AFTER 18-year marriage: Minister of God welcomes baby girl

For 18 solid years after marriage, the story of Apostle Kenneth Lawson, a minister of God and his wife, Favour, a preacher of the gospel has been full of anguish and bitterness as they could not savour the joy of having a child they could call their own. 

But at last, when all hope for the fruit of the womb seemed lost, God in his infinite mercy turned their lives around by miraculously blessing them with a baby girl.

Today, their joy knows no bounds as all roads recently led to Prayer Revival Bible Church, located at Revival close,  off Canal avenue, Okota, Lagos, venue of the child dedication dubbed:  ‘Miracle baby dedication.’ Having named the baby girl  ‘Deborah Peace Chinasaran Lawson’ at an earlier naming ceremony, the joy  of the once embattled and ridiculed couple seemed unfathomable  as they explained during the dedication that the choice of the name was  symbolic of the faithfulness of God, and  the comfort He brought  into  their  home with the birth.

In an emotion-laden interview with Sunday Express, which took place at their home, No. 10 Onwujiobi Street, Ago-Okota, Lagos, the elated father and preacher of the gospel narrated the circumstances that surrounded their tribulation while the years of barrenness lasted. 

His story is that of an absolute trust in God, an unwavering belief that no one created by God is barren and that God’s time is truly the best. “When we got married about 19 years ago, I never knew that we could spend so much time without any child to show for the marriage. But as time went on, we started noticing that things were not as it ought to be. Years after years, there was no sign of pregnancy. But as a man of God, I had no choice than to encourage my wife and believe in God. I have been born again since 1984 and I have travelled round the world, seeing a lot of ups and downs in marriages. Truth is, I got worried sometimes. Most times when I got worried I would find a church programme to attend or go the mountain for prayers.

“There was a time my wife called me and said, “man of God, you have been praying for women looking for the fruits of the womb and God has been blessing them with children...do the same thing to me, your wife. Some people were causing more harm to my wife by making some unguided statements like: “are you sure your husband is not using you for all the miracles he is doing here in Nigeria and around the world”. I kept quiet when I heard all these, but prayed more. Sometimes, she won’t eat and I would say ‘let me buy you this particular type of car but she would say no and I would ask her what do you want? Behold she would say ‘man of God, I need a child.’ That was the level at which she was troubled.  Then a time came when my wife said she had malaria which doctors later confirmed was pregnancy,” he affirmed.

Sharing her joy, the excited Favour gave more insight into what she passed through within those years of barrenness: “It was not an easy road. It was a tough experience that I would not even wish my worst enemy. Then I would go to hospitals and doctors would tell me that nothing was wrong with me and that confused me the more. Also, I would be told one thing or the other...either the speed is not fast or the count is slow. There is no name people have not called me. But I encouraged myself.  Upon the whole medicine and countries we have gone to for medication, nothing came out of it. We went to Germany, South Africa, Italy and so many other countries and we were planning to go to Egypt by June this year for another medication, unknown to us that I was already pregnant. God did it at his own time. Some of the imported medicines for us to use are still in the fridge”, the joyous mother avowed.

On her advice to fellow women in similar fate, Favour said: “They should be hopeful and believe that our God is a living God. You would have an enduring consolation if only you believe in God; if you believe that there is nothing God cannot do. They should not allow sorrow to overweigh them because God is the all-knowing and would visit everybody at a set time”, she admonished. “My advice is that the man should not in any way think of divorcing his wife or marrying a second wife. The woman should also not think of leaving the man because no one created by God is barren. They should just remain prayerful and united in love”, the Apostle also echoed.

Ten-Year Barrenness Ends With Twins

"Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”  Mark 9:23

For Mrs. Euphemia Nnamdi, it was a pleasant case of moving from multiple fibroid to multiple pregnancy. For ten solid years, several factors had stood between her and conception. Doctors had ruled out the possibility of her ever getting pregnant. But when the almighty God intervened recently, all those obstacles gave way and she took in to the amazement of doctors and sundry observers. Today, she is a happy mother of twins – a boy and a girl. And so, during a conference of Watchman leaders and ministers at the Rock Chapel, LOGISS, Awo Omamma, she shared her stirring testimony which drew ovations and loud praises to God from the audience:

"I have come out here today to thank God because of the great things He has done for me. God delivered me from ten years barrenness and made me a mother of two.
We got married in 2000 and for several years, we waited for babies that did not come. Doctors attributed the cause to a lot of things. But, God is God! We believed that He could do all things. Yes, there is nothing that He cannot do. As we began to visit hospitals, doctors first told us the problem was low count. Then, after about seven years, they said to me: Madam, you have a newly developed fibroid! This was a very discouraging news, but we continued to pray unto God. Later, the doctor asked me to undertake a womb x-ray, which I did. When the result came out, he said that every woman should have two fallopian tubes in her body but that he could only see less than half in my own body which makes it practically impossible for me to conceive. Despite this development, we continued to pray. I knew the God I was serving, and so we remained hopeful. I had maintained a relationship with this God since my youth, so I knew what He could do. So, we continued to believe Him.

Later on, when I met the doctor again he asked me to do another scan to determine whether the fibroid was inside the womb or outside. So, I went, and after it, they told me that the fibroid was not only right inside the womb, but it had become multiple! As a human being, this information made me afraid but when I looked up, I knew that my God was able to intervene in any situation no matter how complicated. And so, I talked to God. I told Him that I must not go childless. I continued to believe Him. And my pastors were equally praying for me. One day, I called for prayers in my home and God said to me: Now you have arrived; very soon, if you did not conceive, know that I am not God! By this time, if you touched my stomach, it was as hard as the ground. There was nothing to show that what I had just been told could happen but I kept on believing the Lord.

Later that year, I started having some problems and the doctor said that I should come for an operation, that that was the solution to my problem. I said that I would not go for any fibroid operation. Besides, they said it was inside the womb. What if I go for an operation, what would happen? I resolved not to go. I preferred waiting for my God.

