TEACHER CHUKS; Season 2 (Part 19&20) – Opeyemi Akintunde

Part 19
TEACHER CHUKS; Season 2
Opeyemi Akintunde

Baba Agba accommodated me in his house. God definitely was involved. Baba Agba was a devout Christian who never slept at night. He always prayed through out the night. That explained how he was able to see me the night I was taken to the police station by the vigilantes.

The two policemen had paid me a visit by tracing me to Baba Agba’s House. The Hausa policeman had said…

“ Of a truth, Jesus was with you. Kai! See how he brought you out!” He had said

“ I believe God brought you to the police station to remind me of my faith, thank you!” Officer Adegoke had said

“ How is the DPO’s child?” I had asked

“ Thankfully, they were able to bring her out of the fire unhurt” The Hausa Officer had said

“ Glory to God” I had shouted in joy….

“ That encounter made the DPO very sober, he told the parents of the boy, he couldn’t get a replacement for their son. He has been sentenced to life imprisonment” Officer Adegoke had said

They had left after few hours with me.

I started attending Baba Agba’s Church where I grew in the Lord. I became addicted to the Scriptures. Baba Agba told me the scriptures was the greatest tool a believer needed to grow. He told me, the Holy Spirit was there to explain scriptures to me.

Favour made sure she came around every evening after work. She tried to get me a job, but I was not picked at the end of the interview.

Baba Agba called me to his room one night…

“ Chuks, I think the Lord doesn’t want you to go for a white collar job, I believe there is something He has planned out for you, I want you to set aside time to pray to God and find out what His perfect will for you is..”

I had obeyed him and I spent my night hours praying…

“ Oh lord, reveal to me your perfect will for my life in Jesus name…”

After the fifth day of praying, I had a dream.

I saw myself in an open field preparing Jollof rice and the aroma was so great it attracted a lot of people, but surprisingly the people it attracted were young girls and boys. Most of them looked weak, hungry, injured, tattered looking. I began to serve them the food free of charge and surprisingly as they ate, they started gaining strength….

I woke up from the dream and instantly my Spirit man confirmed to me this was the answer to the prayer I had been praying.

But

“ Does God want me to be a caterer, does God want me to be cooking food for children?” I kept asking myself on the bed till it was daytime when I saw Baba Agba…

“ Congratulations… God has revealed your purpose to you, he wants you to feed the young children who are spiritually hungry or injured. The food you are to feed them is the word of God” he had said

“ Like having a children and teenage ministry?” I asked

“ Yes…!”

“ But I Don’t have what it takes, I don’t even have a job, I am still squatting with you, Baba Agba, how do I go about it?”

“ Don’t think about how to do it, let God lead you. Just find this set of people and feed them …”

I Obeyed Baba Agba, and I started looking out for the opportunity to teach the teenagers. At Baba Agba’s church, I wanted to join the teenage department, but I was told I had to go through the 6 months Foundation and Membership class before I could be a worker. I agreed to that but Favour told me…

“ I don’t believe God is sending you to the teenagers in the church, they already have enough teachers. Judging from your revelation, you are sent to the ones on the open field, the ones in the society who may not go to church. You are to take the gospel to them…”

I saw sense in what she said. I drew out a plan.

GARAGE EVANGELISM FOR TEENAGERS…

I asked Favour to borrow me some money. I told her I was going to pay her when I got a Job. On getting the money, I rented a lot of speakers, I got a Projector to project a teenage centered Christian movie. I had prepared my message. I had rented over 200 chairs. I paid for the space.

On the set day, I started with the Filmshow. No one came to watch, the chairs were empty. I kept calling the teenagers to come out to watch the amazing movie, but none came out. Although, I noticed some of them stood afar off watching. I preached to empty chairs and closed for the day.

I was disappointed. I wept and felt like a fool. Favour tried encouraging me, telling me “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, and Baba Agba did buttress her point but from a different approach.

“ Did God tell you to do a crusade now?, The idea is great but is this the right time, a caterer doesn’t start his/ her business by cooking for the whole community, he/ she starts by making small meals that can be sold in a day. Chuks start making small meals”

At first I didn’t understand what that meant but after sitting it out I got it…

I needed to start the ministry through personal evangelism; One on One evangelism.

I looked around Baba Agba’s vicinity for my first project and right there before me, all these while I never thought of Gloria. The 12 year old daughter of a truck driver living beside Baba Agba’s house. I had noticed she was always very restless especially around young boys and men.

I noticed she was always smiling at me, but I just thought she was just being friendly until she walked up to me one day while I was doing my Bible study in front of Baba Agba’s House.

“ Uncle Chuks “ She had called me with her tiny voice. As I looked up, I became mortified as I saw her wearing a see-through top with no underwear on. She also wore a very short skirt.

“ Yes, Gloria!”

“ Please can you help me change the bulb in our room, I just got a new one.” She said innocently and what she was asking for was not out of the ordinary because, her father who was a truck driver who only came home during the weekends. From what I was told by Baba Agba, her mother had left Gloria and her two siblings to go Marry a wealthy man. Gloria had been taking care of her siblings since she was 6 years old as her father was an interstate truck driver. Therefore, everyone was always willing to help her as regards anything she needed adult help for.

“ Can you help me?” I heard her asking again

“ Sure!” I stood up and followed her.

The moment I entered the one room apartment they were living, her siblings left the room like they had been told to leave the room earlier. The younger brother who was around 10 years old gave me a vicious look, before stepping out. I didn’t understand why.

After they left, Gloria closed the door behind them as she handed the bulb to me. I took the small table in the room as a way of elevating myself. I was fixing the bulb when from the corner of my eye, I saw Gloria removing her clothes… I pretended not to see her, I thought she was trying to change her clothes. When I was through with the bulb, I turned to leave , then she said…

“ This is my way of saying thank you and I don’t mind if you can also give me money for it. My younger ones have not eaten today” she said as she stood in front of the door.

I was shocked looking at the tiny girl in front of me. I felt pained in my heart knowing this child was a victim of parental absence. I thought of what to do…

“ If I tried to struggle to get out of the room, she could shout and lie I was trying to rape her..” I reasoned to myself

“ Wow… I can’t do this to you, you are too young..” I said trying to make it a light situation

“ No, I have been doing it for four years, it was uncle Silas that first did it with me” she said proudly

“ You will enjoy it uncle Chuks, I promise you, in fact very soon, you will be the one begging me for it. “ she said like a pro as she was gradually walking towards me. Uncle Silas was a matured bachelor who was also living in the compound. He was a quiet bachelor. No one would have thought he was the one who deflowered this girl at the age of 8. How was I going to explain to this girl I was no longer like Uncle Silas. How was I going to tell her the gravity of what she was doing. I had to think fast because she was already touching me…

“ I don’t have protection on me” I said

“ I have..” She said, “I have worn a female protective condom…” She said proudly

“ Jesus!” I exclaimed. This girl was just 12 years old

“ Ok, but Baba Agba would be looking for me as we speak, let’s plan this well.” I said , but she wasn’t buying it…

“ You are lying” She said “ I am not beautiful enough for you” She said

“No, it’s just that, I need to prepare for this” I pecked her cheeks to give her false hope. With that she moved away from the door.

By God’s grace, I stepped out of the door shouting “ Thank you Jesus!” in my heart. When I stepped out, her brother gave me the vicious stare again. I could read anger in his eyes. I wanted to tell him, nothing happened between his sister and I.

As I walked back to Baba Agba’s balcony where I had been doing my Bible Study, I felt a big pain in my heart. I started tearing up seriously as I wondered how many of such children were out there in the world.

Now I understood the assignment but how on earth was I going to help Gloria? I had no money to give her as a way of making her not prostitute herself for money. Secondly, from the way she behaved, s€x had become an addiction for her, how was I going to make her see what she was doing was wrong?

.

Part 20
TEACHER CHUKS; Season 2
Opeyemi Akintunde

“Tick Tock, Tick Tock” I could hear the ticking sound of my wristwatch as I waited for Gloria to step out of her room the next morning. All through the night I couldn’t sleep, as I wondered how a 12 year old could be so bold about s€x and saw nothing wrong with the act. I prayed all night asking for God’s wisdom on how to handle her and bring her out of this ocean of iniquity.

“ Uncle Chuks, I knew you were deceiving me about coming back” I heard her voice before seeing her face. She was on her school uniform and likewise her siblings. She was taking them to school.

“ What heartless mother does this, leaving her three Children and jetting off to marry another man” I wondered silently.

“ Well, that’s Because I needed to weigh my options very well, I wanted to know if sleeping with you is worth it” I said

“ What does that mean, I don’t understand… ok.. wait you think you won’t enjoy it, ask Uncle Ben, the barber, or Uchenna that sells spare part, or Uncle Nnamdi that lives with Aunty chioma in the next compound, or you can ask Baloo that works at the betting center….” I watched with mouth wide open and heart pumping hard in fear as she kept calling the name of different boys and bachelors she had slept with. I suddenly lost count as I initially was trying to do mental count.

