a trysting tree.
She paused there for a while, debating on how to avoid them. Despite this, she did have a word for Wayne since, they had not seen each other for over the week.
She decided to walk quickly but, on the only path that was just in front of them.
“Hey!”
She gasped when she heard Mike’s voice.
“It’s that African girl.” Another guy from the same gang, called.
Vicky sighed and paused, turning around to face them.
Squinting her eyes below the scorching sun, she noticed that they sat together, Wayne, Mike, another guy and Posh, the purple haired girl. Their hands were empty unlike Vicky expected. They should be carrying gin. And, from the way they kept chatting, it seemed that, they were all sober.
“Come over.” Wayne called.
Vicky took some time, thinking about that.
Wayne however, turned to his friends and they made Hi5, laughing loudly.
She approached them and agreed in her mind that, they weren’t laughing about her.
Wayne was shaking his head when Vicky arrived, telling Mike. “In all corners, man. He had no way out. That thing really got to him.”
Mike however, twisted his head to Vicky.
Wayne turned to her along with the rest of the group.
“Hi.” She greeted, boldly.
“No change.” The stranger guy said.
“Noo. She is slimmer.” Mike added.
Vicky rounded her eyes with impatience.
“Wait. So, you still hold your Christian values and stuff?” Posh asked, laughingly.
Vicky nodded to her. “Yeah. And I am very happy.”
Wayne was silent all the while, contemplating.
“How comes?” Mike asked.
“I believe in God.” Vicky replied to him. “And he is very loving and kind. There’s nothing in this world that can separate me from him. Romans 8 verse 39”
“How do you believe in something that, you cannot see?” Wayne asked abruptly. 
Vicky turned to him. “Maybe I cannot see God but, I feel his presence every day in my life.”
Wayne laughed. “That is impossible. I figure that, you are imagining things.”
“No,” she denied “You try and see.”
Posh laughed. “Try what? You mean us trying to be Christians, like you?”
Vicky turned to her and nodded. “Yes. You gave me two weeks to see if I can give up my virtues because of everything here but, I proved to you that I wouldn’t. Now, I deserve a chance to dare you to receive Jesus and follow him for a few weeks and see if not, your lives will be better.”
The stranger guy rose at that. “I’m outta here, man.”
Wayne turned to him. “Okay man. Tell Sasha, I’ll come see her later tonight.”
The guy grinned and begun to leave.
Vicky was watching Wayne. He noticed that when he faced her and said, “It doesn’t work that way. We make the bet, not you.”
“That can’t be fair. It’s my turn to dare you.” She insisted, trying to play their game.
“I can’t be wearing a tie and a shirt and khaki trousers like the other Christian guys of your fellowship.” Mike said. “Our bet did not involve any of that.”
“You don’t have to wear khaki,” Vicky assured him “all you need is to believe. The rest, God will reveal to you.”
Posh rose. “I’m out.” She announced and started off.
Vicky glanced at her and sighed.
Wayne narrowed his eyes, staring at Vicky. “Believe? In what?”
She turned to him. “Jesus.”
“Where is he?”
“Here. He is in the spirit. You can’t see him but, he has a purpose for having you hearing about him.”
“If so then, why does all this sound like phony to me?” Wayne asked and Mike laughed.
“That is the wisdom of God. He turns to naught the wisdom of this world. He brings a better life to people through their faith in his son, Jesus. A life without fear and sorrow. A life which, every burden is lightened.”
“I don’t fear anything.” Mike confessed, shrugging.
Vicky faced him. “That is good. But, you ought to be living a better life.”
“I’m okay.” Mike added. “What can your Jesus offer me?”
“Eternal life after this life and now, peace, more income and love and better performance in studies.”
“I don’t need all that.” Mike replied.
“You won’t know till you try.”
Mike rose from the bench. “Yo man, you’ll find me in the ghetto.” He told Wayne.
Wayne nodded to him and turned to Vicky who was still standing in front of the bench.
She was looking dismal as Mike left.
He wondered why. “Sit.”
She turned to him. “What?”
“I said sit.”
She glanced at the bench and sat, facing him from the end of the semi-circle bench.
“So, he is a God that I cannot see?” He asked, opening a conversation.
“Yes. But, the only that you can feel.”
“How on earth does that work?”
“When you just believe.”
“Believe he is there?”
She smiled, nodding. “You finally get it.”
He laughed. “You amuse me with your enthusiasm.”
“Test and see, Wayne. God has a purpose for you in your life.”
He shrugged. With his mother dead and his education failing, “I have got nothing to lose," he admitted.
“No. But, you have more to gain. The Bible says in John 10:10, the thief comes only to steal, to kill and to destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ” She replied.
“So, two weeks, alright?”
“Yes.” She replied nodding. “Only two weeks.”
“What do I have to do?”
“For now, close your eyes.”
He chuckled once and did so.
“Please repeat after me.” She asked. “Dear father.”
“Dear father?”
“I come to you today.”
“I come to you today.”
“Because I’ve heard about you.”
“Because I’ve heard about you.”
“I’d like to know you.”
“I want to know you.” he said instead. “That you exist.” He added and chuckled again.
She took sometime then added. “Please forgive all my sins.”
“Please forgive all my sins.”
“And make me clean with the precious blood of your son, Jesus.”
“And make me clean with the precious blood of your son, Jesus.”
“Which he shed on the cross that I may have abundant life.”
“Which he shed on the cross that I may have abundant life.”
