I was the last person my motherin-law expected at home. So, she was dumbfounded and almost passed out when she saw me. Though I could not make out what she was saying, I was convinced that it was wrong for her to be in my room when my wife was not also at home, even if she was praying.
In shock, I said, “Mama, what are you doing?” She replied, saying that she wanted to sanctify the whole house against some evil forces as her pastor instructed. She was shivering as she was saying this, but somehow, she managed to convince me, especially when she mentioned that our maid had an evil spirit that she was using to torment the household, particularly me.
She said we would have to permit her to take the maid for deliverance, after which she would either come back to us or go back to her village, depending on the outcome of the cleansing.
At this point, I was able to suppress the doubt in me even when something kept on telling me that there might be more to her action than what she had told me. After her “spiritual cleansing”, I noticed that things became even more difficult. My employers sacked 80 employees and I was one of them. I became a full time pastor against my will and also started facing all sorts of battles initiated by some fellow pastors.
All the while, my wife had been promoted twice at work. She kept on telling me, after every promotion, that my prayers were working for her. She tried to be a good woman despite my financial stress, but I was forced, at some point, to open up to a friend, who took me to a very senior pastor, an elderly man from another church.
He gave the three of us an assignment to fast for seven days and then reconvene for God’s guidance. We did as he said, and went back on the seventh day to hear what he had to say. It was at a time my wife travelled to South Africa on an official assignment. She left three days into my fasting and prayer period. But I did not disclose to her that I was doing anything. As usual, I was left to take care of the children. We had another maid who did not know how to cook, so I would do the cooking, bathe the youngest children, take them to school and bring them back home.
When we got to the pastor, he said, before I could even say anything, that my wife was out of the country. I said yes, amazed. Then he said God revealed some things to him during the fasting period, which I had to take in good faith. He repeated what I had heard from friends before; that if I remained married to my wife, I would be a poor man for life.
He confirmed that my calling was of God, but said that I might not be able to get to the peak of my potential if something drastic was not done to change my situation. Though he said my wife was not directly responsible for my predicament, he said it was revealed to him that she was treading some filthy paths with men, and that this was affecting me.
I probed further and he said that on this particular trip that my wife had taken, she was with a man. He said my wife sleeping with other men and coming back to sleep with me was a major setback for me spiritually. This, he said, was affecting every aspect of my life and dragging me back, both spiritually and financially.
He then advised that I should not show my wife that I heard anything; that I should prepare to catch her in the act, at least, when she is on a trip within Nigeria.
Meanwhile, he advised me to go to my mother-in-law’s house and threaten her to tell me exactly what she did in my room the other day I caught her.
When I got to my mother-in-law’s house, I started by telling her that we should pray together. I was on fire in the spirit, and she saw it, so she tagged along with me and prayed fervently. Then I sat her down and told her that God said she should reveal exactly what she came to do in my house, that it would not have any effect on my relationship with my wife. I promised her that whatever she told me, no one would hear about it.
When she opened her mouth to talk, I was dumbfounded. She told me what led to her separation with her husband and why he appeared to hate her with passion. She confessed that she was sleeping with other men while under her husband’s roof and that she was caught in the act with the father of her second son. She had five children for three men.
She told me that when she realised that her daughter had also started the same behaviour, she had to seek for spiritual help to stop her, more so as she saw in me the qualities she had always wanted in a son-in-law. She said she knew her daughter’s extra-marital affairs had spiritual implications for my wellbeing and she did not want what happened to her to repeat itself in her daughter’s life.
She (my mother-in-law) confessed that she was sleeping with other men while under her husband’s roof and that she was caught in the act with the father of her second son. She had five children for three men
She was crying at this point, and I did not know whether to storm out of the house or still hold my breath, but she had not told me what she went to do in my room. So she said that she was told to sanctify the room against any evil spirit that could affect me due to her daughter’s escapades. She said she was calling both our names and negating the spirit of adultery in her daughter’s life. She said she was told to spray the prayer water on our matrimonial bed.
I was, at least, happy that it was not something against my wellbeing. So, I prepared for the stage 2 of my assignment – to catch my wife in the act. I thought it was going to take eternity to execute that, but the opportunity came just 10 days after her return from South Africa.
I had told her mother that she must keep our discussions secret if she wanted my relationship with her daughter to remain the same. I told her that if my wife knew that I was aware of half of the things I knew, our union would be in crisis.
I said this in order to ascertain things myself, and it worked like magic.
To be continued…