“ Wait, hold on… You have slept with all these people?” I asked in dismay

“ Yes! and they pay me. They always want to come back” she said laughing trying to market herself to me.

“ And you don’t feel bad?” I asked

“ Bad!, well that was before when I use to feel pain but now it is what I have to do to have money and friends. Now, I don’t feel lonely as I used to when my mummy left us..” She was saying but the amazing thing was she was saying all these raw things in front of her younger ones ages 10 and 7. They didn’t look disturbed by the conversation…

“ I hope Juliet has not started it as well” I asked wanting to know the extend of the damage…

“ Start what? I will kill her if she tries it, I have told her it is only meant for adults..” she said and I cut in

“ And you are an adult?” I asked

“ I am an adult child.” She said with anger in her voice. It appeared my asking about her younger sister Juliet had pissed her off…

“ Uncle Chuks, if you do anything to Juliet I will kill you” She said looking straight into my eyes

“ God forbid I do a thing like that!” I said “ Actually, I am concerned about you exposing them to what you are doing” I said

“ They understand, I have to do this for them and if they do it, they will be destroying their lives!” She said

“ Destroying their lives?, what about you, does that mean you are destroying your life on purpose” I asked

“ Someone has to, If my life is destroyed and my younger ones have a good one, it is ok, at least, my mother is enjoying her life while we are suffering. I choose to suffer for my brother and sister to be happy. Uncle Chuks I want to prove to my mother that we can become great without her” She said and I was short of words to say to her. She knew what she was doing, she knew it was destructive but she had a logical reason for doing it. I instantly knew she was not the kind of person I was to preach at.

“Hmm… I hope and pray you become greater than you desire”

“ Yes… but Uncle Chuks I hope you will contribute to that greatness… ?“ She said stretching her hand towards me indicating I should give her money…

Unfortunately I was penniless.

“Hmm.. if I wanted to reach out to these teenagers, I must be able to give them money when they need it…Talk they say is cheap” I reasoned

“ Not now, when you get back” I said not knowing how or where I was going to get the money.

I saw how her eyes lit up.

“ You will give me money when I come back?” she asked

“ Huh Huh” I replied

“ Then don’t worry, I will be ready for you” . She walked away with her younger ones and as she got to the gate. She reminded me of Chinaza.

This was how Chinaza started and didn’t have anyone to help her from falling into a pit.

“ Gloria,I will bring you out of this pit..”I told myself

Reality struck… “ Money”. I had promised her and one of the best way of reaching this girl was to make her build trust in me.

“ God, where do I get money now?” And as if God wanted to answer me. I heard a Hausa man speak to another Hausa man. They had come into the compound to sell water.

“ This water selling business brings fast money, especially since this area has not had power supply for months.” I looked at the business he was talking about, he was referring to the business of selling water in Galons from house to house using a wheel barrow…

“ What?” I asked God

I got no reply but I knew within me, that was the way out.

I approached the Hausa boys and spoke the language to them. I asked them on how I could join the business. I was told I could rent the wheel barrow and the gallons. I told them I had no money and one amazing thing about the Hausa people is that they love to help anyone who speaks their language. One of them volunteered to help me out and I will refund his money after I make my pay for the day…

I agreed and I went for the job…

If someone had told me the menial job was a difficult one I won’t have believed. I spent 5 hours toiling under the sun. I stopped when it was 2pm, as I wanted to meet up with Gloria.

I got home before her and had a quick shower. The moment I stepped out to the balcony, I saw her walking into the compound smiling seductively at me. She walked up to me and stretched out her hand and proudly I brought out N600 which was all I had after paying for the rented wheel barrow and gallon.

She smiled on receiving the money.

“ Give me 20 minutes, to take my bathe and cook Spaghetti with this money.. You are going to enjoy both meals!”

“ I am full, I don’t need any of the meals, the money has no strings attached” I said expecting a smile

“ I am not worth it right?” She asked frowning

“ No.. I mean.. Yes.. you worth me sleeping with you, but what I mean is..” she didn’t let me conclude my statement as she walked away with a long hiss. She didn’t return my money.

CLICK HERE TO READ “TEACHER CHUKS S2” (PART 21&22) – OPEYEMI AKINTUNDE.