the return of a broken home(emotional)

Molyn’s thoughts were all mixed up. She lay on her bed
as Sandra flipped through the college’s monthly
publication.
“I didn’t expect him to like me at all, not to talk
of his liking me so fast.”
“What makes you think he likes you?” Sandra
asked without looking away from the magazine.
“Didn’t you see the way he looked at me when
he concluded his sermon?” Molyn asked rhetorically,
staring at the ceiling. “It was like he was giving me a
personal invitation to the outreach.”
Sandra dropped the magazine and couldn’t
help being amused at her love drunk twin. “Are you
sure you aren’t assuming things?”
“I don’t think so but I hope I am anyway.”
“Now, that gets me confused”, Sandra said. “I
thought you liked him and wouldn’t mind if you guys
got serious?”
“Yes, I do like him”, Molyn began. “But I don’t
know how to handle his attraction to me. It’s a
different thing all together now, knowing he likes me; it
seems too good to be true.”
Molyn spread her hands out and frowned as
she explained. “This campus is full of so many pretty
and decent girls, who I’m sure would do anything to
have Pastor Tom. I’m not sure I measure up to most of
them.”
Sandra smiled as the gist of the whole thing
started sinking in. “You feel you don’t deserve him,
right?”
Molyn nodded without saying a word.
Sandra then asked, “You would prefer to just
admire him from a distance and fantasize that he likes
you than have him really like you because you feel
unworthy of his attention and admiration. Is that it?”
Molyn nodded again.
“Do you have a reason for this?”
“No, but I just don’t see myself being good
enough for him. He’s so gentle, intelligent, and
dedicated to God. He seems totally self-made.”
Molyn looked at her sister and smiled ruefully.
“What good could I possibly do him or what could I
possibly give him that he doesn’t have already?”
Sandra understood Molyn’s plight. She was
feeling the same way about Alex but she wasn’t going
to mention that now. Her sister needed her to be strong
for her. She decided to talk about hers some other
time.
“Molyn, get some rest now”, she said. “Let’s
not jump to conclusions. We’ll deal with things as they
come!”
Molyn assented and turned to face the wall
when Sandra asked her yet another question.
“Did you feel moved to go to Africa when he
was talking?”
“Yes, I did.”
“But with this so called personal invitation”,
Sandra couldn’t keep the smile off her face, “would
you still go?”
“I really don’t know.” Molyn sighed. “Good
night Sandra.”
“Good night sis.”
Molyn closed her eyes to sleep but she couldn’t
get the image of the handsome young preacher,
looking at her through a pair of glasses, off her mind.
The next day, Molyn shared her fears and
worries with Alex. Sandra had advised her to see Alex.
She had said, “When Alex spoke with me the other day,
I felt much better. You could do with some of his
counsel too.”
So, here she was with Alex and she was willing
to get all the help possible. She had been speaking with
him for a while now and Alex had been very attentive.
She had been talking generally but she was ready to hit
the bull’s eye.
“Alex, you know I like Pastor Tom”, she said.
“Did you see the way he looked at me yesterday?”
Alex nodded.
“I would have regarded it as insignificant but
my mind will not have it. Somewhere deep within me, I
want him to like me, but another part of me doesn’t
feel up to it.”
Molyn kept quiet and looked t Alex, waiting for
him to speak.
“Do you know I was initially attracted to you?”
Alex asked.
Molyn was too shocked to respond.
Alex noticed the red spots on her cheeks
immediately. “I was a little jealous when I knew you
liked Tom but I’m over it now.”
He paused to smile. “By the way, you’ll make a
great wife for Tom if you two eventually get together.”
Alex smiled at her again and tried to put her
mind at rest. “Relax Molyn. Don’t jump the gun. Let’s
take one day at a time, let things take their natural tow.”
Alex noticed that Molyn was more relaxed,
hearing his words. He then added, “Would you mind if
we prayed about this right now?”
“I wouldn’t.”
While they were praying, Molyn felt someone
join them at the table. She though little of it, thinking it
was only her imagination. She focused on the prayers.
Lifting her eyes after the prayers, Molyn saw
Tom Hacks sitting at the table with them. She wanted
to faint or simply disappear.
She looked away from him and stared at her
fingers, hoping he wouldn’t notice the effect his
presence had on her.
“Hope I didn’t interrupt anything”, Tom said,
noticing Molyn’s uneasiness.
“Not at all”, Alex said, and looking at Tom’s
plate, said, “I see you’ve gotten yourself a beef burger
too. That makes it two-to-one.”
Tom looked confused. “What are we talking
about here?”
Molyn looked up then and smiled sheepishly.
“I’m a vegetarian.”
“There’s no need to be embarrassed. I tried it
too once.” Then, with a grin, Tom added, “I didn’t last
one week.”
Tom took a bite. “This tastes really good.” He
tried to swallow as much of it as possible before
speaking again. “Alex, are you going with us to
Africa?”
“Sure!”
Tom shifted his attention to Molyn, placed his
hand over hers and asked the same.
