By Yetunde Arebi

Every Wednesday is Shilo service at the Cherubim and Seraphim church in Ebute Metta area of Lagos. Shilo is held at the land of mercy, (ile-aanu), where you have the symbolic flowing river, synonymous with the church rituals. Shilo is where prayers are believed to be answered by God, no matter the nature of the problem.

New Year celebration in Jakarta, Indonesia.

By faith, no one returns from Shilo with empty hand. It is open to both members and the general public and on Shilo days, you are sure to meet all the designated priests and prophets, sometimes including those who go into spiritual trance, bringing messages from the spiritual realms. There, if you are lucky, your whole life and problems can be summarised in 10 minutes through a vision! Thus, for believers, Shilo is a must attend, more important than Sunday services in some instances.

After Shilo service, those with special requests and prayers step forward to meet with the prophets and special prayers are conducted with them with the elders of the church, prophets and congregation as the spirit might direct. My friend, Joko, never misses the Shilo service. She was born into the Celestial Church and is now married to the son of an Aladura Mother-in-Israel. It is convenient for her since she runs her own business and thus have flexible schedules.

It was with bewilderment as well as laughter that she shared an incident that took place at one of the prayer sessions when she came visiting recently. According to her, everyone at the service was taken by surprise a couple of weeks back when a young lady in her early 20s stepped forward to announce her special request. “The prophets should help her pray for a man who will take care of her”! The congregation fell silent instantly. What sort of prayer is that?

In the house of God? Is she not already married? Even if she were not officially married, she had a baby on her back and someone must have fathered the child, abi? So, why was she searching for someone who would take care of her? As the worshipers were trying to process what could have informed such a prayer request, a couple of female elders stepped forward and drew her aside for questioning, or is it counselling.

But on a second look at her appearance, Joko said it became apparent to her that the girl ought to have a special request. In fact, one would be surprised if she did not. Her Ankara fabric dress was a size or two bigger for her slim frame and though no one wears shoes inside the church premises because it is designated as holy land, her feet looked conspicuously unkempt and could not have achieved that status by just being barefoot in the church that morning.

On her back was strapped a little baby with another piece of faded Ankara fabric. The baby was obviously in a worse condition than its mother . Her tiny lips were dry and cracked while her nostrils also had yellowish dry mucus stuck around them. Her gaping mouth indicated she was not breathing properly, obviously as a result of the blocked nose. Even as the service continued, a lot of people were still interested in what prompted the young lady to make such a request in public.

While this lady’s action might appear not to be the conventional thing to do, it is important to note that pushed into a corner, one is likely to become irrational in one’s thinking and actions. Desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures, they say.    A man of her own who will take care of her and her infant baby was all she could think of as solution to her problems.

While the elders were interested in the father of her child, and the need to make him take care of her, it was obvious that she had foreclosed on that as a viable option and was shopping for a more responsible husband and father for her child, and what better place to come other than the church. Had he been meeting his responsibilities towards them, I doubt if the thought of such an action would have ever crossed her mind. Also, if there was a possibility of intervention from family members, she would have taken it rather than open herself up for public ridicule.

Contrary to Joko’s views, I think this young lady took the right decision. Like everyone she has a right to come before God, her maker to seek help. Sometimes, it is not enough to just pray and walk out hoping that solution would come out of the blues. It might work for some but not for others. There is a saying that if you keep silent on your problems, then the problem stays with you. Her childish understanding of her situation may have caused her to request for a man who will support her, but with counselling and assistance from older and more spiritually mature people, she is more likely to get a better deal.

Problems are inevitable for man. They are part of the challenges of life and living. Every human will go through some kind of problems at one time or the other in their lives, it is part of God’s promises to His people. But He has also promised us that with hardship comes ease, everything has a season and a reason and all things will pass away at some point as no condition is permanent. It is what we do when faced with life’s challenges that defines us.

Nigeria, our dear nation of multi faceted problems is a challenge on its own to her poor citizens. As 2016 is uploading, so is a new social and economic challenge. Even many of those who thought they had crossed the Rubicon of the Nigerian system are no longer sure of themselves and their survival. How much less ordinary poor citizens like me. Yet, survive and thrive we must.

Many are lucky to have family and friends who can support and assist, easing our burdens as quickly as they come, others might not be, forcing us to make decisions that might not lead to desired objectives at the long run.    In our quest for shoulders to lean on, the heart might not be too smart, and so we find ourselves seeking help in all the wrong places and from the wrong people.

Only a few will assist others without demanding something in return. Many help seekers often have to make compromises one way or another in exchange for that which they seek. Just as many benefactors love to play god over the fate and happiness of those who look up to them or rely on them for assistance, making all sorts of unwholesome and evil demands of them.

Some earthly helpers demand for unflinching loyalty that they cannot give to their creator, not to mention their fellow men. Many forget that as humans, we are all beggars at some point in life, and it is by the benevolence of another that we are who we are, no man is an island. While it might be true that our hard work and struggles might not yield much successes if we lack support and a helping hand to lift us up, we must also remember that it is only God Almighty that gives without adding pain or sorrow to it.

By last Sunday, the young lady and her little child have received divine help from God. She has been offered a job and a place to stay in the church premises. Her job is to clean the toilets and sweep the newly consecrated church compound. She is also on a salary, no matter how little it might be.

As we step into the new year, those whom God has positioned in our lives to bless us will not be our undoing. Our contact with them will not bring about their downfall too. We will not seek help in the wrong places and from the wrong people. As the zeal, hope and chants of the Change merchants, activists and recruits dim, and the realities of Nigeria’s situation confront and confound us, may 2016 be a year of divine help from the creator. Happy New Year and do have a wonderful weekend.