My husband is not a pàstór but a riitúàliist – Episode 13
“I arrived at my pàstór’s office and saw through the window blinds that he was discussing with Mr. Frank. I assumed they were planning for the crúsade.”
“My pàstór was happy to see me. He welcomed me and asked me to sit in one of the executive chairs in his office and wait for him to finish his discussion with Mr. Frank. I greeted Mr. Frank and took my seat.”
“They talked for about 40 minutes, assigning responsibilities to each section of the çhúrch’s workforce. I even overheard them saying that I would be among the ushers on that day of the crúsade.”
“I was happy to hear that because as an usher, I would be in charge of handling and directing newcomers to their seats.”
“Since I had a sēçrēt m!ssion to invite Mr. Frank’s ex-g!rlfrïend, Felicia, to the crusade, the position of an usher would make it very seamless for me to carry out this m!ssion successfully.”
“I sat down quietly, lost in thoughts as I formed the plõt in my head thinking of how to exēcute it. This made me oblivious to my surroundings, forgetting I was in my pastor’s office until Mr. Frank walked up to me and stretched out his hand, requesting a handshake.”
“I jolted in shóçk and quickly stood up to shake his hand. He noticed I was lõst in thought earlier and said, ‘I know you’re wõrried about the health of your siblings. The pàstór told me already, and once we wrap up this crūsade on Thursday, I’ll come over to your house on Friday to prày for them. Don’t worry, Peter, the Lõrd will definitely hēāl them.'”
“‘You can also bring them over to the crúsade. They might even get hēāled during the pràyérs, to the glõry of the Lõrd.'”
“He spoke with so much confidence, assuring me that once he pràyed for my siblings, they would be hēāled.”
“I was never going to let that happen, though, not because I didn’t want my siblings to be del!vered, but because I knew that once he pràyéd for them, he would definitely uncover the root of their prõblem.”
“And that would exp0se everything I’ve done in sēçrēt, term!nate all my plàñs of becoming wēālthy, and present me as a very w!çkēd and hēærtlēss person before my siblings, my pàstór, and the whole chúrçh.”
“I was never ready for that, and I was hē||-bēñt on making sure it never happened. That meant never giving Mr. Frank an opportunity to prày for my siblings.”
“So, I stuck to the plan, fækēd a smile, bid him farewell, and proceeded to see my pàstór, hoping he wouldn’t waste much of my time so that I could go visit Felicia and strïve to make sure she attended the forthcoming crúsàde.”
“Everything my pàstór said was a repetition of all that I heard them discussing and how he already told Mr. Frank to visit me on Friday after the crúsade and prāy for my siblings.”
“He also advised me to bring them to the crúsàde, trusting Gõd to hēāl them completely during the pràyérs.”
“I agreed in his presence to take them to the crúsàde, just to fulfïll all works of rïghteousness, but I was never going to do that. In fact, I had already cooked up a lííē to give as an ēxçūsê if I fa!led to do so.”
“He pràyéd with me and dismissed me. Immediately I left his office, I followed the address the nāt!ve dõçtõr gave me and ventured in search of Felicia.”
“I never knew much about other streets and places in Abuja. Although I was born there, due to my làté dād’s str!ctness, my outings were very limited to school, the market, and the place where I worked as a bricklayer.”
“So, I trusted and relied on the public bus I boarded to take me to the street where Felicia was living. Thank Gõd the hérbàlííst wrote the address. That way, it’d be very easy for me to know where she was living.”
“The bus dropped me off at the middle of a market called ‘Nyanya Market,’ and I meandered my way through until I got to a neighborhood with the majority of houses looking old, just like the one we lived in.”
“The only thing the hérbàlííst wrote on the paper was ‘Nyanya.’ I needed to begin asking the residents, one after another, to show me Felicia’s house.”
“I had fetched a handful of fliers for the crúsàde from my pàstór’s table before leaving his office, and hoped to use it as an avenue or perhaps an ēxçūsê to win the trūst of the residents and show me Felicia’s house.”
“I asked about five people, introducing myself as Felicia’s chúrçh member, but unfórtúñately, they also didn’t know her house. I gave each of them the fliers, inviting them to the crúsàde so that I didn’t look susp!c!ous.”
“I kept asking until I met an old woman who seemed to have lived there for a very long time.”
“I introduced myself and asked her if she knew Felicia’s house. She pointed to one of the houses with a black bucket at the entrance. I thanked her, also gave her a flier, and went there immediately.”
“I never thought I would find her at home. I thought she’d be at work, but luckily for me, she didn’t go to work that day.”
“I knocked, she came out, and I introduced myself. I gave her one of the fliers and told her that we have a crúsàde coming forth on Wednesday and Thursday, and the Lõrd led me to invite her in person.”
“I never needed to say much to convince her to come because there were three pictures on the flier: my pàstór, his wífé, and Mr. Frank.”
“I might only need to think of another way of getting her to attend the crúsàde if, perhaps, she could no longer recognize Mr. Frank.”
“Immediately she collected the flier and glanced through it, her cõūntēñance chāñged. She stood upright, held the flier properly, and fastened her eyes on it.”
“She pleaded that I go inside, and that she wanted to ask me a few questions. I knew at that moment that she recognized Mr. Frank, and I went inside to answer all her questions, glad that my m!ssion was halfway accomplished.”
To be continued ✍️