About this time, too, I went to the hospital, and the doctor said that patent fallopian tubes could not be seen. He advised me to go and return after two weeks, by then he would have decided what to do about my case. But before the end of the two weeks, I noticed that I had missed my period. I also had very high fever. When I went to see the doctor, I couldn’t find him. I went to the second doctor and he said I should come for admission that the other doctor had gone on a sick leave. Then after staying in the hospital for 4-5 days, I lost the pregnancy. So when the doctor came back from his sick leave, I went to him and he asked me: Do you really mean that you missed your period  that is, that you were pregnant?

He said it was medically impossible for me to take in. According to him, based on all the medical examinations I had undergone had revealed, it just could not happen. But God is greater than every situation. The doctor, however, said that if what I said actually happened, that is, if indeed I took in, then it must have been by God’s intervention. He then said that he has resolved not to carry out any flushing, or give me any treatment, but that I should go back and tell that same God who did the first one to do it again.  So, I went back and prayed to God. I said: God, you know that this doctor doesn’t know you but he knows what you can do. As long as you are with me, I am not moved. You have done a miracle in my life. Do another one. I am not going to do that operation, I am not going to that hospital again until you visit me because the doctor had said I should go and wait for God for 3 months, and if something doesn’t happen, then I should come for the operation.

    Then I went on to say that as long as the doctor has recognized that God has visited me, I am going to wait for God no matter the number of years. I was sure that on that day, May 22, God gave me a solid promise. In October, I became sick, and the thing was disturbing me so much. When it persisted, I forgot what God told me, and began to look at the fibroid. I told myself that I would now go for the operation instead of dying. So, I decided to go. I asked my senior brother, and he said that I should go, that he would give me money. But, the Spirit of God ministered to me to go and visit one midwife in our area before going to the Holy Rosary Hospital (Emekuku) for the operation. When I went to the woman and she asked what was happening to me, I told her that I did not know. I told her that the fibroid was disturbing me too much. But, she looked at me and wondered why there was some movement on my stomach, and advised me to go for a pregnancy test. But I told her that I was not pregnant. But she insisted that something must be behind the movement she was noticing. After refusing initially, I later agreed to go for the test. I said I would go for it the next day while going to the hospital. And so, the next morning, I went for the test and when the result came out it was Positive! It was like a dream. I decided not to go to the hospital until after one month.

After one month, I returned to the hospital, and when the doctor saw me, he asked me what the problem was, and I told him that I was sick and went for pregnancy test, and that they said the result was Positive. The doctor asked me to come so he could examine me. After touching my stomach, he asked: who told you that you are pregnant with this weight of fibroid? Often, many of you women would want to spend your husbands’ money for nothing. Look at the weight of fibroid you have. And somebody told you that you are pregnant and you agreed? Why are you so foolish?

My answer to him was that I did not know anything, that he should, please, conduct his own test. He said okay and sent me for a test. When the result came out, he said to me: Madam, I am sorry, you are pregnant, I didn’t know! Later, I went to three other hospitals, and the result was still the same, that I was pregnant. It was clear that the hand of the Lord was there. And He continued to help me.  When the pregnancy reached five months, it began to disturb me so much. The doctor said I should come for a scan and I went. When they finished, they were all looking at me. Then the other doctor said: Look, it is a multiple pregnancy. But the other one said: look at the weight of fibroid.

And the other one ran out and called other doctors and told them to come and see how God has proved that He is beyond doctors, and beyond science. He had defied fibroid to plant two children in the womb. And he added: This your God is too much!  For about an hour, the doctors were examining me and using my case for special study. They were looking at the weight of fibroid, and equally looking at the two children in the womb. It was like a dream. And so, it was that on the 6th day of June, by 10′oclock, and despite multiple fibroid, blocked fallopian tubes, low count and an infection, God gave me a baby boy and a baby girl. That was how God wiped away 10 years barrenness, made me a fruitful mother of two and gave me a name among women. When I go out now, people will call me Mama Ejima (mother of twins).

 

SOURCE: watchmancatholiccharismatics

 

IVF Failed Me Six Times

Mrs. Mary Abah is a lawyer, banker and wife of a former Minister of Interior, Mr. Humphrey Abah. She shares her experience on her challenge of being in marriage for 23 years without a child and the support she got from her husband...

Congratulations on the arrival of your baby 23 years after marriage. Did you ever think it was going to be like this?

Before I got married, my view of the marriage institution was that marriage was a sanctuary; a place where a woman could actualise her dream together with her partner. I understood very early that marriage usually gives some form of security and the expectation was that in it, one should blossom, be fruitful and multiply generally as the Bible says. That was basically how I saw marriage in my youthful age because I finally married at the age of 27 and I was still quite young.

In essence, you did not anticipate the challenge of having a baby…

No, I didn’t anticipate it, the truth is that as a young child who was brought up by a very strict mother, I saw life as a bit of calculation: a sort of ‘1+1 =2 and 2+2=4.’ So if you get married, you expect that after nine months, as they say, you will have a child or children. My challenge has made me very sensitive to what parents and well wishers normally do at wedding ceremonies. During a wedding, people start talking about gathering again for a naming ceremony after nine months. They say it as a joke but that is the genesis of pressure on married women. So, if yours doesn’t happen after nine months, there is a question mark there and you begin to fret and other problems come in.

Did you have any health challenge when you were growing up that could have delayed your giving birth?

Not really, it was much later in life that the health challenge came. I have been a banker since 1987 when I undertook my National Youth Service Corps. I served in a bank as a lawyer. I continued to work in the bank thereafter. Because I ended up in the banking industry, I decided to update myself in everything related to the industry.

During these trying moments in your life, did you feel that somebody somewhere was responsible for your predicament?

The truth is that in the whole of the 23 years, I refused to focus on such things.  I didn’t worry about who it was, what it was, where it was or how it was. I did not want to get myself involved in what would cause me anguish for the rest of my life.

You are from Cross River State while your husband is from Kogi State. Was there resistance from your parents when you initially wanted to marry Mr. Humphrey Abbah?

