Unmasked

He was in 200 Level in the University when 
he got the CALL
It was definitely nothing human
He saw a masquerade chasing him in the dream
(He had always been seeing masquerades in the 
a dream since he was a little boy,
Usually, the masquerade would catch him and 
flog him mercilessly)
He often woke up panting and with pains all 
over his body
Sometimes he would wake up feeling feverish and vomiting
Over time, he learnt to give in whenever the 
masquerade was chasing him
It was futile running away from an extra-mundane being!
The being always won and the more adventurous he became 
in the dream, while trying to run away
The more the masquerade flogged him
At first, he kept it to himself
He knew how much effort his Father put into 
protecting them
Sometimes in the middle of the night, his father 
would wake all the children and ask them to eat special 
concoctions for protection
He did this whenever there was a seasonal change 
or if he got an instruction from the oracle 
that the whole household needed a spiritual immunization 
from an impending evil
It is not strange for them to be asked to come 
into their father's study during the day, instructed to sit on a 
stool or sometimes a mortar
and be given short sharp painful incisions 
around the head, waist or wrists
His Father didn't take chances with his children
There were six of them but two died at birth 
He was the second to the last child and the only 
one with a penchant for sciences
His Father was a medical doctor with degrees from 
local and international universities
But he was also a witch doctor
His father inherited traditional medicine from 
his own Father
Their family had been in traditional medicine 
practises for generations
All his own Father did was combine both in his 
practise
His Father had a very big and well-equipped hospital
His Father was a medical giant in the community
The ability to trace the source of an ailment beyond 
the physical was a great advantage
Whenever his Father got a difficult case
he would withdraw into his office and consult 
the oracles
The oracles would reveal the cause of the ailment 
to his Father
His Father would talk to the friends and relatives 
of the sick
This and that were what I discovered after such 
and such examinations
He would then reveal that he also conducted a 
traditional diagnosis
He would leave the decision to pursue either or 
both at the discretion of the people involved
His father's medical practise was a beehive of 
activities due to this special edge
Many whose aim was to consult the oracle for 
one reason or the other
would come to the hospital and register like 
every other patient
Only to tell the good doctor that their ailment 
is not physical but spiritual
His father would consult for them and sometimes 
supervise their spiritual prescription
Be it a sacrifice, concoction, herbal medicine, 
and so on
It was for this purpose that his Father had a 
special office at home
All those who came to the hospital seeking 
spiritual home would
be referred to the house for further consultation
His Father encouraged him from childhood to study 
medicine
His Father wanted him to take over the family business
But he had other ideas
He wanted to study robotics
He had always been fascinated by robots
He had everything it takes to study the course
His Father begged and pleaded but he was adamant he 
wanted nothing to do with medicine
He gained admission into the university to study 
software engineering
He was in his second year when the strange dream came
The difference between the dream he started having and 
the ones he used to have was the action
Before the masquerade would chase him and flog him
But this time the masquerade would chase him, catch him 
and force him to wear the garb of a masquerade
The Masquerade kept saying "You are the chosen one, 
you are my choice"
He ignored the dream as long as he could
Until he started hallucinating 
He would see the masquerade in the classroom, cafeteria, 
on the football field
He saw the masquerade everywhere!
He knew if he told his Father, his Father would use the 
dream as an excuse to convince him to study medicine and 
take over the family business
He was determined not to
So he kept his mouth shut!
One morning, he woke up on his bed only to discover 
he cannot lift his hands
His whole body was hot and peppery
He had been afflicted by a strange disease
The school authority called his parents
His father rushed over and took him home
His Father started treating him
Incisions, concoctions, herbs, all sorts
Nothing worked! The sores all over his body 
were greenish and messy in nature
His Father did everything in his power but the 
ailment persisted
His Father consulted the oracle several times
The oracle told his Father there was only one remedy
His son had to agree to take over the family 
business or die
His Father begged him
Why do you want to die
Why do you want to waste your life
The Oracle chose you
The deities chose you
The ancestors chose you
You have no option but to yield
Why are you being so headstrong?
