At Gunpoint Week 19, 2011

It was no fake gun being pointed at me, and the man pointing it was no stranger. It was my own very father in broad daylight. He was so angry I would not agree to marry any of his approved suitors. That I claimed none of them was born again. Born again; I think that upset him even more. We were brought up in a religious home and my parents had church titles. This concept of born again was offensive to them. I no longer attended the same church as my parents. