"I was not born with a Bible in my hand"

 

I was very bad

I was not born with a Bible in my hand. I was very bad. At JSS, I'd go to the Internet Café, and look for a vacant PC at the back so that nobody would see me. I'd survey left and right and visit porn sites to watch adult videos. When the café attendant came around, I'd quickly minimise and go to Yahoo. My friends organized a ‘gala’ at Abeka- Free Pipe and they gave me selection. By the time I was entering SSS, I had my CV of atrocities. As a form 1 boy, I started breaking bounds. The P.E. Master started chasing me because I was in one corner with somebody and I was lying to the person that I was in form 3. They kept chasing me until they caught me! I was arraigned before the Disciplinary Committee (DC)- then I prayed. I was not even born again. I said, "Father, if you save me, I will serve you!" I've dared God so much He should be tired of me...but He doesn't get tired of us. I continued, "God, if you're God, don't let them suspend me because I can't face my father at home. Let me be free then I'll give you my life." As I left the office, I left the ‘born again’ in that room. If I was God and somebody did that to me, I would sound the person! But God never gets tired of us.

When I entered the office to meet the DC, one of the teachers looked at me and said, "Look at him! Innocent boy." I said, "Yes please." Then he said, "I'm sure it's the seniors who influenced him." I said, "Very true, Sir." As I walked out of the place, I forgot that I prayed to God.

Appointment with God

God sent for me and called me at age 17. A night to the day I gave my life to Christ. I was driving back home and nearly had an accident. That day, I just knew something was up but I could not pinpoint it. At 6 am my dad called me and said he wanted me to go and see a prophet friend of his. Prior to this time, God had tried to get my attention many times; I never agreed. In fact, while I was in SSS, I was the one who was terrorising the Scripture Union (SU) folks, because I knew some things in the Bible. When they came and didn’t know much, I would intimidate them, “It is said over here...and over here..." And I destroyed their entire preaching because even then they didn't read well.

Three hours of ‘torment’

From 8 to 11, the man was preaching. That night, I had a song to record with my boys so I was in a hurry.
"Prophet Siaw, finish! I have business to do!" I thought to myself. Then, Prophet Siaw, being a prophet, began to prophesy.

My dad was on the right; Prophet Siaw was on the left. Then, Prophet Siaw began to say things that I am the only one who knew I did- very bad things. My dad knew I was bad- he didn't know I was THAT BAD!

Prophet Siaw looked at me and said, "God is telling me now that you did this and did that." Now, I was using the corner of my eye to look at my dad's expressions.

This is the part I broke down in tears. Then, when it was getting embarrassing for me, I decided to try something. I don't know what came over me. I wanted to pray to know if God hears prayer. I said just at the tip of my mouth so that nobody would notice I was praying, "God, if you're truly the One showing this thing to Prophet Siaw, let him stop!" And I said, "If you let him stop, I'll give you my life. Is it not my life you want? I'll give it to you!" Immediately, he looked at me and said, "Young man, the Lord just spoke to me that I should stop prophesying." Ei! Hard guy like me! Tears began to gush out of my eyes. I had never experienced this in my life.

Moment of Truth

I never planned to preach in my life but when it happened, all of a sudden, I looked at Prophet Siaw. I looked at my dad and I said from the depths of my heart, "God, I want to give you my heart. I want to be born again. You have been looking for me for long. The last time I gave you my life, it was because they said a witch was chasing me and when the witch left, I also left."

Journey to the Exes

When I got born again, I had so many habits that I needed to change from but gradually, they all dropped off. Before, I felt dirty when I was coming to Church. But for some reason, something was just pulling me to just keep going to Church. As I kept going, year in, year out, I realized that the strength to overcome them was just coming. Then, God started using me. I remember I went to all my exes to preach. Not one ex. Exes. I was very dangerous! You know, I used to live at Adabraka. When the young area boys spotted a stubborn girl in the area, who was resistant to flirtations, then they'd come and call me and give me the ‘contract’. One of the guys approached me and said, "Look. There's this girl from Achimota. She's been sacking boys. We want you to bring her down." I accepted the challenge. Then, I started scheming and planning. One day, I saw the girl coming out of her house. She was walking briskly. I walked up to her with my polished English. Unlike now that the marking scheme is higher, like having an iPhone, at the time, all you needed to woo a girl were a nice foot, baggy and a good shirt.

