Hello, once again, my friends from around the globe. It is my hope, and earnest prayer, that you are all doing fine in your daily work and walk with God. May God’s continued grace and mercy be upon y’all, in Jesus Christ’s Mighty name.
So far, I have shared two out of the four testimonies I wanted to share with you, and today I’ll be sharing the third one. However, before I do that, I want to encourage you all to share my posts with your family, friends and all acquaintances, so that they can share in the blessings inherent in my posts. Further more, if you have any questions about my posts, or any edifying comments to make; feel free to do so in the comments section below each post.
My Third Testimony.
Once again, I welcome you to my platform, and I’m hopeful that your time here will be well spent as you read about one of my many encounters with the Lord Jesus Christ. But, before I proceed, let me quote a passage of the Holy Scriptures from the Psalms:
Psalms 121:1-8
(A Song of degrees.)
“ I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”
My testimony in part two explained how God delivered me from death in the hands of Muslim jihadist.
This third testimony I’m about to share is also on the same page.
On Sunday night, the 20th day of February , 2000, my Lord Jesus Christ showed me a vision of what was going to happen in the next day, being Monday the 21st.
At that time of my life I was newly married and had relocated from my family house in a Muslim dominated part of the state to where the population was dominantly Christian.
Earlier on the governor of my state , Kaduna, had announced the introduction and adoption of the Muslim sharia law in the state , which is equally divided in its population distribution among Christians and Muslims. Of course there was a strong opposition from the Christian population who felt that the state , being a secular entity, should not adopt or enact any particular religion’s law for use over the whole state. The Christian Association of Nigeria, an umbrella body of all churches in the country , after an unsuccessful attempt to dissuade the state from going on with this matter, declared Monday, the 21st day of the month of February, 2000, as a day of a peaceful protest to air the Christians’ grievances, but little did anyone know that it would lead to a five day bloodbath and large scale destruction of properties; the worst in the history of kaduna state.
So on that Sunday night the Lord clearly revealed to me that the next day was going to be a bloody day; He showed me graphically how it was going to be. In fact He showed me a women I was going to meet and rescue or else she was going to be stabbed to death; I saw her as a very fat and fair skinned woman, and He showed me how some Muslims would bring her down and stab her multiple times to death.
After I had woken up and had had the morning devotion with my wife and 5 months old son, and was getting ready to start preparing for work, I explained to her that the Lord had revealed to me how that day was going to be a bad one for the state, and that she should not step out of the house to look for me should anything happen subsequently because the Lord would be with me and I would return to her and our child.
She didn’t want me to go to work that day for fear of what would happen, but I assured her that it was alright and that she should have no fear.
When I stepped onto the major road, I was taken aback by the size of the protesters I saw carrying placards and marching to the governor’s residence some twenty kilometers, or thereabouts, from my community. I was later to understand that indeed the same march had been organized by every other Christian community within the state capital and that they were all to converge at the governor’s residence to stage their peaceful protest.
No one ever thought that the turnout would be so high. Almost all commercial buses were filled to capacity and I barely managed to find a bus to my place of work , which was some thirty kilometers or more away.
It seemed like the whole town was moving in one direction that morning and the noise of the protesters rent the air. People were in jubilation mood but my spiritual senses told me it was not going to end well.
By the time I was half way into my journey I had begun to notice other opposition factions: though fewer in number and without any placards, the words I hear them uttering raised some serious concerns to me and, I believe , to any one who was peace loving. One particular man in the second bus I boarded was shouting at the top of his lungs, saying that blood would flow that day. When he alighted from the bus near to my place of work, which was heavily dominated by Muslims, he continued shouting out his threats and I could see that there were some persons already on ground doing the same.
At my office the atmosphere was tense. My Christian colleagues were worried because we were at the heart of a Muslim community and we could hear the ominous drum beats of war and anarchy vibrating in the air. War was inevitable!
We didn’t have to wait long before the first signs of war emerged: I started seeing columns of smoke from different locations of the town rising into the horizon. At that time some of my colleagues who could leave did so immediately before the roads were barricaded by jihadist, as they are won’t to do any time there was such conflicts.
When it was past 11am some armed jihadist barricaded the major road opposite to the entrance to my office complex. A military officer driving to his place of work at a military Academy, just about four hundred meters away from us, ran into them and his vehicle flipped over. He barely avoided being killed by the jihadists because just at that time a team of soldiers had come to the road to disperse them. So they opened fire to give cover for their officer to escape. It was at this very moment that the head of my branch office ordered every staff to run out and join the soldiers back into their academy.
