Damascus

He left home for work that morning 
Everything was as it should be 
He woke up at 4 AM and he was 
on his way by 5 AM 
He was living in Ikorodu and working 
at one of the corporate offices at 
Victoria Island 
He got home the previous night by 1 AM 
after four hours in the traffic 
That was the inconvenience he had to 
cope with in order to keep his good job 
in Lagos 
The job was an answered prayer 
It came to him out of nowhere after 
four years of doing all sorts of odd jobs 
in order to keep body and soul together 
He was determined to build a career out 
of the job and rise to the very top within 
a few years 
His conduct so far has impressed his 
immediate bosses and even the Group 
Managing Director 
He had been publicly praised for his 
exemplary conduct at the two general 
meetings he had attended since he 
joined the company 
He had proven to be an indispensable asset 
He was officially still under probation 
According to the company's policy, new 
employees are placed under probation 
for a period of one year before their 
employment is confirmed and an official 
position given to them 
On paper he was employed as a Bank
officer but he had spent some time in IT 
and Publicity and proven to be an out of 
the box thinker! 
He had finally shaken off his complicated 
past and could happily say for the first 
time in many years that he was settled 
and eager to face the future 
He could feel he had actually
finally found his place in the world 
He got to the office by 7:30AM and got 
to work immediately 
He had some pending media briefs to 
attend to before the staff brief by 8:30 
He tidied up the brief while catching up 
with some news on the sports radio 
Other members of staff started
trickling in around 7:45 AM 
He ignored most of them as he worked 
feverishly 
He wanted to present the finished work 
at the meeting 
It was an assignment he was given two 
weeks deadline to complete but he 
worked hard with the aim of submitting it 
that morning, he knew he would most
likely be handed the file meant for the next 
phase as a result of that but he was more 
than willing to accommodate more jobs, 
after all, the reward for good work is 
more work 
They had the meeting by 8:30, it went very 
smoothly and his input was well received 
By 9AM, the MD called him via the intercom 
He dropped everything and walked briskly 
over to the MD's office 
He knew from experience that the MD is a 
very short-tempered man who could fire 
anybody he so desired on the spot 
He had also seen the CCTV monitor in the 
MD's office and knows the MD was always
monitoring staff members on it 
The MD handed him an envelope and told 
him in a hushed tone that he was to 
discuss the content with nobody 
"The driver is waiting to take you to 
the airport. 
A charter flight will take you to Abuja, 
once you land in Abuja, another 
driver will pick you up and take you to 
Nassarawa! 
When you get to your destination, you are 
to hand over the envelope to your contact 
(You will know him when you see him) 
Wait for his instruction 
If he tells you to wait, you wait. 
If he tells you to leave or says nothing, 
get in the car and go back to Abuja. 
The flight will be waiting to bring you 
back to Lagos. 
Under no circumstances are you to 
open the envelope!" 
He said "Yes sir!" 
He didn't go back to his desk 
He had his phone and wallet on him 
He took the elevator to the basement and 
He found the driver waiting for
him The drive to the airport was uneventful 
The MD's personal driver was driving him 
and he had learned that such men use 
their drivers and other assets as an 
extension of themselves 
He was sure the assignment was a test of 
sorts, especially with all the warnings 
from the MD, he held on to the envelope as 
if his life depended on it 
He sent a message to his wife he informed 
her of the assignment and asked her to 
pray for him 
His wife was the reason behind his 
breakthrough 
She was the one whose father's reputation 
in the banking sector was leveraged upon
to get him a job 
He knew her father didn't want to help him 
But when his wife got pregnant and had 
to resign her job her father realized his 
daughter will suffer if he insisted on his 
"Find your own way" philosophy 
According to His father-in-law, human 
beings are natural ingrates
That you got your son-in-law a job does 
not mean he wouldn't cheat on her or 
divorce her using the money from the 
same job you got him to spite you. 
It is therefore best to fend for your 
blood and direct relatives! 
He was determined not to prove his 
father-in-law right in any way
by taking care of his family and 
being faithful to his wife 
The flight to Abuja was uneventful 
It was his first time on a plane but 
despite the excitement, fear, and anxiety 
that he felt as they got strapped in and 
took off, he kept it all together and 
acted naturally 
There were only six passengers on the flight 
The other five were well known big shots 
in the country 
He was sure they would be wondering 
who he was and what he was doing on 
the same flight 
They got to Abuja at around 11:30 AM 
A man with a cardboard bearing his name 
was waiting at the arrivals
They got on their way to Nassarawa 
immediately 
The traffic was a bit heavy around the 
Abuja Airport, he took the time to take in 
the sight of the city 
It was his first time in Abuja 
It suddenly dawned on him that he was 
beginning to have those stories that build 
greatness in his arsenal 
He would one day tell people how he was 
flown by private jet to a strange land to 
deliver a document that was classified 
"Top secret" 
He was a mule but he felt like a very 
important mule 
They got to Nyanyan within the hour and 
proceeded into Nasarrawa 
He saw the topography changing as they 
left the well-planned capital city behind 
They got to their destination around 1:30pm 
He was hungry but the butterflies in his 
tummy wouldn't settle down until he 
delivered the package with him 
The driver told him to wait in the car 
until they were ushered into
the premises of the mansion where he 
was to meet the mysterious man to whom 
he would deliver his package. 
He had tried very hard not to guess who 
