"We lift our hands in the Sanctuary, we lift our hands to give you the glorray, we lift our hands to give you the praise. And we will praise you for the rest of our days, yes, we will praise you for the rest of our days"...
The vixen leading worship was all over the stage and all her curves and endowments were on display. Archippus could not concentrate on worship. His member refused to realise that it was not permitted to rise in church. He hadn't made love to Euodias in about 2 months. He couldn't imagine himself laying with her and thinking of his son in the village with Mama. He wasn't cut out for this double life but he had to do what he had to do... Euodia had been pleading with him EVERY night since that day when he first rejected her advances and told her that he felt terrible sensations whenever she touched him. She had almost caught him one night when he was "helping" himself in the bathroom. He had forgot to lock the door. He had barked at her and asked her to ALWAYS knock and wait for permission before coming in.
Somehow, the vixen in the choir was awakening the giant in him. She needed to complete what she had started..
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"That's how they'll be using Christianity to cover their wickedness. Tueh"
Pastor Irene could spot that voice from many miles. It was her mother-in law, abi mother-in-love.
She waited for the trouble that always accompanied Mama. Her grouse was that instead of staying at home to raise her children and bearing more grandchildren, Pastor Irene was going about travelling, either with Pastor Gabriel or alone. 2 granddaughters and a grandson did not matter much to Mama. She was the only one of her husband's seven wives that had less than 6 grandkids.
Mama was definitely spoiling for a fight. Pastor Irene quickly went to greet her.
"Did I tell you that my hands are paining me?" Mama snarled. "Please don't charm me with your fake niceness. I'm now wiser. Where is my son?"
Pastor Gabriel appeared, right on cue. Pastor Irene was very embarrassed. The women she had invited over for fellowship were having lunch in the dining room and must have heard all the nasty things Mama had said to her. She was in the middle of a lecture about dealing with in-laws when Mama showed up and provided a real life example.
Pastor Gabriel quickly took charge.
"Welcome Mama. How was your trip? I guess it wasn't too stressful? Let's get you settled then we can all talk. Honey, please round up with the women quickly so we can talk."
Mama looked like she wanted to ignore him and keep making a scene but she meekly followed him as he led her through the other entrance and Pastor Irene went back in to round up with the women. Today's lesson was as practical as it would get.
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The number was an unfamiliar one. She rarely picked unusual numbers. For some strange reason, she decided to pick up.
"Hello, is this Syntyche?"
Even after so many years, she immediately recognized his baritone voice. Back then, he was a lady's man and his voice was a key selling point. Apparently, not much had changed about him.
"Yes I am. Who am I speaking with, please?"
"It's Samson, your ex-boyfriend and soon-to-be new husband."
"Oh. Hello Samson. How're you doing? How did you get my phone number?"
"I ran into Sylvia and her family at the art exhibition yesterday and she gave me your phone number. She also told me that your "good-for-nothing" husband left you pregnant and ran away. I'm here to stay, babe; I'm not going anywhere. Are you free for dinner?"
Samson was still as direct as ever. He had once told her that there was no point beating about the bush. The worst case scenario was that the person would say "No". Well, "worst case scenario" was coming up...
"No, I'm not free for dinner. I'll have to have a stern word with Sylvia about divulging personal information to strangers".
A tiny voice asked her if she didn't think this was a good opportunity to minister to Samson, so she added, "We can have lunch tomorrow".
They quickly made arrangements and Samson got off the phone. Sylvia's call would come in about 10 minutes. She always called at the same time every day to nag about the same things she nagged about the previous day. She just sat through each nagging session, taking notes on her soon to be published book, "Things nags say".
A text message came in from Pastor Mike. He also sent her daily inspirational messages and chats. She made a note to bring up starting WhatsApp and BBM groups for the Women Fellowship. They would be able to share inspiring thoughts daily and disseminate information quickly. She hoped Euodias would not try to shoot it down because it was her idea.
She sent a chat back thanking him and they started their daily session. He had been really helpful in getting through to Cletus. Somehow, spending time with Sylvia and her family also helped. She wished she was enough for Cletus but she was glad that well-intentioned people were connecting to him.