While it was safe inside the military academy and everyone seemed relieved from the fear of death, I, on the other hand became restless: I felt I had to leave and see my family even though I knew that my community was safe for them to be.
I weighed the options carefully, but as outrageous as the thought was to venture out of that safe haven onto the sound of the raging violence we could clearly hear coming from inside the town, that was what I persuaded myself to do. I called one of my colleagues aside and disclosed my intentions, and though he passionately pleaded with me to not do it, nevertheless I did not relent. I sneaked out of the military facility and headed home on foot.
Right from when I left the Military Academy at 4:00 pm, some five hours since the killings began, I found myself in the midst of a multitude trekking back home or to some other places. There were no vehicles but just a human traffic. They were almost all of them Muslims because no Christian dared to move freely in that part of the state at such a time.
I also became aware that my western style corporate dress code could give me out as an easy target because it was not common for a Muslim to be seen dressed in that manner around that area.
MY FIRST MIRACLE:
Just then a car pulled up by the road side and offered to give a few of us a ride. Every one near made a rush for it and I was one of the eight persons who got lucky.
He was a Muslim from the south western part of Nigeria, and he explained to us that he was headed to the south of the state capital ,which was actually my destination, and needed company. But he plainly warned us that should we run into any kind of trouble along the way, everyone would assume responsibility for their lives.
We all agreed. We drove on at a snail’s speed. I started seeing the the casualties of the conflict: burnt vehicles with the charred remains of their occupants; dead bodies covered in their blood – the evidence of a gruesome murder; helpless Christians running for dear life seeking for where to hide.
Of the eight of us who entered that vehicle there were just two of us who were Christians. The other passengers knew this by our facial features and attire just as we also knew that they were Muslims by their’s.
Soon we got to a place where the jihadists barricaded the dual carriage road. There was a multitude of them , upwards of a thousand people or more. As soon as the vehicle started slowing down they made a beeline for it. I could see burnt vehicles around; a testimony of more lives lost to violence.
At this moment some occupants of the vehicle started alighting because there was no way of getting past that throng. Only myself, the other Christian and the driver remained inside. I guess that when they saw all those Muslims alighting from the car they concluded everyone inside was a Muslim so they began to slow down in their approach and to turn back to their spot of convergence. But when the men who alighted reached them, they suddenly started returning back to us; ostensibly someone had revealed to them that there were Christians inside the vehicle.
My heart beat raced. The driver saw beforehand what was about to happen so her stepped on the gas , swerved left and hit the median separator. The car miraculously climbed over to the other lane and he sped off in the direction we had come from. I could see the jihadist giving a vain chase, but nevertheless their harmless roar of dismay was able to catch up with us. We were still safe in the meantime, though.
MY SECOND MIRACLE:
The man drove for sometime and then stopped at somewhere which seemed safe. It was a high brow part of the town where the wealthy lived. Such places hardly ever witness a share of the violence. He faced us and frankly told us that he had done his best for us and would not want to jeopardize his own life going beyond that point because the next town was dominated by Christians. He was a Muslim. We thanked him for the risk he took to save us. But deep within me I knew he was only a vessel; God was the one who saved us.
I alighted and instantly entered the residential area of that place. It was a predominantly Muslim elite settlement.
The streets were deserted. I purposed to pass through that area and go to the same Army barracks where I had taken refuge with my family as narrated in my second testimony.
The few Christian elites residing there could not remain indoors for fear of what might happen. I met some of them in the street. They looked perplexed.
I asked a woman if it was safe to proceed through to the Army barracks from that axis, but she directed my attention to a column of smoke just rising to the horizon about two hundred feets away; she said it was a popular hotel that was being burned by the jihadist, and that was why they had to abandon their houses because they were uncertain of their own fate.
Just as she was done speaking with me, a jihadist broke into the street about fifty meters from us, and everyone ran away into their apartments leaving me alone in the middle of the street.
The jihadist approached me cautiously, each of his outstretched hands clutching tight to a dagger. He wore only a black shorts while the rest of his bare body was painted with a blue dye and laced with charms and amulets.
Strangely enough I felt no fear. I looked at him straight in the eyes. He stopped and started performing a popular dance native to the Hausa and Fulani warriors. Just then he abruptly stopped dancing and started looking wildly to his left and right as though frantically looking for someone or something.
Now it seemed like it was taking him an eternity to attack and kill me! He still remained transfixed to his place with outstretched arms and those frantic left to right glances.
Then the Lord spoke very clearly to me. He said I should go back to the road side I had come from.