it was the package was going to 
His people will say "The bridegroom 
does not need to peep through the 
window to see the bride on his 
wedding day" 
After about thirty minutes, they were 
told by the security men to drive into 
the compound 
The driver drove in and all hell let 
loose 
He saw black vehicles everywhere 
He saw men in black uniform rush 
towards their vehicle screaming at them 
The driver was frightened
He was scared too 
The driver stopped the car 
The men screamed that the driver opened 
the car 
He didn't know what came over him but 
he instinctively unbuttoned his shirt 
and tucked the document in his hand 
inside his shirt 
He buttoned up just as they got close 
to his car 
Luckily, the rear windshields of the vehicle 
were tinted 
They were pulled out of the vehicle, 
handcuffed and thrown into a big truck 
Everything happened in a slow motion 
He couldn't tell whether they were being 
arrested or kidnapped 
After about twenty minutes, the 
vehicles began to move out...
He didn't know what to think
He was numb for a long time
The driver that brought him to
the house from the airport
was mumbling something under his
breathe fearfully
His hands were handcuffed behind
him as he sat down
There were other people in the 
truck
He knew none of them 
They were talking but in Hausa
language
He couldn't make sense of anything
After about an hour and a half
The truck stopped and they were
all hauled off into cells
It became clearer at that point that
they had been arrested by kidnappers
or terrorists
There was nothing where they were
indicating the presence of government
That was when he began to sweat
Bandits are very irrational people and
he was a Christian
He was very certain he would be the
first person, they would kill to make 
their point
That night, he prayed for the first
time in several months
He prayed silently in tongues
He couldn't pray in English because
he knew some people in the same
cell with him could pick his words
and report that he was a Christian
Even if he wanted to pray in English,
he was too scared to put anything
sensible together
The prayers were bursting forth
automatically from his belly
Before he got the job he prayed a lot
and did a lot of things in the church
but he treated it as pro bono stuff
to keep busy while waiting for his
big break
He met his wife at the church
The church was having a Christmas
Carol service and they invited the
choir of other churches to be a part
of it
His wife was a member of one of the
churches
Her church was located in one of the
rich estates of the city
Their choir came because the pastor
has a personal relationship with their
pastor
He saw her and asked for her number
That was how they started
She was a rich girl without a man
He was a poor man without a job
They got married a year later
His wife provided for the family
financially while he supported in
every other way
Including prayer
After his wife lost two pregnancies
due to stress and her father got
him a job, he walked away from
all that
He felt he had paid his due to God
and it was time to pay his due to 
Caesar
It is one thing to pray for a job
It is another to be able to keep
the job and prosper in it after the
prayer has been answered
He still took time to pray once in a 
while but after spending hours on
the road getting to the office and
getting home after work every day
he had little or no time for that
luxury
As he prayed, suddenly everywhere
suddenly went quiet
There was a clarity he couldn't 
describe in his heart
Then he heard "You will be set free
first thing tomorrow morning
A man will be waiting to pick you 
up at the main road
He will take you to Abuja
When you get to Abuja, call your
office
Buy a ticket at the Airport
When you get to Lagos, drop your
letter of resignation
There is a hotel just by the turning
into your street
Go straight there
A man will be at the reception
When you see him, tell him what
had happened within the last
24 hours
I have shown him everything as
it has happened here
He will be your teacher
He will prepare you for the assignment
I have committed to your hands!"
Wow!
He startled awake
He had slept off on his feet and even
had a very odd dream
Or was it a trance
He could hear some people snoring in
the overcrowded cell 
His legs were dead from standing
But he found himself somewhat 
buoyed
He was at peace and unusually 
confident
5:30 AM, the cell's gate was opened
They all filed out
The leader of the gang walked up to
him and told him to leave
Just like that
He hobbled along as fast as he could
He got to the main road
He met a man loading firewood into
a truck
The man offered him a ride
When they got to Abuja, he called
his office and then he called his
wife
He got another taxi to the airport
He was in Lagos by 10AM
When he got to his office, the 
first thing the MD asked for was
the document
He brought it out from under his shirt
and delivered it
The MD beamed with joy
He went to his desk and penned his
letter of resignation
He dropped it
Then he took a cab home
When he got to the hotel, he alighted
He found the man seated at the
hotel reception
He introduced himself and told his
story
The man nodded and nodded
The man told him he was praying
in Egypt when God told him to 
travel in Nigeria and wait at that
hotel for someone
They were both wowed!
He went home to his wife
Three weeks later, he traveled to
Cairo to understudy the man
of God that he met at the hotel
One year later, his wife joined him!
They became missionaries of the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ

PS: This is the Story of Brother and
Sister Nyam
I met them recently and realised
how Hollywood like the story of his
call was
It has all the elements of a blockbuster
movie
But it is not always that God calls us
this way
Sometimes He spares us the drama
for our own good
The wise will heed Him quickly and
prosper
The foolish will delay and find the
the river they ought to prosper from
given to another
May the Lord grant us wisdom
Amen

GSW's notes: Is the Lord calling you?
Is the vision clear or muddled?
Reach out to us on the GSWMI platforms
We will pray through together
And establish the Kingdom's flag
wherever He sends us
Amen.