 The way we met each other was very peculiar and our marriage was also peculiar. Our families did not actually affect us. They were not there when we met and when we started courting. Our families were not so involved and when it came to the decision of marriage, we took that decision on our own but involved our families later. My husband is not somebody that you can force to do something which he doesn’t believe in. So, even when we got married, that was already established in his family . When he said this was the young lady he wanted to marry, I don’t think he had too much opposition. If there was any at all, it was very insignificant. The truth is that my father-in-law was a very lovely person; a gentleman who had a lot of respect for his son.  By the time we got married, his mother was late and my parents were late too. So, his father was the focal point and the cordial relationship they had made it easy. The rest of my family and the elders gave us a little bit of tough time as you would expect in inter-cultural marriages. But it didn’t take us time to be able to woo them to our side and that was it.

At what stage did you begin to get worried?

My first signal was when I was 30 years and three years in my marriage. At first, it didn’t really worry me because as a career person, I felt we should take it in our stride. I was already beginning to make waves in the banking industry and the demands of the job were already telling on me. Also in my innocence, I didn’t really feel it was an issue. But by the time I was 30 and nothing had happened, I asked myself, ‘what’s going on here?’ Then I began to be conscious of it and started making deliberate efforts to get pregnant. Before this time, there was no real effort. When the pregnancy was not forthcoming, I began to suspect that there was a real problem. But as usual, I went to the doctors, they said there was no problem and suggested that I should give myself time because I was a busy lady. But after about a year, I went back and they gave me one or two interpretations as to what could be wrong and we started tackling it from there and it came to the point that by 2011, the doctors were saying nothing could be done.

Which was your first point of call, church or hospital?

By 1991 when we got married, we became born again and the church had become a focal point and integral part of our lives. We were praying and fasting; good relationship with the leadership of the church had become part of our daily lives and so the church was always there for us. The church was never against consulting orthodox doctors. The only no-go area for us was to seek help outside God. So I think that was why very early in the journey of this crisis, we knew that anything outside God was not an alternative to take at all.

During these periods, did the idea of stealing a baby come to you?

I can say that I never really had the thought of  doing that. The advice I had was different; it had to do with visiting witchdoctors. But the idea of stealing a baby never came to me; it never crossed my mind. I think sometimes the friends that you have determine the kind of advice you get. For me, I never had that category of friends. I did not even have a lot of friends. I can actually count them on my fingers. But the rest of them were my professional colleagues and church members. I surrounded myself critically with those I felt could help me in my journey in life. I didn’t have that crowd that could really derail me in that sense. But there were general advice of ‘a Baba somewhere,’ ‘a doctor somewhere’  and many others. There were times, through text messages, out of their concern for me, some of the women politicians would make suggestions that one Baba somewhere could do it. Most of the time, I would politely decline and smile. But I would never take it against those people because somehow I felt they were just trying to help. But I needed to communicate to them that such help didn’t suit me. When they realised that it was ‘a no-go area’ for us, most of them backed off. For us, we knew that we needed to shut out the world to be able to succeed in this journey.

Did you try IVF?

Yes, I did it many times. By the sixth time, it was very obvious that it could only be God that would help us. If you look at the Bible, you will realise that God uses what he has created to solve problems. At first, it was a problem for me coming to terms even with IVF and particularly when I had done it once, twice and three times and it failed, I was thinking that maybe that was how God wanted me to go. Sometimes I would agonise over it, sometimes I would pray and sometimes I would even face the battle with my God because I also understood that faith was also very important and faith also involves work. I understood clearly that you needed to activate your faith and so when I began to see the failure of IVF, I felt that was part of it. I would pray and I would move, but each time it failed. I was actually confused because in your journey as a Christian, you grow little by little; you don’t just become a mighty woman overnight. It is from the experiences and how you exercise the word of God that you become confident in what you are doing.

During these times, did you lose interest in having sex with your husband as most women who had faced similar experiences in the past would do?

You see, if you read the Bible clearly, there was only one woman who had a baby without sex and that is Mary, the mother of Jesus. I only said there is only one Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. All of us can’t be like Mary. So where is your action and where is your faith? You must work with your faith; there’s nothing about faith that is easy. Because you understand spiritually that the physical aspect must be part of that journey, then you must keep that fire burning, you must keep trying because without it, you cannot be pregnant. So you will find ways to make sure that it keeps going and with that, what you are asking from God will materialise. If not, you are wasting your time and you cannot blame God who had said ‘I have made man, I have made woman for creation’. Out of it, the next generation will come and you are sitting down to say you have lost interest, then don’t blame God at the end of the day. You will work and whether you like it or not, find time to make way and the Lord will see you through. I think He has shown us that it is good not to give up.

There have been cases where, due to pressures from in-laws, some women are forced to marry wives for their husbands. Did you contemplate this?

No, not at all. As beautiful as child adoption is, my husband refused it. That is the only area of thought that came to me. Not because I felt I needed to give up hope but I felt it might calm the atmosphere because I had also read situations where adoption preceded the gift of children in families. For me, adoption was not a problem; I was willing to do that if it was going to calm the atmosphere. I also understood that the atmosphere that you are in could either help you or scatter everything. You needed to be calm, have a good home and you needed to enjoy marriage for these things to happen. If you are in a tense situation, it would only prolong matters. It was only adoption that we considered, but my husband said no and kept saying, ‘ours will come.’ We didn’t think of another woman. But the beautiful thing about it is that God kept him away from that decision. I am an Efik woman from Cross River State and my husband is from Igalla in Kogi State. We used to joke that he crossed many rivers before he could find me. But a lot then believed that I probably gave him ‘love potion’ to be able to keep him and his faith surprised me.

Was there pressure from your in-laws to get another wife for your husband?

As I said, there was no room for that. Nobody could look into Humphrey Abah’s face, whether in my family or his and make such suggestion. The only person who could do that was my father-in-law. He backed off after bringing up the issue of the delay initially in our marriage. It will be a lie for me to say there was no pressure from my family or his family. They were only concerned about how things would be better for us through the efforts  we were putting in. Outside of that, there was no pressure at all.

How did you feel when you were told that you were pregnant?

