Thread by @GbengaWemimo

The first-time they met
They met at a bar
The bar was located in the premises of an old hotel
The hotel had gone out of business and a church had taken over the premises
He was invited by the pastor of the church to hold an impartation meeting with the workers of the church

When he got to the church
He saw the young man with a thick afro
He was drinking & smoking a cigarette
He was early and had some minutes to spare
He walked up to the young man
They exchanged greetings
He asked the young man what he did for a living
The young man said "hustling"

They chit-chatted
He prayed for the young man
They exchanged numbers
He went to the church
The meeting was a success
When he left the church
The young man was gone
He made a mental note to tell the pastor about the young man
He said "the Holy Spirit drew my attention to him"

Some days later
The is phone rang
It was the young man
He had been arrested and locked up at Ketu police station
What happened?
He had an altercation with a food vendor
He slapped the lady
The lady's husband got the police involved
He had been jailed
He had nobody to bail him

The young man cried
"Please help me"
He called the pastor
The pastor told him the young man was a riff-raff
He had been in and out of police custody for many years
His family members lived around but they wanted to have nothing to do with him
He had no friend or loved ones

The pastor was of the opinion that he should be left in jail for sometime
He needed to face the consequences of the lifestyle choices he was making
As long as people continue to bail the young man out of trouble, he wouldn't learn his lesson!
He agreed with the pastor's view

A week later, the young man called him again
He went to the police station
He bailed the young man out
He told him about Jesus
Young man kept nodding his head, like he wanted the sermon over with
He sensed the resistance and let young man be
He had planted the seed as instructed

The next time he saw the young man, they met at a petrol station during the fuel scarcity!
The young man was hustling for fuel to sell at black market price
They greeted
The young man approached him
"Pastor, pastor, settle your boy! Give me something to eat"
He was shocked!

The young man was almost rough handling him
Other touts like the young man surrounded them
He had nothing to give and he said so
The young man got angry
"And you call yourself a pastor, you collect tithe and offering and you refuse to settle your boys!"
He was so embarrassed!

By the time he left the fuel station
His phone and some money had gone missing
He regretted ever getting to know the young man
Familiarity had bred contempt
He vowed to keep away from that area
He didn't believe he would be rough handled by someone he had done so much for
Wow!

He kept away from the area
About a year later
He saw the young man by the roadside
He was on crutches
The young man had gotten one of his legs broken
He parked his car and approached the young man
"What happened?"
The young man told him he had a motorcycle accident
They talked!

He told the young man about Jesus
Young man said he needed some money
He gave the young man a lift, gave him some money and took him to a proper hospital for treatment!
He nursed the young man to health!
They becam friends
He took the young man to his house, accommodated him

After a year, young man was already a Christian
Young man told him he wanted to go and see his folks
Young man left on Friday morning
Around 2 AM on Saturday, there was a noise on the street
Security men engaged some armed robbers in a shootout
Neighbours came to call him

When he got to the street
He saw young man and some other members of his gang
They had been shot dead!

He remembered telling the young man he would be collecting some money for his building project
The money was what the young man was targeting

He wept bitterly
What a waste!