The human heart!
Friday began like any other day. I had planned what I wanted
to do at my study and later attend to other ministerial duties away from home.
Then someone knocked at the gate and I went to attend to him.
“I am looking for
the pastor so that I can be prayed for as I am burdened with so many problems.”
I ushered him into our Tent of
meeting which is attached to our house. I asked him his name and what exactly
is his problem. This briefly is what he said and what followed and lessons
learned:
“My name is S.B.
(abbreviated). My wife died in 2009 and left me with three children, the
youngest was only a few months old. Two weeks ago, I travelled to the village
with my children so as to harvest beans from our shamba (garden). While in the shamba,
I was called that Linda (6 years) has fallen and drowned in a family well. The
body was retrieved and I buried her last week. I could not stay any longer in
the village as I had no money. I used to work as a guard with a security firm
but it folded up some months ago. I have remained jobless and only occasionally
being hired as a daily labourer at building sites. However, the site foremen
would always demand half of my daily wages as bribe or as goodwill for next
day’s hire. But now for weeks, I haven’t
gotten any jobs and so for a number of days we have not eaten. My youngest
daughter, Florence (now 4 years) is very ill in the house. My son Joseph (8
years) is the one looking after her. I used to go to church faithfully but I
dropped as people mocked me saying some bad spirit is upon my home that is why
my family is getting finished.”
I then inquired why he hasn’t taken
Florence to the nearest Medical Unit which is free?
“They
require me to pay for a Record Card but I don’t have the Ksh.20.”
At this point I felt greatly
challenged that for lack of Ksh.20, the life of a little girl may be lost just
like that. I urgently consulted with my wife then handed over Ksh.250 to him
directing him to immediately take Florence to the hospital. He was extremely
thankful and said he would come on Sunday with the children, give report and
thanks.
The man came on Sunday just as we
were beginning our meeting. But he said “the sad news is that Florence died the
previous evening and the body is at the Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital
mortuary.” We were all saddened. He talked of the urgent need to rush to the
village to inform his relatives, sell his two only goats and return in
readiness to bury his daughter. Due to the urgency involved, I assured him of
our prayers and gave him Ksh.400/ as fare and airtime in his phone to
facilitate his communication. A number of us prayed for him during the service.
Later Sunday night he phoned me to
share the good news that he arrived safely in the village and was thankful. But
another bad news was to immediately follow. He found his two goats confiscated
by a neighbour for straying into and destroying vegetable garden! They would
only be released upon payment of cash. We felt very sad and upset. I advised
him to take the matter to the immediate authority to help arbitrate.
Tuesday I was unwell and so stayed
longer in bed when by 7.00am the phones rings and my wife answered it telling
the person that I am unwell so he can ring latter. The caller identified
himself as the bereaved man and saying that he was back from the village and is
set for the burial of the late Florence the same day, Tuesday at the municipal
cemetery. Upon hearing that, I gathered strength and managed to talk to him
telling him that I would have loved to go and help him conduct the burial but I
can’t due to illness and so I will send two men (Julius and Timothy) to help
him both at the mortuary and the cemetery. To enable him pay the mortuary bill
and the grave I send him Ksh.1,030/ through Mpesa direct to his phone to boost
the little he said he had.
Julius and Timothy arrived at the
mortuary at 9.00am ready with a passage of Scripture I prepared for them to
preach from. They patiently waited for S.B. repeatedly making attempts to call
his phone which was now permanently off! When it reached 12.30pm, I asked them
to give up and return. The two came back tired, hungry and angry that we have
been conned! I urged them to be patient and that we must do all we can to prove
a man guilty before condemning him. We prayed and my wife gave them food. Since
the man’s phone was still off, I still felt it was best to assume that his
phone battery could have died off and needed recharging. At the same time, I
thought the best way to make this man feature again and for us to verify the
details is to send a sms to him phone so that as soon as it is switched on, he
would get my message! I something like this: “I trust you finished the burial well. You have been in our thoughts
and prayers. Sorry that the two men weren’t able to be with and help you. When
you are able, please come and we can talk to see how we can help you further.” I encouraged the two brothers, we prayed and
they left for their homes.
Wednesday at 8.30am S.B. arrives and
knocks at our gate!! The sms worked!! Just before ushering him in, I quickly
phoned Julius and Timothy to rush to come as urgently as possible. The man was
offered a cup of tea and I begun to sympathetically but tactfully interrogate
him. Soon the two brothers arrive and he is challenged. He maintained his story
but said he left the receipts in the house as he left in a hurry. I then
suggested that we go straight to the mortuary and confirm the records. I was
careful to remain calm and not send any threat signals; at the same time
calming the two down. He agreed with my suggestion. I again asked him if he
would wish to change his story but insisted that he is right. My wife quietly
advised me not to go in our car but hire transport lest I be marked...! The
man, the two brothers and I arrived at the mortuary records’ office and after a
thorough search it was proved that there is no record of the body of Florence
having been booked in on Saturday or removed on Tuesday! What we thought would
take less than 10 minutes to prove genuine or false, now turns to be a
“security case” which lasted over six hour!
S.B. admitted he had mixed truth
with lies to get help saying he ‘had suffered for so long.’ He revealed that I
was the third person he had swindled though changing the story to suit each
occasion. He looked more miserable at every revelation of his tricks. The
security officers at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital did not miss-handle
him. This forty year old man looked much older than I, though I am no longer
young! I was asked if I wanted to press charges in a court of law and have him
committed to jail. Then I thought of his child or children(?) and felt that it
is better to err on the side of mercy rather than demand justice. All his
details including his photo were taken and dispatched to relevant security
agencies within the Province; he was labelled “a dangerous man” and was
immediately dispatched back to his home village to work with his hands in his shamba and provide for his children(?).
His local area administration also informed immediately to put an eye on him.
What lessons or opportunities? There
are many if one cares to look but I can only mention a few.
·
The wickedness of the human heart is very real.
If not for the grace of God, I would be no better.
·
The challenges in the ministry are real and
varied. There are those whose story is genuine, others are spiced up but others
are downright lies. We stand in need of God’s wisdom. The high temptation now
is for us to be suspicious of and turn away any who comes seeking help.
·
I had opportunity to show my two brothers that
though we had ‘wasted’ two whole days and lost a lot of money, the Lord has
helped us to learn how to handle situations practically better than if we just
sat in our ‘preachers’ class’ on a Saturday morning.
·
This incident also enabled us to meet and
witness to the security staff of this second largest medical institution in the
country; at the end, I was allowed to pray for the man and for the security
team. I believe there is opportunity for us to bring God’s work in terms of
literature and even preaching.
I can ask, ‘Who is sufficient for
these things? Paul’s words in 2 Cor.3:5 “Not that we are sufficient of
ourselves ... our sufficiency is from God...”
Dear friends, pray for us as we pray
for you.
In Christ by grace,
Naphtally & Helida Ogallo.
No comments:
Post a Comment