Thread by @GbengaWemimo

We were at the Church's Day out when the symptoms hit me for the first time
The church organized a games, fun, and mingling event at CMD complex
I was there in official capacity with my boss (I was his PA)
It was supposed to be a very good day
One of those days you look forward

to
I had promised my wife and children that I would come home to pick them once we settle down at the event
As the PA to the pastor of the church, I have a duty to be at the venue and be part of the "setting up activities
We have food vendors, canopy, chairs, and tables suppliers

children entertainment people, mobile toilet suppliers, and so on to instruct and work with in order to make the event a success
I left home very early for the venue
People started arriving at about 10am that morning
By 11am, the event was in full swing
It was a glorious event

I had planned to play scrabbles (I was a two-time gold medalist at the Nigeria Private University Games) and chess
Suddenly I felt this searing pain in my belly
It came with chills in my bone and a general weakness all over
I felt seriously pressed so I ran into one of the mobile

toilets
I took off my jeans and there was blood all over
My Jeans had been soaking in a lot of blood seeping out of my body
I put the toilet roll to work immediately so that i can at least feel comfortable
My wife's HMO covered the entire family
I had my HMO card in my wallet

I told my boss's driver that I was sick
I drove myself down to the hospital and got myself admitted immediately
By this time, my stomach was on fire
A slow-burning, crippling, and chilling pain that rises to climax every five minutes and then drops a little in order to repeat the

cycle again
The doctor had no idea what it was
She asked me how the pain started
I tried my best to explain
She said it must be ulcer
I said No
I was sure it wasn't an ulcer, I can't even say why I was so sure
She later said she was suspecting appendicitis
At another point she

said it must be a disorder, an allergy, an immune system issue
It was a whole bag of guesses and uncertainty
I had called my wife and told her where I was
She arrived with a lot of energy
(If you have my wife by your side in the time of trouble, you need not fight again. She is

an absolute asset
She started asking questions
Why has he not been given anything for the pain?
I want to talk to the most superior person here
After about fifteen minutes with my wife, the doctor brought an injection
The syringe was full of a substance like Miast Mag
It was shot

into my veins and another pack was given to me
I was discharged with "Once you sleep it will calm down"
It didn't
I drank the mist Mag religiously, hoping somehow that the more of it I drank, the better I would feel
Well, it didn't work
On Wednesday (four days after I got ill)

the pain stopped
I was elated
Finally, I was normal again
I felt pressed and went to the toilet
I found myself pushing out blood
Hmmm
I went back to the hospital
I was sent off to a specialist hospital to do a colonoscopy test
The test was done on Friday
I was told I had holes in

my intestine
I was told there were five holes
I was told I needed surgery for the holes to be plugged or I would die within a short time
My options were to get the surgery done in Nigeria for about 3 million Naira or to travel to India and get it done for a cost of 13 million

Naira
(Those were the conservative estimates)
I didn't have 30,000 Naira in my account
Ideas started coming up from all over
Appeal to friends and family
Appeal to the church I was working with
(Its a rich church and they will give me some support)
Crowdfunding or corporate

begging
It was funny how i was willing to depend on doctors when I thought the illness was minor and how quickly I decided I had to depend on God when I realised the sickness was major
It was unreal
Like "I can do this by myself" and then "Please do this for me"
It made me feel

like one of those who were serving a god of the gaps!
A god who is useful only when they get to problems or questions that they cannot province solutions or answers to for themselves
That was not the faith I was born into by the Holy Spirit in 2007
I knew who I have believed

