Favour was taken by surprise by her daughter’s question. It was obvious this must have been a big issue between them. I immediately jumped to the rescue… “Motive is also very important in what we do, Mercy for those battling with acne and blackheads, makeup is not the ultimate solution. God gave us plants and nature to help our skin, so if you can work on it with the help of good healing and skin repairing creams, it will disappear in the long run. Using a very light makeup in reference to powder to make your face look cool and approachable is not what we are talking about. We are only teaching moderation, also the physical and spiritual implications of going overboard with some of these popular pop culture hideously sponsored by the invisible creatures is the problem,” I said. As I looked around the vicinity, I saw two buildings that were close to each other, the first house wasn’t painted, while the other was painted white. “Which of those two houses would you love to live in?” I asked. They all pointed at the white house. “Good!” But just around another corner, there was this house that was painted with about five colors that made the house look really trashy. I had been told the owner of the house had mental issues. “What about Mr. Gold’s house?” I asked. “God forbid!” “Arhhggggg!” “Never!” They gave different responses to say the house was a no-no. “Why?” I asked. “Too many colors…!” “So, that is my point. No one is saying as a Christian, you shouldn’t look good and approachable, but using different colors on your face, contouring in a way your face structure changes, or applying levels of foundation, concealer, blush, fake eyelashes that makes people not recognize you is the problem.” I decided to throw a joke in the air, “How will you feel if Angel Gabriel comes looking for you to give you a long awaited blessing or maybe 30 billion Naira and on getting to you, he doesn’t recognize you?” I asked. “That one is bad ooo” a boy said from behind. They all burst into laughter. “…And besides, pimples is a sign of puberty, it will disappear overtime… are we clear?” I said as I felt exhausted. They all nodded in the affirmative. This teenage ministry was going to be a serious big deal, they had a lot of confrontational questions in their hearts that if not well answered, you look like a liar. “So to be clear, we can apply a little powder on our faces and lip balm on our lips?” Mercy asked again. I nodded in the affirmative. “But note, much more than looking beautiful on the outside, you need to be beautiful in character like Rebekah in the Bible.” “Yes, we know Uncle Chuks, but before people get to see your inner beauty, your outer look will attract them and thanks for giving us a detailed explanation on this face beautification talk,” she said with a little sarcasm in her voice. Something was definitely going on between Mercy and Favour! I ended the class for the day with a short prayer. Some kids wanted to see me for counseling but I asked them to come the next day as I wanted to get to the root of the issue, plus I had not informed Favour about Mercy’s masturbation. ************* “What is happening? What’s going on?” I asked both of them when the last teen left except Ajaara who had gone with Gloria to her room. “I feel like I am in a prison, no friends, I can’t look good like my friends. For goodness sake, I am in the university. I am not saying I want to look like a Jezebel, I also have a personal relationship with God, so I know my boundaries, but she doesn’t want to understand that. Can you imagine Mum just told me last week, that I will start going to school from home, that she is not comfortable with me staying on campus. Just like what you said about moderation, she just preached about it, but with me, there is nothing like that. No Television except on Sundays and guess what I only get to watch, a pastor’s message. Tell her to cut me some slack… It was the loneliness I felt that pushed me into trying what I should not have tried… I started watching porn on my phone to keep myself busy. I only have online friends and…” Mercy was saying in full anger that she didn’t realize she had said too much. It was the way Favour turned to look at her in shock like someone who had just been swindled that made Mercy stop her words. “What did you just say?” Favour asked in disbelief with a raised voice. To be continued.