When they told me I was pregnant, I screamed and cried in the hospital and everyone present rose up and gave thanks to the Lord. Since then, the story has been one testimony after another. But that was not all, when I was to put to bed, I was told there might be complications as a result of all the operations I had done. They said that might make it a very difficult and dangerous birth. Yet, the Lord saw me through. It feels great and I thank the Lord for wiping away my tears and making me a mother at last. It is a dream I have had since I married at the age of 27. Now, I am more than 49 years old, it has taken a long time but the Lord has done it for me. I have shed a lot of tears. Our story is like that of Abraham and Sarah. I am already in menopause  but I told God that if He did it for Sarah and gave her womb the strength to conceive, then He would give my womb the same strength. Even when doctors in London told me in 2011 that nothing could be done, I knew that it is only Him (the Lord) that could help me. I focussed on the Lord and He did it for me.

 

source: punchonline

 

Some Politicians Mocked Our 23-year Childlessness: Ex-Minister

Above: Humphrey Abah holding new son

A former Minister of State for the Interior, Mr. Humphrey Abah, and his wife, Mary, on Sunday in Abuja recounted their ordeal while waiting for a child after 23 years of marriage.

Abah said most times politicians threw verbal punches at his then childless status whenever he refused certain demands based on his personal principle.

The ex-minister and his 49-year-old wife spoke during the dedication of the child held at the United Evangelical Church in Utako District. They said they weathered their storm because “the God of Abraham and Sarah did not forsake us.”

According to Abah, God had given him and his wife the name they were going to give their child 15 years ago.

He said, “We were in the church service 15 years ago when God told us He was going to give us a child. When we got home that day, God gave us David as the name we were going to give to the child.

“Through those many years, I never lost hope. On the political turf, I got a lot of jabs. Most times, when I object to certain issues based on principle, the politicians will say, ‘what do you expect? We are not surprised, after all, he has no child’.

“I have grown to a position in life that I do not listen to comments that come from the sidelines. I have built a wall around myself that I can always move forward.”

On October 10, 2013 the family’s faith paid off as Mary finally gave birth to young David Onu Abah.

While shedding tears of joy, Mary Abah likened her many years of waiting for a child with the Biblical Sarah, wife of Abraham.

She said, “I thank the Lord for wiping away my tears and making me a mother at last. It is a dream I have heard since I married at the age of 27. Now, I am more than 49 years. It has taken a long time, but the Lord has done it for me.

“On November 18, 2012, it was a Sunday, I came to the church and I expressed my concern to the Pastor and he called a little child to pray for me. The whole church rose up and chorused ‘Amen.’ That same Sunday, the church organised a praise concert and I danced before the Lord and I said the Lord has provided me with a birthday bash.

“Even when Hallish Street Doctors in London in 2011 told me that nothing could be done, I knew that it was only the Lord that could help me. I focused on the Lord and He did it for me.

“When they told me I was pregnant, I ran a test and it said I was pregnant, I was like truly those that dream. I screamed and cried. Since then, the story has been one testimony or the other.”

It was also gathered that during the process of delivery, Abah was told that it was going to be a very difficult and dangerous delivery.

Mary added, “Yet again, the Lord stepped in for me. So I thank Him because he preserved me all through.”

Also speaking, the Minister of the Interior, Abbah Moro, who was among other dignitaries present during the dedication service, said the story of the couple was a lesson of faith for those believing God for the fruit of the womb.

He said, “Something wonderful has happened in the life of this family. As a friend, I need to come and share in this joy. This is a message to those believing God for a fruit of the womb. They must exercise patience.”

By Friday olokor

Punchng.com

I Never Knew I Would Still Have My Own Baby ––Pastor's Wife

In March 1994, it was jubilation galore as Kate Odondiri, a lady from Alebiri in Ekeremor, Bayelsa State, got married to Pastor Dokubufei Hezekiah Fezigha from Korokosei in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state. They were married at the Deeper Life Bible Church in Alebiri.

What preoccupied their minds after the wedding was preparation for their first baby. During courtship, Pastor Fezigha had told Kate that he would want two children but his wife said she wanted four. Little did they know that they would have to wait for a long while to even have any. In 1995, when she was yet to conceive, she was not agitated. 

 

But she started getting worried when, in 1996, there was no sign of pregnancy.

The 52-year-old public health nurse, in an interview with Daily Sun at their house, narrated her pains and joy to the reporter. “Normally, in every marriage, the expectation is that in the first year, you would have a baby. For me, after the marriage in March, the expectation was that by December or January, 1995, I should be with a baby.

However, in 1994, I did not conceive, in 1995 nothing happened. In 1996, I became worried and people around us also became worried. People suggested that we should go for a medical check-up. As a nurse, I decided to see one or two gynaecologists and they discovered a little problem, relating to one of the fallopian tubes that was blocked. It was just one and we started the treatment.

And in another hospital at Owerri, they did what a layman would call flushing of the other fallopian tube. But since that was the problem, I was not bothered because I know that as a nurse, with one fallopian tube, you can conceive.”

According to her, she was advised to come with her husband and after she had completed her treatment and her husband was subjected to series of tests and nothing was found to be wrong with him, the couple was eager to see the signs of pregnancy. However, the signs were nowhere to be found. And as the years rolled by,anxiety and frustration enveloped Mrs. Kate Fezigha.

According to her: “After five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 11, 12, then 15 years passed and there was nothing, I now told my husband that we should stop going anywhere to subject ourselves to embarrassing procedures and save the little money we have to take care of ourselves.

But my husband was always encouraging me to understand that God would give us children. He told me that before he knew and married me, God had assured him in the ministry that he would marry somebody and that we would have children of our own. My husband was always assuring me that God would not make a mistake, that God had spoken and He would do it.”

“At a time when the pressure became so much, I suggested to my husband that we should adopt a child. I told him that since we had one house and land somewhere, let us also adopt and have a baby so that when we pass on, the baby can bear his name. My husband rejected the idea.

He quoted the scriptures where God affirmed to Abraham that Ishmael was not his heir but that Sarah would bear him a child. He said God would give us a child.”

Even though her husband and sister-in-law rejected the adoption option, Mrs. Fezigha was prevailed upon by her friends to give it a try. She got the shock of her life when she was asked to pay N50, 000 to adopt a child. She paid the money but even after that, she got no child.

