My phone was literally on fire for the whole week. Tina called me day and night, but I refused picking up her call or returning the call. I didn’t want to fall like a pack of cards like I did with Rejoice…
Her text messages were pouring in, but funny enough, they were blank messages. I understood what that meant. The SCA had a way of monitoring everyone’s inbox, so Tina was sending me a silent message…
It was either “Save me” or “ Come back”.
“ She may be genuine!” Favour said from across the room where she sat…
“ If So, Why can’t she leave there like I did…?”
“ Fear… like she told you…Chuks, Fear cripples you know…”
“ I know, but she will die there if she doesn’t overcome the fear…, because the moment the SCA discovers she will soon become a loose rat, she will be extinguished….. so that is why I see no point in her being afraid of death”
“ We handle crises differently… but moving on… She needs our help?”
“ Help?, hope you are not insinuating we should go to the SCA and pull her out?”
“ That would be stupid of us, but we could do what the earlier saints did…”
“ What?” I asked …
Favour picked up my Bible and I knew I was in for a Bible study time…
“ Acts 12:5” Favour said…
“ So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.” Favour read out and without saying much I understood what she was implying…
Tina was in prison Like Peter was, but if we can intercede on her behalf, we will surely get her out…
“ What is the plan?” I asked Favour…
“ 40 days of intense prayers and fasting
“ Will that do anything?”
“ You are a product of that!” Favour said and made attempt to walk out…
“ What do you mean?” I asked
“ Never mind… It is a personal thing…”
“ A personal thing that has to do with me?, “
Favour Knew I wasn’t going to let her off the hook so easily…
“The thing is, wayback in our university days, I took you up as a prayer project….” Favour said nonchalantly
“ Prayer Project?”
“ Yes, I came across that scripture about praying for those who have been imprisoned in one form of prison. I knew you were in a sexual prison as you slept with anything in skirts… So I took it upon myself to always pray and fast for you every Tuesday….”
I was wowed, as my jaw fell…. I knew Favour doesn’t eat on Tuesdays, I was silently hoping it had nothing to do with me…
“ Wait, you fast on Tuesday’s because of me?”
“ Yes for over 14 years…”
“ You are lying….”
“ I don’t tell lies…”
“ Why?” I couldn’t wrap my head around it, because wayback in school, we were not friends
“ Why does my life mean so much to you…Favour?” I asked not getting what Favour wanted with me…
“ It means a Lot to God, so it must mean much to me likewise”
“ No, I don’t believe, there must be something more?”
“ Nothing?”
“ You had a crush on me and was hoping If you prayed for me, I could become a Christian?”
“ Noooo… Chuks… must I have a crush on a guy before I pray for him?” Favour asked with a bewildered look… “Chuks, I was only doing my responsibility as a Christian…You were a lost sheep who needed direction back to the folk, as Christians , We ought to pray for our brethren who maybe trapped in one form of prison or the other…”
I couldn’t find the right words to describe Favour… No wonder, her name was what popped into my head, when I needed help after Chinaza died… She had been interceding for me for years….
“ Thank you…” was all that could drop out of my lips
“ The best way to thank me is to pass on that love to Tina… You can get her out of that prison by praying for her from the corner of your room… It might take a while, but I believe she will come out if we don’t give up on her….” Favour said as she finally walked out…
I moved towards my Bible she had opened and I fastened my eyes on that scripture again….
“So Peter was kept in PRISON, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him”
Hmm…. Praying for him, not castigating Him, not backlashing Him by insinuating God was punishing him for a sin he had committed in the past …..
“Can my prayers bring Tina out of the SCA?” I thought with a heavy heart filled with doubt, uncertainty and fear.
To be continued….