He simply wouldn't yield, he wanted to but 
he couldn't
He had given his life to Christ from 
secondary school
He did it in secret because his Father told them 
to stay away from every foreign religion
He was sure he would go to hell if he yielded 
to the call of the demons
But he was sure if he died as he was, he 
would go to heaven
What would a few years under the control of 
demons amount to
compared with an eternity in heaven
He knew he could be healed and set free by Jesus
But he didn't know how
He had been born again after reading a small bible 
some people came to distribute to them in school
He wrote his name on the decision card and believed 
in Jesus with all his heart
That was all
He had never been to church or to any fellowship
He wasn't even sure he knew how to pray the 
christian way
But he talks to God in his mind and calls on the 
name of Jesus often
He wouldn't give up his convictions for the 
idols of his Father
The Oracle gave his Father an ultimatum 
of 21 days
His Father tried desperately for eighteen days 
When his Father realized he would rather 
die than yield
His Father asked him what he wanted
He could barely speak at this time because 
he was so weak
He told his father to call the Brother 
in Jeans and T-shirt
He had saved the phone number with the 
intention of calling
But he never got around to it because he didn't 
know what to say
His Father called and explained the situation
Can you come around and please convince him to 
do the right thing?
His Father pleaded!
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt went to his 
Father's hospital
His Father spent a long time talking about 
the situation
Clearly, he loved his children and would do 
anything for them
His Father said he had done everything to 
appease the deities
They were adamant that his son must yield
And he had done everything to convince his
 son to yield
His son was on a suicide mission
He needed help!
He didn't want his son to die!
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt asked to be
 taken to the young man
He found him in a room in the basement, 
quarantined!
When he got to the young man, the young man 
said "I have the notes on my phone"
they checked his phone and discovered that 
he was a believer
He wrote down the date he gave his life to Christ 
and some sermons he had watched on youtube
Bible passages and a lot of questions marks 
dotted the notes on his phone
His Father started crying
His Father said "No wonder!!! My own Father 
made a covenant with the land
that the day he or any of his children embrace 
a foreign God, the land
should turn the person inside out and swallow 
such as it is done to an abomination"
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt laughed
He opened a bottle of the anointing oil and robbed 
it all over the young man's body
Then he administered the Holy Communion to 
the young man
He prayed in the spirit and spoke healing, light 
and life into the young man
He told the young man's Father, "Please no more 
concoctions and incisions, he is fine now"
The young man held his hands, he smiled and told 
the young man to sleep
"Sleep brother, I have set angels around you, you 
will no longer experience the torment
You are fine now"
The young man slept
The following day, the Brother in Jeans and T-shirt
 went back and administered the Holy Communion again
By the third day, the greenish pus had cleared and 
the sores were drying up
Within a week, the young man was completely back 
on his feet
It was a miracle within a miracle
His Father (The good doctor) had observed the 
transformation with awe
He said "You defied the deities and lived, you 
said no to "Ajagunmale" Masquerade and survived,
How was that even possible?"
The young man said "THe masquerade tortured me 
every night since I was little
How can I ever agree to serve or worship or 
work for such a wicked thing?
It would chase and flog me all the time and I 
didn't even know what I did to it
NO! I had to give my life to the one who loved me
When I read the Bible, I found a God who was 
willing to let me be me
A God who does not chase people up and down 
in their dreams and bully them
A God who I can say NO to and still live my 
life without affliction
I decided I would rather die a Christian 
than yield to wickedness"
His Father embraced him
He said: I understand, I had a similar 
experience when I was a child
I told my Father and a family ritual was 
done for me
The masquerade stopped chasing me in the 
dream
But it was established from then on that I 
would carry on the family heritage
If you had told me about the dreams, I would 
have done the same ritual for you
But all that is water under the bridge now
You are on your feet and even this morning 
when I still asked the oracle 
what it would take to release you from their hold,
 the oracle still insisted
you will die!
It was as if the oracle wasn't aware that you have
 been completely healed!
This is a mystery for me!
Then the good doctor asked the one question that set 
the whole of heaven agog with joy
Can I also give my life to Jesus Christ?
He was led to Christ and He received the baptism
 of the Holy Spirit

PS: This happened on a Wednesday in March 2019
This good doctor and his son called today saying 
they want to
start a parish in their church and would like me 
to link them up
with the appropriate church authorities
The name of Jesus is life
The name of Jesus is light
The name of Jesus is my life
The name of Jesus is my light
Jesus is my reality
I live in Him and dwell in Him fully and bodily!
Jesus is not an abstract idea I believe in
Jesus is my reality!
There is no other love
There is no other name
There is no other life
There is no other light
There is no other voice
Wherever you are, please type and shout it loud and clear
Jesus!!!