Embarrassed by the development, she decided to keep the thing to herself. She did not press charges against the coordinator of the orphanage.

“My friends advised me that in many instances, where husbands did not agree to adopt, the wife would go ahead and get the child and that the husband would eventually accept. I tried that method but I was duped. My husband pitied me and told me that I would now rest since I had been swindled. It was after that adoption saga that I made up my mind that I wouldn’t die if I didn’t have a child. That was how we were living until last year 2012.”

In 2012, a miracle happened in the form of a mysterious illness. By the end of 2011, Mrs. Fezigha, being a nurse, started noticing changes in her menstrual cycle, giving her the indication that menopause was fast approaching. Then early last year, she had epileptic menstruation.

But in July, she had a heavy flow of blood and that fuelled her concern that she might be having some form of cancer. She discussed it with her husband and he immediately denounced it.

“Around October, I was feeling sick and I decided to move my annual leave forward from December to October so that I could go and take care of myself. But somehow, the person I was to hand over to had not reported. So, I continued going to work, even when the leave had been approved.

I was still working until the flood sacked our hospital and I had to come to Yenagoa. I had bouts of malaria and typhoid, HBP and more. Some people even suggested that, perhaps, I had been poisoned. This was the situation until a friend of mine and a member of our church, Deeper Life, in Botswana called me.

She knew I was sick in October and when she called me during our annual December retreat and I told her I was still not feeling fine, she expressed surprise. In January, during the leadership strategic conference of all Deeper Life leaders all over the world in Lagos, she did not see me and my husband told her I was still sick. So, she called me.

She told me that as a nurse, I should take care of myself. She made enquiries from me on the nature of the sickness and when I told her that I couldn’t really place my hands on what was wrong with me, she told me to go and do a pregnancy test. She reminded me of the testimony of another pastor’s wife in Deeper Life, who had a similar experience.

“She kept on reminding me but I did not see the need. After the congress, she stayed back for two more weeks. During that period, she insisted that I should do the test. She even said if I didn’t want to go to the hospital to do it, I could buy the test kit and do it at home. She mounted pressure and by the end of January, my husband bought the kit and when I did it, it was positive.

“I expressed surprise. But a thought came that as medical personnel, there are false positive and negative results. I recollected in my mind the menstrual cycle I had gone through preceding the sickness in October.

When I told my husband, he said he was convinced that it was pregnancy. During my sickness, I had done a scan and the doctor said he saw something like fibroid or ovarian cyst. I told him that it could be the latter and not the former because I had never had it before.

“In February, when we decided to repeat the scan, the doctor looked at my face and asked to know how many children I had since I got married but I told him that I didn’t have any children. He began to congratulate me and thank God. Somehow I was quiet and I asked him if truly it was pregnancy. He answered in the affirmative and tears of joy streamed down from my eyes.

He advised me to go and register for antenatal care. I told him that we should wait a while but he told me that the earlier I registered, the better because of my age. He sent for my husband and advised him not to allow me do any strenuous work at home.”

By the time she registered at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) where she eventually put to bed, the story of her pregnancy had gone round the hospital and her fellow nurses trooped to the office of the matron where they began to thank God. During her pregnancy, she was admitted twice for a period of one month until June 3, 2013 when her bundle of joy, named Prudence, was born into the world.

So, how was it during the 19 years of her childlessness? Mrs. Fezigha said she remained committed to her work as a midwife, taking special interest in pregnant women and praying to God silently to give her a child.

She explained better: “It has not been easy – a midwife delivering other people’s children and you don’t have children of your own. But one thing is that, I so much cherish children and pregnant women. I did nursing first, then midwifery before I trained in public health.

I just found out that I have interest in delivering babies. In all hospitals that I have worked, I don’t play with pregnant women. I go the extra mile for any pregnant woman. If a woman is in labour, I would not sleep whether it is my shift or not. I would ensure the woman is delivered safely. With this passion for children – and I didn’t have any child – I was telling God, making reference to Egyptian midwives in the Bible, who refused to kill children of the Israelites and were honoured by God. As a Christian, I tried not to allow it to bother me. But I was telling God that since I am an instrument in his hands, he should give me my own child.”

Mrs. Fezigha said her greatest pain was to see her nieces and nephews whom she raised as babies now having children of their own while she had none. She was full of praises for her husband for standing by her throughout their period of childlessness.

She advised couples, going through similar experience to trust and believe in God, saying He would surely remember them like he did to her family.

“My advice to childless couples that are not Christians is that they should believe in Christ and accept Jesus as their Lord and personal saviour. Because it is only God that can do this; no human can.

If they are passing through this challenge and they are not believers they should accept Jesus Christ as the Lord and commit their lives unto him so that he could remember them.

“For the Christians, they should hold on to God. It is a period of trial. My counsel to all believers is that God is faithful and bigger than our problems. Since He has promised to do it, He will do it.

“A lot of people tried to persuade me to go and see some herbalists. My uncle came severally and tried to force me to go somewhere. Even some Christians advised us likewise but we did not go anywhere until God did it.”

 

Miracle In Church: Pastor Gets Triplets After 25 Years Of Childlessness

It was a joyful occasion for the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State as Soji Oni, a Provincial Pastor, dedicated a set of triplets after twenty five years of childlessness with his wife.

The triplets, named Miracle, Sign and Wonder, were dedicated to God at the King’s Place Parish, Port Harcourt, headquarters of Rivers Province 2 of the RCCG. An overwhelmed Oni told a cheering congregation that it takes a man with heart and foundation built on God to patiently wait twenty five years for the fruit of the womb.

He said: “Twenty five years is not twenty five days. It was a very big challenge not only as a family man but as a pastor who prays for others for the same problem and they receive. But today our prayers have been answered. “God knows our problems. I didn’t pray to have triplets but He gave one.

Many families break for not being able to bear children, but we should continue to trust in the Lord no matter the challenges. Our challenges are not bigger than God.” Also sharing the tough times the family endured in the long wait for a child, the wife called on women to love and pray together with their husbands during tribulations as God is the only one who “knows our problems.”