I turned back and head back the way I had come. Some Muslim residents who had been watching the drama from above the walls of their houses looked at me in bewilderment: I could read the expression in their faces. They would look at me and then look back behind me, apparently wondering why I was not attacked by that warrior.
I can’t deny that at some point I had the feeling that he would suddenly rush towards me and stab me lethally in the back. But no such mortal blow ever reached me.
Hallelujah!!!
MY THIRD MIRACLE:
When I got to the major road, I stood wondering which direction to take. To my left the road led to the place where I had first narrowly escaped being killed by that mob. To my right the road led to the next community which was largely a Christian community, but it was also in that direction that I first started seeing the casualties of war; the road was covered with dead bodies and burnt vehicles. I wondered if I could make it safe to that community.
As I stood there wondering what to do, I suddenly saw about fifty jihadist coming from across the opposite side of where I was. I believe they were on their way to join the others in burning down the hotel under attack.
They made a face to face contact with me but simply went past me to my left and right sides without so much as a query as to who I was, except for the fact that one of them rammed his left shoulders against mine and continued moving as though he didn’t touch anything. At this time it would be okay to say that God had rendered me invisible to the sight of the jihadists.
Hallelujah! Praise Jesus Christ!! Glory be to the Most High God Jehovah!!!
MY FOURTH MIRACLE:
After they had all gone, I was once again left alone and undecided as to my next line of action.
Then I prayed to God and asked Him to guide me as to where to go next, to which He clearly answered that I should turn left and see: I turned and saw a multitude of Muslims razing an already burnt church to the ground. The Lord clearly said for me to go that way and pass through that mob and go my way.
Wow!
It was still the direction where I had first narrowly escaped death, but this time there was no room for doubtful hesitations any more; I had already experienced three divine interventions, so to question God’s guidance was not in my plate and neither, indeed, can be!
I went through that mob and ( if you can’t believe this I will understand with you 😅) I practically had to shove my way past it because it was so tightly packed, and yet for all that none of them even questioned or even seem to be aware that something touched them. They were totally oblivious of my presence among them.
Praise you Jesus!!!
MY FIFTH MIRACLE:
Once I had passed that mob I went into that community while still maintaining a straight course in the street adjacent to the dual carriage way. At some point I noticed some youth just reclining outside their home, and they fixed their gaze on me from a distance. It was obvious that they were discussing something about me. Presently I got to their spot and passed by them; all pairs of eyes pierced inquisitively into my being. Then a verdict was reached: I heard one of them said triumphantly to the others in the Hausa tongue: “ I told you! He’s a Muslim”. And the remainder of them chorused their affirmation in the same tongue saying, “ yes it is true that he’s a Muslim. “
But I didn’t dress in any way like one of them and I had my tribal facial marks, too. And then to crown it all I had in my right hand , which is to their side, a Charles Spurgeon’s book titled ‘Eleven Sermons On Prayer.’
Before that time, since I alighted from that car, I had been struggling with a voice advising me to tuck that book away into the inner pocket of the jacket, which I wore over my shirt, to avoid giving out that I was a Christian. But I recognized it was satan’s voice, so I resisted him and held on to the book. In fact I was hitting it against my thigh to the rhythm of the Christian song I was humming as I walked past them. Incidentally, those youth were the only ones who seemed to have seen me since my encounter with that warrior with drawn daggers. So if with all those clues about my Christian identity they could still see me as a Muslim, then there was just one explanation for that: that God had made them blind so as to see me as such.
Hallelujah!!!
MY SIXTH MIRACLE:
No sooner had I gone past them than I came across some exhausted jihadist sitting on a culvert. It was obvious that their violent activity that day had taken its toll on them. They watched me silently and harmlessly as I passed by them, but after I had gone far they started calling out to their comrades to come over. I didn’t panic and take to my heels. I walked on until I diverted to an adjoining street, then to another again before emerging into a popular part of town which is heavily populated by Muslims. I saw some Muslim faithfuls standing in different groups and conversing in sad tones. I actually heard one of them bemoaning their loss in order parts of the state where they were overpowered by those they had hoped to conquer. He queried angrily: “ why is it that each time we carefully plan to fight the Christians it turns out that we are always the ones who lose the most?!”
As I continued walking along, I saw a middle aged man running to meet me in that busy street. He spoke to me in the Hausa language saying: Mallam! Mallam! ( Teacher! Teacher) we have just slaughtered a man behind the house. Come and see!!!
The average muslim is taught that it is a great blessing if he kills a none believer. So I understood why he was elated at such barbaric thing as slaughtering a fellow human.