“I suppose so”, she said. “That was one of the
things I discussed with Alex before we prayed.”
While she spoke, Molyn wondered how such a
friendly touch could produce butterflies in her tummy.
And as if reading her mind, Tom retrieved his
hand, smiled at Molyn and took another bite of his
burger in the most tantalizing way possible, testing the
vegetarian’s resolve.
At bible study the next week, Pastor Tom
announced that the special meetings towards the
outreach in Africa would begin in earnest the upper
week. He explained that the meeting would start so
early because of the exams coming up in two months
time. He felt it would be wrong timing to meet at a time
when people should be reading for their exams.
They had their first meeting on the following
Tuesday, and thirty-three people turned up out of a
congregation of over two hundred. Some other folks
had pledged their commitment but had taken excuses
to be absent from the premiere meeting. The total
number of volunteers was forty.
By a unanimous decision, Alex, Molyn, Sandra
and Steve, the pianist, were elected to assist Pastor
Tom. The five of them made up the outreach
committee that became known as the OC.
The OC met several times a week while the
other members of the outreach team met only once a
week. The meetings included bible expositions, prayer
sessions for the upcoming outreach, and evangelistic
seminars.
As expected, Sandra joined Alex’s counseling
team as they learnt and discussed techniques of
counseling new converts. Sandra was catching up very
fast and she began making new friends. Among them
was Tayo, an international student from Nigeria. Tayo
was a very pleasant girl.
Molyn was in Pastor Tom’s group, concerned
with the teaching and preaching aspect of the
outreach. Molyn was impressed with how fast she was
catching up on scriptures within a very short time.
Tom made the sessions so animated and didn’t bore
them with theology like other folks would have done.
He surprised his teaching team when he turned
one of their meetings into a film show. They watched
one of Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke’s crusade
meetings in Africa.
TIME WAS RUNNING out fast. It was already two
weeks to exams. The twins were having so much fun
learning and interacting with fellow believers that they
wished it would never end.
On their next OC meeting, they decided on
going to Nigeria. Tayo, who was a member of the
worship team, had mentioned it to Steve who in turn
brought it before the committee, and they agreed.
“We’re going to Kuta; a town South-West of
Nigeria”, Pastor Tom announced to the outreach team,
now numbering forty-two. He called Tayo to give the
statistics and overall view of the town.
By the time she was through, there was a holy
fire kindled in every member’s heart. They were ready
to bring light into the darkness of Kuta.they had just
four weeks to go. All were filled with excited
anticipation of the weeks ahead.
THE FOUR WEEKS passed so fast. The exams were
over and almost every member of the outreach team
had testimonies of divine direction as to where to read
for the exams.
They decided to wait one more week before
going to Nigeria. They needed some time to
strengthen themselves in faith.
“THIS WOULD BE our first Christmas away from
home”, Sandra said to Molyn in their room, two days
to departure. They had always been together at
Christmas; the whole family.
“Yeah. Dad and mum will miss us.”
“Do they know we’re leaving next tomorrow?”
Sandra asked.
“Yes, they do. They told me they would be
praying for us.”
“That in itself is a miracle”, Sandra said,
knowing how hard it would have been convincing their
conservative parents if it were to be an African art
excursion or something of the sort. “I can’t wait to go.
We’ve prepared so much; physically and spiritually. I
am very expectant!”
Molyn thought about that for a moment and
smiled. “Could it be that you’re so eager to have Alex
spend more time with you, seeing you guys would be
working together every day?”
Sandra laughed, pointing at Molyn. “You’re
trying to tell me your exact thoughts about what it
would be like with Tom, right?”
Both laughed until their ribs ached. They both
had their quarrels every now and then but they sure
knew how to amuse each other.
Shortly after, they wrote out the list of things
they would need, as recommended by Tayo.
“Thank goodness Tayo is a girl!” Molyn said.
“Why?” asked Sandra, obviously wondering
why her sister said so,
Molyn giggled and pointed at some
unmentionables in her list. “Would any guy have
bothered to know what kind of these would suit the
weather in Nigeria?”
Sandra playfully hit Molyn with a skirt she was
folding. “If not that I know Tom Hacks has stolen your
heart, I would have called you a feminist.”
Molyn stopped what she was doing and stared
at nothing in particular.
“Sandra, I am a little worried at how smooth my
friendship with Pastor Tom has been so far. I have this
feeling that our friendship will soon hit a brick wall.”
That statement got Sandra worried. “Why that
feeling again?” As she said that, a thought flashed
through her mind and she smiled.
“Why the smile?” Molyn demanded.
“You remember I was the ugly one who was
always anxious, fearful and uncertain?”
“Yeah right!” Molyn smirked.
“You need to stop worrying about things over
which you have no power or control.”
“I’ll try”, Molyn said. “But meeting Pastor Tom
has been an entire different episode for me.”
“Come to think of it”, Sandra said, looking
intently at her sister. “Why do you keep calling him
Pastor Tom? He asked us to call him by name, didn’t
he?”
Molyn just smiled and shrugged.