Sylvia's call came in at exactly 11:45am, just like it did on other days. Soon, she'll to nickname Sylvia "The 11:45 sister". Sylvia didn't sound like herself, though...
"Syntyche, I'm leaving him. I'm tired of this marriage".
"Who are you leaving? Why?”, Syntyche panicked.
The line went dead. Syntyche tried to call back but none of Sylvia's numbers was going through. Something weird was going on...
A lot of weird things had happened recently. First, Sister Agatha from the past had called her. She had been her prayer partner when Stephen first left. They had prayed together for 4 years for marital restoration and had lost touch when Sister Agatha and her family had to relocate. Sister Agatha said that the Lord laid it strongly in her heart that she needed to continue supporting Syntyche and Stephen in prayers. The set time had come. Then, Susan, her co-worker, whom she hadn't had much interaction with told her she had a dream about Syntyche's marriage. She described Stephen perfectly, though she had never met him. She described a few incidents that truly happened in their marriage. She told Syntyche that the set time had come but it was up to Syntyche to travail in prayer to birth the miracle. Now, she just heard from Samson and Sylvia was in distress. She quickly sent Pastor Mike a chat, asking him to pray for her and her family. She hurried to Sylvia's place.
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Josephine wasn't sure how she knew it but she knew she had to attend the church down the street. The dream was too vivid to be ignored.
The rigours of raising an autistic child as a single parent had caused her to drop church attendance from her schedule. Besides, she didn't miss the judgmental comments about Dora's autistic tendencies. There were those that insinuated that if she had disciplined Dora properly, she wouldn't have turned out this way. Some suggested that it was God's way of punishing her for leaving her cheating husband.
Earlier on, she had believed all that nonsense and tried hard to make Dora "normal". She had only accepted Dora as an autistic child about 3 years ago. It had been an enlightening journey so far.
As they got into the church, a very nice man with a nice smile welcomed her to church and directed her to her seat. He asked for permission to take Dora to the Children's Cathedral but she explained that Dora was a special needs child so she needed to keep an eye on her. The usher was unsure so he checked with his HOD, who absent mindedly okayed it.
The worship session was fantastic. Josephine felt at home. Even Dora's constant tugs didn't make the service less heavenly. It added its own flavour to the experience.
THEN, the possibility that scared her away from public gatherings happened! Dora had a meltdown! One minute, she was singing happily; the next minute she was throwing things, kicking and screaming. Apparently, she had tried to get Josephine's attention and she was caught up in the sermon.
THEN, a woman, whom she later learnt was Euodia came from the front to where they were, dragged Does out and motioned for the Head Usher to follow her. Josephine quickly followed them. Then the lady ordered the Head Usher to take Dora to the Children's Cathedral. She then turned to Josephine and started lecturing her on teaching her child to behave properly in public.
Josephine retrieved Dora from the lady. The good thing was that her drama had cured Dora's meltdown. Another lady, whom she later learnt was Syntyche came out, just as she was about to go in to pick up her things. Service was over for her. Syntyche offered to watch Dora while Josephine got their things. Euodia was still shouting at Syntyche when Josephine returned with their things. Syntyche got her contact details and even saw them out. She actually dropped them off at home before returning to church. Such a nice lady, Josephine thought
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"Euodia has finally lost her mind", Syntyche thought as she took the left turn that led to her house. How she thought it was acceptable to act like an idiot to a first timer and be backed by Syntyche remained a mystery...These were definitely interesting times.
Sylvia was fine. She was just heartbroken. She just found out that her husband had fathered another illegitimate child with the tramp that had the first one. Syntyche had asked Sylvia if she really wanted to leave. Sylvia didn't come across like a woman who could stay without being in a romantic relationship. As far as Syntyche knew, Sylvia had always been in a relationship since she was old enough to date...
She looked at the gate and saw him. He hadn't changed, even after so many years...
Author's Note: Euodia and Syntyche's story is found in Philippians 4:2-3. This is a very very fictionalized version...Stay tuned for Episode 10.