Miraculous: Woman, 52, Gives Birth To Quintuplets Two Years After The Demise Of Only Son

The Ezeanos with surviving quadruplets

This is the type of story that will stir up your faith in God and reawaken your belief in love. Nothing short of a miracle is the story of this family, the Ezeonos – a family bound by tragedy, betrayal, blessings and happiness. This is their story as encapsulated beautifully by Tony Ogaga Erhariefe of The SUN.

The story begins from the year 2010 when the Ezeonos were returning from the village… Enjoy the excerpts below:

Three months earlier…

At St. John Catholic Church, Igando, the Ezeonos’ are the poster family. Blessed with two kids and relatively successful, they belonged to most of the societies and never hesitated to make monetary donations whenever an opportunity sprang up.

So, three months earlier, when the parish priest summoned Ezeono to a meeting prior to the family’s departure for the village, he probably thought it was church business as usual!

“I thought the priest wanted to discuss parish issues but what he asked me was, ‘must you travel this December?’ I told him it was important, but if God says no, who am I to travel?” Ezeono recalled.

However, justifying reasons why he had to travel, he explained to his parish priest that in the immediate past month he had been elected General Chairman of his village meeting and his first assignment was to organise a dinner so they could raise funds for pressing projects, and the dinner was slated for the Christmas season when most sons and daughters of Akpo would come home. Also, his age grade group, Ofuobi, was marking its 20th anniversary and he was chairman of the organizing and planning committee.

“I had too many projects for that December, so I told the Rev Fr, ‘this is what is taking us to the village.’ And he replied, ‘somebody said he had a dream about your family and that people from the church were coming to commiserate with you and you were not crying.’

“So, I said, ‘father, this is a dream. You can pray for me.’ Father said he had started praying and he gave us prayers to say.”

Warning

However, something strange happened on the Saturday preceding their journey to the village. Ezeono had a dramatic fall that shocked him out of his wits!

“We had attended morning mass as usual. The floor was obviously slippery and as I stepped out of the door I slipped and fell. It was so dramatic! Within a couple of seconds, a crowd had gathered around me. I was so shaken and embarrassed!

“It was my son, Chude, who lifted me up. I related it to the dream Rev Fr had revealed to me earlier. So, we kept praying and thought that it was all over.”

January 7, 2010

The journey from the village that morning of January 7 had been without any incident. Mrs. Ezeono was looking forward to resuming her job as a school teacher in Lagos, while her husband was looking forward to returning to his business after achieving so much in the village and, of course, Chudi was dreaming of his masters in the UK.

As they hit Agbor, home was just a few hours away. Little did they know what was in store, stalking and waiting to pounce. And as they cruised on the ever busy highway en route Umunede, hell finally let loose on them!

The scene that followed could be described as one from a James Bond thriller. The only difference was that the ‘actors’ were real!

Though, the whole thing did not last longer than 20 seconds, it left a trail of what the late Afro-beat legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, would describe as ‘sorrow, tears and blood’.

For some strange reason, a policeman dashed across the road and began waving at them frantically, forcing the vehicle in front of Mr. Ezeono’s SUV to screech to a halt. Ezeono only had a few seconds to decide whether to ram into it and probably kill everyone on board the SUV, or to swerve off the road. He chose the latter, believing he could pull it off!

However, as he stepped on his brakes to begin the hair-raising maneouvre, his back tyre busted and he lost control of the wheels as the SUV swerved and somersaulted, rolling over four times before coming to rest (belly up) in the bush!

Valley of the shadow of death

Thanks to seat belts; they could have been flung out of the windows like the others, but Ezeono and his wife were trapped in the front seats of the mangled vehicle. Luckily, passers-by and fellow road users came to their rescue. While the others with Chudi were soon found and rescued with minor injuries, Chudi was nowhere to be found!

However, a search party soon found him seriously injured, but there was no vehicle to quickly convey him to the hospital.

“Everybody fell out. It was only my wife and I that were left in the car, because we were wearing seat belts. After they rescued us, I expected they would take us to the hospital because my boy was bleeding. I kept shouting for someone to help me with a car, but nobody responded. By the time policemen went to do a U-turn and rushed us to the hospital, he had started foaming in the mouth and ears.

“In my time, I have rescued more than five accident victims, who were bleeding after ghastly accidents, and they all survived,” Ezeono’s baritone voice reverberated, bouncing off the walls with a soft painful ring, “now I was watching my own son as he was bleeding. I was scared he was going to die. I kept shouting and shouting for people to please help me with a vehicle so I could convey him to hospital, but all they kept saying was, ‘baba, no worry, nothing go do your pikin.’”

Hospital, at last

As they approached Agbor General Hospital, Mr. Ezeono obviously became hopeful; at last, Chudi would be treated. However, in shock Ezeono listened as the doctor on duty explained that there was nothing he could do because the hospital had neither drugs nor equipment to handle accident emergencies!

“But, I think he could have done something if they had oxygen, but that hospital had nothing! It was sad because it is strategically located. A lot of accidents happen on that road, so it should have been equipped to handle such emergencies,” lamented Ezeono.

Consequently, he was forced to watch helplessly as life slowly ebbed out of his only son and heir apparent. He cradled his dying son in his arms and wept, praying, hoping for a miracle, but Alas! The shining star of the family, Chudi, soon breathed his last and gave up the ghost.

Double wahala

Losing a 22-year-old son is traumatic, but what happens when that son is an only heir around whom you have built your life around? Ezeono was distraught, his wife was inconsolable.

“He was a promising boy,” he said, pausing for a while. The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop. “He was to resume for his masters at London Metropolitan University on January 26 and he died on January 7 in my arms. I was in total shock!

“I informed the doctors that I was hypertensive. They took measurements and were alarmed with the results and instantly recommended drugs. I had to part with N3,000 to purchase drugs and bandages because the hospital had neither.”

Mother in sorrow

“I do not know where the grace and strength to pull through came from. I won’t call it courage because I have never been a courageous person; it was only God’s grace. My husband held him in his arms as he bled to death,” Mrs. Ezeono said, recounting her agony as she watched her only son die.