“I deny Satan and all his works.”
“I deny Satan and all his works.”
“And I accept Jesus Christ into my life as my Lord and Savior.”
“And I accept Jesus Christ into my life as my Lord and Savior.”
“Please change my life LORD and help me to be a better person.”
“Please change my life LORD and help me to be a better person.”
“In the name of Jesus Christ I pray.”
“In the name of Jesus Christ I pray.”
“Amen.”
“Amen.”
She smiled afterward. “Okay. You can open your eyes now.”
He did and squinted.
“How do you feel?” She asked.
He glanced at her. “Normal. Dah? I didn’t feel any spiritual feeling if that’s what you were expecting.”
“It’s okay.” She said simply and begun to lower her bag. She opened it. “Please allow me to share with you the words of God.”
He stretched his hand. “You’ve got me for two weeks. Bring it on.”
She smiled a little and opened the Bible to the Gospel of John.
When she had come to the page, she noticed that he had come to sit closer to her.
“You can’t be reading from that distance.” He explained.
She was silent. She wanted to be serious.
He peeped into the book. “So, who is this John?”
“A disciple of Jesus and an Apostle.”
“What does all that mean?”
“A disciple is like a student. An apostle is a person bearing the vision of spreading the gospel of Christ. They were twelve of them in the Bible. They were also Jesus’ disciples.”
“Oh okay. Like, some kind of pastors.”
“Close enough. Only that, pastors lead one church, apostles go wherever God sends them.”
“And people like you who tell other people about Jesus, are you sent by God or something?”
“It’s the great commission given in Matthew 28. Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations.”
“Okay. We’ll get to the verses later but, you are meaning that, you should make students of Jesus, all over the world, right?”
She gave up a bright smile. “Yes. But, it’s we, now.”
He laughed a little. “Okay. Let’s hear your John.” He glanced at the page. “So, the big 1 is the Chapter and the small numbers are the verses.”
“Yes.” She agreed.
“Okay. Am I supposed to cram these words like you do?”
“You have to understand and believe first. Cramming will come later.”
He nodded.
“Alright. We will read, John chapter 1, verse 12 to verse 13. ‘To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.’” She read and twisted her head to face him. “See, after receiving Christ. You have become God’s child. And, as a child, you are entitled to his protection, his blessings. You are also liable to ask God for whatever you need in life; whether it is a small or a great thing.” She explained and waited for his reaction, he was just patiently listening. “Now, the relationship between us and our Father who is in heaven is different from the relationship between ourselves and our earthly fathers. With God, we must learn to get extra close to him or rather, involve him more in our lives. We cannot see God but, we have to believe that he is there. He only reveals his greatness in our lives, when we acknowledge his presence and request for his intervention in whatever we do.” She concluded and asked. “Do you understand a bit?”
“I think that, I get that, there is a supernatural power called God. He loves us, and maybe he wants to express himself in our lives, my life. So, all I have to do, to enjoy this God is to tell God…. Something? What?”
“Just ask him.” She helped.
He furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”
“Ask can Biblically mean pray. Pray to God before doing anything.”
“Anything? How’s that even possible. I do a lot of things.”
“That’s right. And that is why we pray in the morning before leaving our beds and casually set a prayer timetable.”
He blinked. “Okay. How do I pray?”
“There’s a prayer in Luke chapter eleven.” She said, opening to the part in the Bible. “The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray and he led them through one.” She added and went on. “Though, sincere prayers are just what you are feeling to tell God at that moment, in all occasions, we ask God for forgiveness for all that we may have done wrong before we begin to ask him.”
He glanced at the ‘big 11’ and back at her. “Example of a sincere prayer?”
“What are you going through right now that you have not been able to handle?” She replied with a question. 
He glanced away and swallowed. He thought about losing his mother.
“That’s it.” Vicky said, as if she read his thoughts.
He turned to her. “Can you tell what’s inside me?”
“No, except that you are in great despair.”
He drew a deep sigh, confirming her speculation.
She glanced at the book in her hands and closed it, waving it to him. “Wayne, the word of God is living and active. It says so in Hebrews 4:12. Here, you will find more comfort than any that gin or people could provide.”
He reluctantly received the book. “Am I supposed to be reading all these?”
“A clause at a time. I recommend that, you begin with the book of John.”
“I don’t know if I have the time.” He told her.
“On the contrary,” she begun “you have two weeks.”
He grimaced.
She rose. “Will you please come with the Bible later at my place? We will review the first chapter together.”
“You gotta be kidding me. You heard me tell Greg that, I will be seeing his cousin later.”
“Sasha?” She asked.
“Ah hah.” He replied, expressing his amazement that she did not think that.
“We already have a bet.”
“Hey. I never restricted you from your personal commitments.”
“Do you have to?”She almost whined.
“To what? See my girlfriend? Yeah.” He said and added before she went on. “Wait. What time do you need me to come over?”
“Six to seven.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Okay. How long is John 1?”
“Less than two pages.”
He rose. “Let me go to my ghetto and check it out then.”
“Not Mike’s place again?”
He shook his head “Ah no. He usually gets high and I don’t want that for tonight.”
She nodded bluntly.
He rose as well. “So, you don’t need your Bible?”
“I have a Swahili one at home.”
“Oh. Home as in…”
“Ghetto.”
He gave a lopsided smile. “Okay.”
She rubbed her bag braces and nodded, beginning to leave.

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