I started talking to her but she seemed uninterested but I was patient. I took her number and we started talking. The next thing, I was sitting with the girl and talking with her outside.
On a particular stretch, from junction to junction, there were four ladies all in SSS of whom ‘I was in charge.’ I thus had to visit in sessions, like a hospital.
When I got born again, the fire was so strong, I couldn't understand it. I had to preach to all my exes. I called the first one and started talking to her. I pointed out, "I'm born again now! I'm for the Lord!" She was looking at me as I talked. At that time, I had started seeing a few visions so I told her, “Right now you're dating this person and so on and so forth.” She didn't even wait for me to leave finally. I didn't have any serious message so I told her, "God is not happy so repent." She followed me to Church. To date, she's in Church- in the choir.

Cheating with Jesus

I moved on to the next one but I couldn't leave her immediately because her mother had died around the same time so I didn't want to add this to her sorrows. I prayed and since I didn't have much Bible knowledge, I went to see her and confronted her, "Look, I don't know why you're cheating on me." She retorted, "Ah! I have not cheated on you." I went on, "Somebody loves you more than me." She asked, "Who?" I exclaimed, "Jesus!" Then she responded, "Ah!"
Then I intimated, "We need to pray."

Healed of Asthma

I prayed for all of them, from the first one to the second one, and they all started speaking in tongues. In fact, one of them was sick of asthma and as a newly born-again person, even though I had not yet quit all the bad habits, decided to pray for her. She said she had an asthma attack and I reassured her, "We can pray to God." I took water and prayed, "Father, I pray against the asthma, in Jesus' Name. Amen." Then I gave it to her and she drank the water. That's how the asthma vanished and never came back.

Playing with Fire

One of my exes came to visit me one day. I didn't know that you don't try some things once you are born again- if you say you're staying away from it, run away! I thought, "I'm strong in the Lord." I didn't know she came to test me. There was a certain place we used to kiss. We went there and kissed. She looked at me and smirked, "Some born again!"

I went back shamefully and actually thought that the tongues I had received initially had disappeared because of that kiss. I frantically begged God, "Please, don't take the tongues away from me." Then I started to speak in tongues and I rejoiced, "Oh thank You, Lord!"

Preaching Everywhere

At age 18, I would come out of the house and be looking out for SSS passers-by and stop them and preach to them. We'd fill them with the Holy Ghost on the streets, we'd fill them with the Holy Ghost in the schools and in their classrooms. I've travelled to different places to preach. There are times I've slept at bus stations just because we didn't have money to continue the trip. We were just travelling and preaching the Gospel.

Damn the Consequences!

When I got born again and I was going back to school, I said, "Lord, I'm in my final year and all my friends are bad boys. We are in the same dormitory. I cannot face them when I go. They will laugh at me. What will I do?" I was thinking. I said, "God, what will I do?" But you know, when I stepped in the school, I said, "Jesus, damn the consequences. Damn the consequences!"

That same day that Prophet Siaw led me to Christ, I spoke in tongues. When I entered my room, I didn't know there was one guy there whose name was Kakap3. He was on top of our bunk bed. I didn't know he was there so I got on the lower bed to speak in tongues because it was new and I loved it. I was speaking fervently in tongues...he had never heard me do something like that because they all knew me.

With his shrill voice, he lowered his head and said, "Herh! What are you doing?! Are you speaking in tongues? Herh!" Then he descended.

If you know St. Peter's very well, you’d notice a metal they bang. He raised an alarm, "Herh! Obon has repented o...!" Bang! Bang!! Bang!!!” (Obon was my nickname)

Then, one guy called Fokoo from another house shouted, "Are you serious?!" They laughed at me again and again!

Years have come and gone- precisely 10 years. While we were having Super Sunday, one of the guys I used to smoke with- most of you saw him- walked forward when I was leading people to Christ. He came and said, "I am amazed- after 10 years...I wish I had followed you when you started."
Then, he looked at me in the face and said, "Nevertheless, I want to start."
When he left, I looked up and said, "Thank You, Jesus! Thank You that I did not leave You. Thank You that I did not listen to friends."

Happy birthday, Pastor Enoch!

The above is an extract of Pastor Enoch's salvation testimony as narrated by himself at Encounter Love: Pent Edition and in his message entitled 'Young & Ready'.

Download it for keeps here!

If, having read this story, you’d like to surrender to Jesus, let us pray:

O Lord God, I come to You in the Name of Jesus. Your Word says whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved. I believe with all my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that He died on the cross to wash my sins away. I believe that You raised Him from the dead for my justification and I confess that He is the Lord of my life from today! I receive Jesus Christ into my heart today. I receive eternal life into my spirit. I declare that I am saved and born again, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.