“I sustained serious injury. Everything around me was spinning. They had to bring me down from the hospital bed and lay me on the ground. It was so numbing. For a long while after the accident I kept asking my husband, ‘where is Chudi?’ I was in denial; I just couldn’t believe he was dead! We tried to cry, but tears wouldn’t come. I tried to sing mournful songs, but only praises would come out of my mouth.

“I clung unto my rosary. I consoled myself by asking, ‘what did Our Lady do the day Jesus Christ died?’ I told myself that, at least, God still left a daughter for me, but Our Lady had nobody and that was why Jesus handed her over to St. John. I took consolation from that. I said, ‘God, you have been so nice to me. If this is a little test, give me the grace not to fail.”

Goodbye, Chudi

A couple of weeks later, family, friends and well-wishers came together to bid Chudi goodbye. Indeed, it was a tearful ceremony. Sons and daughters wept, while fathers and mothers reminisced on Chudi’s person. A dark cloud had descended; St. John Catholic Church, Igando, was in mourning.

Chudi was a kid who loved Gospel music, rather than sing mournful dirges, the parents had given strict instructions that nobody was to cry or sing mournful songs. And so his funeral turned out to be a praise worship ceremony!

However, as the days rolled by, the memories continued to haunt the family and they began to ask questions. How could God allow such a misfortune befall them? How could God abandon them? Why?

In public they refused to cry and kept up a courageous front by being cheerful. However, when the Ezeonos’ got back home every night, they collapsed into each other’s arms and wept.

Money rituals

If the Ezeonos thought with the burial of their son their challenges were over, they were wrong! They were still battling to come to terms with the sudden passage of the star of the family when something fresh began to happen.

It began with just a small discussion about what Ezeono described as ‘mischief makers’, but spread like wildfire, and within a couple of days, rumour began flying around that the elder Ezeono had used his only child for money rituals!

While this was going on, Ezeono went about his business as usual in the church oblivious of the ‘wicked’ rumours around him. It was weeks later that he finally got wind of it, and when he did, he went berserk!

“I was so angry. How could people be so destructive and malicious? I was going about the church doing my own bit. Little did I know that people were saying all kinds of terrible things about me! Mischief makers originated the story and they started spreading it. They said I had used my son, my only son, for money rituals!

“I heard the parish priest was even aware and I was disappointed, because I felt he should have asked or informed me. I confronted him and he admitted hearing the rumour, but said he asked the lady who whispered the wicked rumour to him to get out of his car immediately she told him!

“Wouldn’t it be stupid if I killed my only son to make money?” Ezeono queries rhetorically, “who will I keep the money for? Who will inherit the money? Probably, I killed him to dash them (rumour mongers) my wealth.

“As you can see, I have just a boy and a girl. How could I kill my only boy after training him to university level? How could I use my heir apparent for money rituals? That tells you how unreasonable people can be.

…And more trials

Meanwhile, in the village, a new problem was brewing. Mrs. Ezeono disclosed that her husband’s relatives and friends had surreptitiously approached him, offering him another wife because, as they put it, ‘your wife is too old to bear children.’ They argued that because of his achievements and role in his family, he needed a worthy male heir to carry on the family’s name.

“We were still in the village after Chudi’s burial when people started calling. They told my husband not to worry about me because I was already too old to have babies. They said they would get him an under-16 girl that would deliver beautiful boys for him. All he had to do was rent an apartment for her.

“When my husband rebuffed them because of his Christian beliefs, some said, ‘listen, I am also a knight in the church. Don’t you know that your position in the family is important? We love your wife, but what can you do? She is old. You can rent or buy a house for a small girl and keep her there and your wife wouldn’t be the wiser, while she makes baby boys for you. Are you the only one who is a Christian?”

Juju alternative

She disclosed that virtually everything under the sun was suggested to her husband, including using juju to reclaim his ‘lost possessions’.

“Another set said, ‘come, we will take you to a herbalist that would help you. Everything you have lost would be restored to you. The shocking thing was that some of these men were knights in the church! And that’s the reason I can’t stop thanking my husband for standing by me! I wanted to replace our lost son. I was 50 already, way beyond child-bearing age. What was I to do?

“People were sending me all kinds of nasty text messages and I took them to the Blessed Sacrament and said, ‘Daddy, you can see, people are already calling You names, so Daddy, protect your name. I have no name to protect. I told you on that day, ‘wake this boy up or else people are going to call you names.’ Now, see the names they are calling You. They are saying that I have used Your son for money rituals.’ We felt so bad by the betrayal and decided to withdraw from church activities.”

Turning point

However, it was during this period that the Sacred Heart Society whose membership comprised staunch believers, held an event.

“Somehow, my husband and I found ourselves there again when the society anchored an event; a fund raiser. Members were called to come put and pick an item and tell God whatever they wanted and it shall be granted to them. So, my husband went, donated a sum and picked an apple after which he picked a piece of paper and on it was written, Luke 18 Verse 27, which says: ‘That which is impossible for man is possible for God, I will restore you.’ We came back and used it as our prayer point and prayed over it.”

Later, while cleaning the store of her home, she saw a picture of Jesus Christ with five children around him. In excitement she dusted it up and placed it in the living room next to the Sacred Heart altar and joked with her husband that the children with Jesus in the picture are the kids God had promised her

Each time we prayed I told my husband, ‘look at our kids. God is going to give us five children.’ The kids in the picture were so lovely I kept praying that God should give me such beautiful children.”

Baby, and more babies

Faced with the vacuum created by Chudi’s exit, the family considered adoption. After extensive debate, they resorted to fertility treatment. However, they were advised that because of her age she did not stand a chance, but they remained resolute and determined. Eventually, a miracle happened. At the age of 51, a year after the tragedy, in a move that baffled her doctors, Mrs. Ezeono got pregnant, 22 years after she had her last baby!

Mr. Ezeono captured the joy of the moment thus: “The doctor that treated her said it was the miracle of the millennium. Nobody gave her a chance! We were overwhelmed with joy. After the first scan, they said it was only one child and we were told to come back a week later. When we went back, they did another scan and said there were twins, with instructions to come back a week later.

