“Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore, doth my soul keeps them.” Psalm 119:129
“The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.” Psalm 119:144
I am a testimony. The testimony of Jesus (Revelations 19:10) kept me alive beyond December 2005. The blood of Jesus has saved me from the powers of the grave. The spirit of prophecy has been established in my life. This is my thanksgiving to the master who has preserved my life from the snare of the fowler.
I woke up on a Tuesday morning. It was the last Tuesday of the year. I was on an assignment in Calabar as a Consultant to the Cross-River state Government on the Calabar Christmas festival and carnival.
As I woke up that morning, I had a strong urge to only praise God. I danced until I perceived that God wanted me to forgive all those who might have offended me at that point. I quickly ran recent painful events and people behind them through my mind. I then forgave and let go of every pain in my heart. By 11:30am, I was headed for the Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar, with a co-traveller. A driver was on hand to take us in a brand-new vehicle. About fifteen minutes on the trip, we were close to the airport when I suddenly noticed that the vehicle had skidded off the right lane towards the median on the left. Before we could shout “Jesus”, I discovered I was already sitting on the ground outside the vehicle. Then I noticed that the vehicle had hit the concrete base of a street light near IBB Way by Eta-Agbo Junction. My co- traveller and the driver were still trapped in the vehicle. I felt some hot liquid flowing from my head. I touch my head and it was soaked with blood. I had a deep gash on the right side of my head. But I managed to request sympathizers to rescue the two other occupants in the vehicle.
Then I started hearing, “The paralytic man… The paralytic man.” God gave me the presence of mind to dwell on this statement. I instantly remembered Mark 2:1-12, The story of the man sick of palsy filled my heart. I saw his four friends helping him to obtain healing. The words of Jesus began to ring in my ears: “Your sins are forgiven”. I tried to say “Amen” but the pain in my mouth prevented me. I had a big cut on my lower lip. That was when I knew the value of meditation. I began to confess in my mind that “Jesus has forgiven me my sins… Blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven” (Psalm 32:1).
Help came as an open back white truck came to pick us to the hospital. But our rescuers were confused about what hospital to take us to. Though I was already feeling dizzy, I opened my mouth to advise them but my lips failed me. One of the kind rescuers put his ears close to my mouth. “Governor’s Lodge” I whispered. At that time, I didn’t know that there was a clinic in the Governor’s Lodge but God led me to direct the people. Of course, the security details denied the truck access initially. But when they saw a heavily built six feet and three inches man in the pool of his own blood, their heart melted. Thanks be to God that there was actually a functional clinic in the Governor’s Lodge. Desperate efforts were made to treat me. However, I suddenly felt life departing from me. I went into a trance. I saw my body in a morgue being removed into a casket by some undertakers. In that moment, I remembered that “Jesus has forgiven me my sins… Blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven.” I screamed, “I shall not die but live to declare the works of the God.” I was fired up by the Holy Spirit. I began to confess the scriptures. “No weapon fashioned against me shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17), “Jesus told the paralytic man, “Take up your bed and walk.” (Mark 2:11). So, “I shall walk again.” “A prophet shall not die outside Jerusalem. Calabar is outside Jerusalem. I shall not die in Calabar.” (Psalm 118:17). “This sickness is not unto death. It is for the name of God to be glorified.” (John 11:4)
Now, my strength had returned to me. But the medical personnel and sympathizers urged me to keep quiet and be calm. They must have thought I was hallucinating. From that moment on, I assumed I was on the altar of God and not inside an operating theatre. Then the miraculous happened. God spoke. I called the name of a brother and announced that, “God is going to give you and your family a breakthrough in 2006. You will bear a child.” The room roared into “Hallelujah”. Unknown to me, the brother had been believing God for the fruit of the womb. From that moment on, the faith of everyone soared. The man they thought would die would now live. I had lost pints of blood from bleeding for about two hours. Yet, when my blood count was done, I still had excess blood flowing in my veins. No medical practitioner recommended multivitamins or ferrous sulphate for me because of that accident. Praise God!
By the evening of the second day, a team of medical doctors were standing by my bed. “We have a strong suspicion that there is a major crack on the bone of your neck called C1 fracture. All the X-rays we have done confirm it but we hope this is not the situation. The effect of this fracture may lead to paralysis from the shoulder down to your leg, but we have arranged for you to be taken to Abuja for a CT scan that will further guide us. Pastor, you need to be strong.” The head of the wonderful medical team in Calabar politely told me I may never walk again because of a suspected spinal cord injury.
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