It was a very long flight to Lagos, Nigeria. Tayo
took the outreach team; totaling forty-seven, to a
relatively affordable hotel in Lagos, Excellence hotel,
to spend the night. They had six days to spend in
Nigeria and they wanted to conserve as much money
as they could.
Early the next morning, they set out for Kuta in
a chartered Mercedez bus. It was going to be a two
hour plus journey. Tayo persuaded the team to stop by
at Obafemi Awolowo University, in Ile-Ife. She said it
was the school she would have gone to if she wasn’t
given her student’s visa to study at Coman County
College.
Everyone, including Sandra, the Arts guru, was
impressed at the structures. The most fascinating was
the Amphi theatre and its twin, the Oduduwa hall.
They were master pieces.
Five students from OAU, three guys and two
girls, who had been informed weeks before of the
outreach, joined the team. They served as their
journeying aids. Coincidentally, the two girls from
OAU were twins, Tola and Sunbo, and they were
identical. When introductions were made and the
Nigerian twins discovered Sandra and Molyn were also
twins, they were quite excited.
The host church was St Peter’s African church.
The team got there ten minutes behind schedule;
4:10pm precisely. The presiding reverend was really
cordial and ushered the team into the church.
Sandra was stunned when she discovered they
would be sleeping on church pews for the five nights.
She looked at Molyn and then at Alex; they both gave
her knowing smiles and shrugged.
Soon after they had settled down, Tom Hacks
called the team together, including the five Nigerian
students, for a short briefing. He encouraged them and
teased a few of them. He then took a pause and looked
at them all. “We’re here at last”, he said. “God has
called us to serve Him.”
He grinned. “We would have to overlook our
inconveniences and focus on God.” He got some
Amen’s to that.
“In a few days, we’ll be out of here but the
impact we make will change these people’s lives
forever. Are you with me?”
They all nodded.
“The Lord revealed to me that all the spiritual
building we’ve received will be put to test here. We all
need to be strong. He assured me that our victory
would come only in our unity. In respect to that, we’ve
called this outreach, the Synergy.”
The team roared in applause and approval.
Tom Hacks went ahead to shake the hands of
his colleagues and they all felt so confident and ready
for the task.
Unknown to them, somewhere in the dark
corner of Kuta, the same old serpent was scheming
ways of protecting his territory from an invasion of
light.
Later that evening, the team decided to go on a
tour of the town, deciding to start the outreach the
next day. This was their first time in an African country,
and seeing the rural setting was an experience.
There were a couple of brick houses, mud
houses, and sheds. They also saw mini-markets, few
schools, a city hall and a palace. The front of the city
hall was going to be the venue for the outreach
services.
Sandra was walking ahead with Sunbo, the
more outspoken of the Nigerian twins. They had
gotten on so fast at the church auditorium.
Coincidentally, they both took adjacent pews in the
chapel, which meant they would be spending a lot of
time together.
Tola, on the other hand, was reserved and was
still moving with her Nigerian pals. Every member of
the team was indeed fascinated by all the sites.
Molyn, on the contrary, was more curious than
fascinated. She wondered why the people stared at
them open-mouthed. Every single person who saw
them took a momentary pause to scrutinize them. She
even noticed, to her delight, that some children were
trailing them.
Tayo had told her, while still at CCC, that this
would be the first time the town folks would be seeing
white people, but she hadn’t expected the attention to
be this much.
As a children-lover, she turned back, with Tayo,
and went straight to a little girl who was clinging to her
sister, a little older than she was. Molyn stooped low to
make eye contact with girl. She saw fear, caution and
curiosity in the girl’s eyes all at once.
“Hello. My name is Molyn. What’s your name?”
she asked with a smile.
“Aminat”, the girl replied, smiling back.
Molyn assumed she was one of the few
children in the town that attended school.
“Where do you live?”
The girl pointed toward a house in the distance.
While Molyn spoke with the girl, the other children
rallied around, and right there and then, Molyn knew
what God had called her to do.
She looked at Tayo and asked, “Do you think it
would be okay to invite these kids to bible studies for
the next three afternoons?”
Tayo smiled. “It would not just be okay, but
appropriate. We’ll inform Tom about it when we get
back to the church.”
With that, Molyn told the kids to invite their
friends to the St. Peter’s African church the next day.
She then dispersed the kids and jogged quite a distance
with Tayo, to catch up with the others. She only hoped
there wouldn’t be much of a language barrier in her
communicating with the children. The ones she just
spoke with understood her but she wondered if it
would be the same for every child who would come.
The team’s first major stop was the palace.
They paid a courtesy visit to the king and promised to
be back before leaving for the States.
They moved on until they reached the final turn
leading to the last street, with Tom Hacks leading the
way.
Tom noticed a man, wearing a white robe,
standing in front of a building. The building had a
weird look to it and the man had an even more eerie
look. Tom’s nerves felt a twinge.
Tom noticed that the man stared at him and
looked rather pissed off that a couple of white folks
were pacing on his land. ‘Or could there be more than
racism to this man’s hostile look?’ Tom asked himself.