“A week later we were back and they said they were triplets! They said we should go and come back in a week’s time, and when we did, they said it was quadruplets! However, they said they could hear a fifth heartbeat. They could be five! A week later we did another scan and it was confirmed that my wife had five babies growing in her womb!

“Five babies?” Ezeono asks rhetorically, as a smile plays on his features. “We couldn’t believe this was happening! At best, we were hoping for a child. With luck and a lot of prayers, twins, but five babies were beyond our wildest imagination!”

Reduce or die

However, their joy was threatened! The doctors disclosed that because of age, Mrs. Ezeono wouldn’t be able to bring the pregnancy to term. The only way forward was to abort three of the fetuses!

“We were still rejoicing at the hospital when we noticed that the doctors were wearing long faces. We had expected they would be rejoicing and congratulating us, but the reverse was the case and I started wondering, ‘what was wrong?’”

Mrs. Ezeono continued: “They said, ‘madam, it is five. At this age you can’t make it. You may lose all the babies and even lose your own life! The only way you can make it is to go through reduction. You have to terminate three fetuses!’”

Act of faith

The news hit the couple like a ton of bricks, shattering their dreams. But moved by a firm belief that whatever God has started, the same He would bring to a happy ending, Mr. Ezeono queried the doctors: “Which one would you terminate? Did you put them there? Are you going to terminate the reverend father or the reverend sister? Are you going to terminate the doctor, governor or president? The doctors were looking at me; they couldn’t give me an answer. My wife told them point blank, ‘I am not going to terminate anyone of my babies. We are Catholics; we don’t believe in abortion.’

“So, eventually, we were told that we should come and get referral letter to go and reduce. They warned that I would lose all the babies if I didn’t reduce. They showed us the size of my uterus and explained that because of my age, the children would slowly die because I would not be able to supply them enough oxygen.

“They insisted that if per chance I survived, the babies were going to be born deformed and die. They put so much pressure on us, but we kept reminding them that we were Catholics. They even argued that the Pope would grant us a dispensation, so we said ‘okay, we are going to think about it.’”

“They made an appointment that we should go to India for reduction. They warned that if the pregnancy exceeded 12 weeks, it couldn’t be done again and that would put me in mortal danger, so we purposely stayed away until it was 14 weeks.

“We came back home and went before the altar and called on Jesus: ‘is it true that anything you start you complete? The doctors marvelled when I conceived and declared it ‘the miracle of the millennium,’ so why is this happening? What type of malformed and deformed miracle is this?”

Mrs. Ezeono said her next ante-natal was at Marian Shrine, Maryland, where she spent her entire birthday, praying and beseeching God for a miracle.

“I knew the strength to carry the babies were not mine but our Lady’s. I only begged her that while I would be the one people would see carrying the pregnancy; she would be the one that would actually carry it. Sometimes, when it rained, I would lay in the pool of water, open my belly and cry unto Mother Mary, ‘there is nothing one would sincerely request from the Trinity that will not be granted.”

Fears of a husband

Despite the faith they displayed, Ezeono still had his fears: “My fears were mostly for my wife’s health. If anything happened to her, I would be sad for the rest of my life. People would blame me and say, ‘what was he looking for after 23 years.’”

India, at last

Finally, it dawned on the doctors that the Ezeonos were not interested in reduction and were determined to put God to the test, and so they gave up. However, they recommended a hospital in India where they believed that if ever it was possible, the babies could be hopefully delivered.

The Ezeonos departed Nigeria on February 21, 2011. The plan had been for Mr. Ezeono to be by her side until she stabilizes and then he would return to Nigeria to face his business. However, he abandoned his business and remained by her side, praying, fasting and visiting the Blessed Sacrament.

Miracle

Finally, against all odds, the children were delivered at Bombay Hospital, Mumbai, on May 3. Though they were born at 32 weeks, miraculously they were all in good shape. At age 52, Mrs. Ezeono was delivered of five healthy babies; two boys and three girls!

A mum’s joy at 52

“If you were in my shoes,” Mrs. Ezeono asks, “what would you do?” Tears of joy streamed down her cheeks as she speaks. “Up till now, it is still like a dream. My husband was by me all the way. They came out of incubator and they asked us to go. The calculation was that they will spend one month in the incubator, but they spent only two weeks. So, when we got to the hotel room, we couldn’t believe it! We were counting them and dancing.”

So popular was the story of the 52-year-old Nigerian woman who gave birth to quintuplets, the hospital became a tourist site as people came from far and wide to witness firsthand the miracle and the parish priest and the community gave them a lot of gifts, including a bust of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

In gratitude to her husband, Mrs. Ezeono says: “My husband was everything to me; my stomach was so big he cleaned me up, fed me and washed me. When the babies came, I was so tired I couldn’t feed them, but he would put the breasts in their mouths.”

How does it feel having five kids at the age of 52?

“My dear, from the names we gave to these children you should know my strength came from nowhere but God. The first child is a boy, so we gave him our late son’s name, Chukwudi Ebere Emeka. The second boy’s name was Onyelukachukwu, which means who performs like God, but he later died. He was followed by Rosary, because the Rosary was our only weapon. It was in India that they came to appreciate my Thank You Jesus rosary. Next was Azanam, and finally Nnechukwu.”

Like in tradition, the Ezeonos received a lot of gifts on their return to Nigeria. But the one that made the greatest impact was the quantity of diapers they got. It was so much they had to clear a whole room to store them and it was more than 12 months after that they had need to purchase diapers.

A year after

Today, the four surviving kids are waxing stronger and the Ezeonos are amazed at their growth.

“These kids are healthy. None of them is physically or mentally challenged. I never cease to be amazed at what they do. When we wanted to introduce them to cereals, we bought Cerelac, but none of them accepted it. They were contented with akamu, so the cost of feeding was slashed.

“Now they eat ewedu, spinach, semovita and noodles. I have three nannies plus my mother. My husband has an office; I don’t know when last he was there,” says Mrs. Ezeono, as the couple laughed joyfully.