Chapter 1
©Abugu Precious Obialor-Ukazim
They were five girls and were best friends too, Favour, Sefiat, Chinwendu, Shola and Abigail were their names respectively.
In the small town where they lived with their separate family members, they were known as not just good girls but godly and well mannered girls and in the school environment, they were known as the five most intelligent and well behaved female students.
Sefiat who was from a Muslim family but lost mother few years after her father’s death and was handed over to her distant cousin got converted one Monday morning on the assembly ground while Favour was preaching.
She wept at the way Favour explained the salvation story of Jesus’ death, overwhelmed that someone could love a wretched sinner like her to die for her, she openly lifted up her hands with teary eyes when the bold and vibrant Favour called for those who would love to give their lives to Christ.
She was the only one who lifted up her hands in the midst of hundreds of students on the assembly ground and other students couldn’t just understand why she was crying so much, Favour herself didn’t see anything so special about what she preached that could make her cry so much.
The students began to murmur words among themselves because they knew Sefiat to be a Muslim, not just a Muslim but a very devoted one who wears hijab to school and how she could come out to declare Jesus as her Lord and saviour and convert to another religion was a shocker to the students.
Favour was still leading her to Christ in saying the salvation prayers when the principal and the teachers started coming out from the staff meeting in the staff's room and sighted Favour praying with Sefiat who was still shaking and crying.
After the prayers, Favour signalled one of her friends, Esther to follow her up immediately while she concluded her prayers to give way for the students prefect on duty to conduct the national anthem and the Nigeria pledge before the school principal and teachers can address the students.
Esther went after Sefiat and hugged her warmly then whispered into her ears that they will meet with her after the assembly which she nodded understandably to before Esther left to avoid attracting the principals wrath and it wasn’t long before the students began the recitation of the national anthem standing at attention and the Nigeria pledge.
The female students pledged with their right hands lifted up close to their ears in allegiance to the country and the male students placing their right hands on their chest pledged allegiance to serve with all their hearts and uphold the country’s honour and glory as the Lord helps them.
Thereafter, the principal took over the stage to address the students after which he gave the teachers also the opportunity to address the students and the defaulters were pointed out and punished before other students before the students began to march into their various classes.
When they got into their classroom, Favour and her four friends went to Sefiat’s class, being SS1 students and gave her warmly welcome, excited that a soul had been won to God and they took time to tell her what she needed to do as new convert, Abigail who was the most beautiful and knowledgeable girl among them did the talking while others concurred.
They continued to follow Sefiat up everyday, studying the bible with her and explaining things she didn’t understand about Christianity and the process, they became her friends and that was how she joined the group of four friends, completing them five and they were popularly known as the five wise girls.
The four friends before Sefiat joined them had a spiritual guardian who taught them the word of God and godly ways of living both in their characters and in their appearances,she was an elderly woman in her fifties whom they popularly calls, “S U mummy”, because they first met her in a Scripture Union program organized for youths/teenagers in their school and they so much liked the way she taught them the word of God with simplicity.
It was when they later found out that she lives in their neighborhood, that they started visiting her house to greet her and fetch water for her and from there, she began to sit them down to teach them the word of God and for over three years, she had been their spiritual guardian whom they runs to whenever they were confused and asks questions and receives instructions from her.
It was the woman who taught them most of the things they knew about God and the spiritual exercises they did weekly and daily came from her instructions to them, as young girls, when a boy asks them out and puts them under pressure, they always confided in her and she taught them how to handle pressure from the opposite sex and many more.
Sefiat who was from a Muslim family and was living with her Muslim distant cousin and her husband after keeping her salvation experience a secret from her cousin sister and husband for few days, afraid that they may disown her if they finds out decided to come out open about her new found faith after being forced to attend Jummah(Muslim Friday prayer).
Hell was let loosed on Sefiat the day she told her cousin sister that she had converted to Christianity, the husband who was a soldier and had gone back to his post was not around but her cousin sister alone gave her the beating of her life for confessing her new found faith and gave her three days to renounce her faith or else, she would be disowned and sent packing out of the house, knowing that she had no father nor mother to return back to.
The following day in school, Sefiat’s friends saw the bruises on her body and asked to know what happened then she told them everything that transpired between her and her cousin sister whom she calls, aunty.
They were troubled on her behalf and asked to know what her plans were, whether she would renounce her new found faith or not and she told them that she was never going to do that, even if it meant them disowning her.
“But where will you go if your aunt sends you packing from her house seeing that you have no father nor mother?” The worried Chinwendu asked her and she breathed down heavily before answering the question.
“I don’t know.. But I won’t renounce my faith in Jesus.” She replied with determination in her eyes, then the four friends looked worriedly at each other because none of them could accommodate her in their homes, considering the kind of families they had.
Favour’s father was a drunk who doesn’t provide for his family and beats up his wife at every slightest provocation, only her mother fends for them and her other four siblings and they were almost eating from hand to mouth.
Chinwedu was living with her uncle who brings home his girlfriend at any time and doesn’t take his eyes off anything in a skirt, so it wasn’t advisable for another girl who was not a blood relation to live in the same house with him.
Abigail was not proud of her family either, though her father provides for the family, but he wasn’t a devoted Christian, he was very short tempered and beats both their mother and themselves, sometimes, he looked them out of the house at night and she sure would not dare approach him to accommodate Sefiat, he would beat hell out of her because he always insults her mother for giving birth to only girls who are just waste of resources and had taken a second wife.
Shola was almost living as a house help in someone’s house too, though a blood relation but they treated her like a house help because her parents were very poor and she was made to live with them.
“I think we should introduce sister Sefiat to S U mummy, she might be of help if her aunty eventually sends her packing..” Shola who happened to be a Yoruba girl like Sefiat suggested and they all bought the idea then they agreed to go to S U mummy’s house after school.
Arriving S U mummy’s house, they overheard a noise come out of the sitting room and it was the voice of S U mummy and her husband, she was crying and they could hear her husband say;
“I will kill you today.. I will kill you today..” Her husband was threatening, probably beating her, judging from the tempo of his breath and voice as he threatened.
The four girls exchanged glances in disappointment again as it wasn’t the first time they were meeting such an embarrassing scene at the mummy’s house then they quickly pulled Sefiat away in order to confuse her from finding out what was happening…
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To be continued