Well, be that as it may, it was obvious that I was still carrying on the likeness, not only of a Muslim
Man, but now a Muslim Cleric!
Hallelujah!
I looked at him indifferently. He noticed my lack of enthusiasm and left me still celebrating his inglorious feat.
MY SEVENTH MIRACLE:
I will skip some of the events of that day because I want to spare you some of the details.
Fast forward, I successfully reached the next Christian community after trekking for about three hours, through Muslim communities; my own “valley of the shadow of death”, which Jesus Christ carried me through. But just as I was approaching , there were volleys of gunfire.
I had already taken a wide compass and avoided that first barricaded point of the dual carriage way, where I had narrowly escaped death, and now I was back on the road far ahead. So I was quite visible on the road when those shots were being fired. This was almost around 7 pm, even though it was still bright enough at the time to see around.
Then I saw a fat and fair skinned women running in my direction with a tremendous effort. She was running from the danger behind her. She could hardly breath because she was overweight, and that effort at running had almost knocked the breath off her.
I recognized her at once as the woman the Lord had clearly revealed to me in my dream the previous night.
I stopped her and asked where she was running to, and she pointed to the direction I had just miraculously managed to come out from in one piece.
I said, “no you cannot go back there because they will kill you”.
All she could say in between deep lung-ful breathe was, “ my children! my children!! my children!!!
I calmed her down and led her off the road to avoid being hit by stray bullets. We made our way into a sugarcane farm by a stream and wove our way into the community from that axis which was relatively safe from the duel taking place at the major road.
Then I asked where she children were , to which she named a Muslim community where they reside. I warned her not to go back to that community that day. I had this deep conviction that a kind Muslim neighbour would take her children in and care for them until normalcy was restored. You must here understand that there are good Muslims with whom a Christian can live peacefully with here in the north; so I told her this accordingly and she believed me and calmed down. After all I knew God had sent me to her and I knew He’d do just that because , as His word says in Isaiah 44:26 , He is the God “That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; …”
I asked her if she knew anyone in that community, and as soon as she said she did, I asked her to stay with them until normalcy was restored. I made sure she was comfortably seated somewhere before I left and head into the direction to my own community which, by the way, was still about thirty kilometers away because I had gone off course trying to weave my way through town to avoid the hot spots of the conflict.
That woman I met twice, first in my dream and then in reality, was my seventh testimony for that day.
Hallelujah! Glory be to Jesus Christ!! Amen!!!
If meeting and helping to save that helpless woman was all God led me through that valley of the shadow of death to achieve, then it was worth every risk I took and the glory is now being multiplied to His name as people read this testimony all over the world. And, to this end, I must thank God for providing me with this great platform, as the medium for the sharing of this testimony. May God be praised forever!
There are other encounters which I had that day but , like I have said a few lines back, I would rather not square the now; certainly not because they are any less worthy of mention, but because I want to keep my testimony within tolerable limits.
Well, in summary, I proceeded in my journey through the night and spent that night in a small farming community by the kaduna river.
There was no way I could communicate with my family to tell them how I was doing, and to find out how they fared as well, because the GSM system of mobile communication had not been introduced in my country at that time until the next year following this encounter.
Any way, by the next morning, I left that peasant settlement just as it came under serious attack. I crossed the river and made good my escape.
I covered an estimated 20 kilometers from that river, and reached home at 2:00 pm, that day, after I had encountered yet some other wonderful manifestations of God’s power, which I can’t share here for now.
Upon reaching home, I met my grief stricken wife and innocent little boy, who was oblivious of what his weary father had gone through in the last 22 hours.
To say the least, my Neighbors had given up hope on me when I didn’t show up the previous night, but my wife said she assured them that I’d come back. And thankfully God brought me back home safe and sound even though I looked very dirty an emaciated, having waded through a river and a swamp, and had gone without food and water for many hours.
Looking back now it seemed like a dream that all those great miracles happened to me within such a short space of time. Indeed , what God cannot do does not exist.
I pray for you out there that the grace of God , which gives salvation to those who in simple faith believe and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, be multiplied upon you to the saving of your soul, in Jesus’ Christ’s Mighty name.
May the unfailing love of Jesus Christ and His inexhaustible power keep you far beyond the reach of satan and all wicked persons , in Jesus Christ’s name.
If you’re reading this, and are not yet born again, I invite you to consider that only Jesus Christ could have done all of those amazing miracles in my life because I’m born again: so, friend, won’t you also invite Him to come into your life today? May you be blessed as you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal Savior, too.
Amen.
God bless you.