I knew the power that was at work in me
I had seen crazy miracles happening all around me and through me since I was 27
This was happening to me when I was 36
I had practically lost my way
My belief had gone whack
My confession was weak and weary
I had no faith, not even to stop

the pity party
I know i needed help but it was not the help to raise funds
Even if I was really going to die, it is a pathetic thing to die like a faithless dog
I should make my exit with boldness, with my head raised high and my voice booming and echoing of life and the reality

the Holy Spirit at work in me
I will not die with my head drooping like a mango fruit hanging from a tree
I am strong and bold and able
My spirit is not sick and my soul is not weary
I am confident that God is able to rescue my body from the hole it had dug itself into but even

if God didn't, I am still not godless!
My status in Christ remains unchanged, my reality is unsullied, I am full of eternal life and I cannot be broken by some holes in an intestine
I stirred up my spirit so much that my entire body began to tingle with the pulsating power of the

Holy Spirit
The doctor had advised that I must be eating a lot of beans and vegetables
In fact, he ordered it
No sugar and no carbohydrate of any kind
He said the beans have enough carbohydrate to help me in that season
I had to stop wearing a waist belt
It was hell tightening

one
I had to settle for braces
I disliked beans naturally but I learned to love it
Ewa Iganyin, a special beans delicacy) became my favourite meal
I refused to carry the weight of the sickness in my spirit
I was playful, jovial, happy, enthusiastic and joyful
The only challenge

i had was sitting for a long time, driving for a long time, not eating on time, and occasional pain that would hit me from the core of my pain and leave me doubling over in pain
What's that compared to the joy of the Lord that is bubbling through my spirit every day
I cried but

only in my flesh
Most times I will be talking to myself or laughing at myself
I will say "Gbenga, you're stronger than this, stop being such a ninny"
I was determined that if I was going to go out, I will not go out like a wimp
I have every right o determine how the course of my

life will go
Sickness will not rob me of my dignity
Every night, I will read the scriptures out loud, pray in tongues for one hour (Sometimes i will be so stirred that I wont be able to sit)
I will be pacing and roaring (Not making noise outwardly and disturbing everybody) but

making a lot of hollabaloo in my spirit
A stirred spirit is a joyful habitation
I'd find myself waking up sometimes in the middle of the night only to discover I had slept off on the chair or in my sitting room while fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit
I didn't beg for my healing

I was not afraid of death
I have never been afraid of anything or anyone since I gave my life to Christ
It was the pain I hated
I didn't like being uncomfortable, so I was fine as long as I was not feeling the discomfort
My spirit was ebullient too, contagiously so
I started

ministering to the sick and weary in our weekly fellowship
The intensity of my fellowship with the Holy Spirit left me with so much energy and light that I cannot keep all to myself
I changed churches too
The church where I was a PA was not allowing me the room to fulfill my

ministry
I started attending another church where I was allowed to teach Sunday School and minister on weekdays
One day, while I was preparing to minister on a Tuesday
I was in my office, preparing for the service
I came across this verse of the scripture
"Greater is He that is

in me, than He that is in the world"
I began to apply it to my teaching, trying to make my hearers see that whatever challenge they are facing at that moment was nothing!
And it struck me
Greater is He that is in me
Greater is the One in my Spirit
Greater is the Word of God in my

bones
Greater is the eternal life that I received when I gave my life to Jesus
Greater is the Holy Spirit that came upon me than the Human Spirit I received from my parents
The Greater one lives in me
Hallelujah!"
I was so stirred by this reality
I got to church and set the whole

atmosphere on fire
We prayed in tongues and declared Him to be greater
Something happened in that service that day
Two ladies who had been waiting on the Lord for the fruit of the womb got pregnant a few days later
I wasn't sure if that was the day I was healed but I was healed!

A few Saturdays later, I was going to church for Sunday School preview when my wife shouted "Honey, why are you wearing belt?
Wow. I had worn the same jeans I wore to work the previous day
I had worn a belt instinctively the previous day without feeling any pain and I was wearing

a belt again that afternoon
That was how the whole sickness saga ended
I never went back to the hospital to confirm anything
The blood thing and pain thing stopped
The beans thing ended
I was healed
I have been healthy for five years
Greater is He that is in me"
Hallelujah

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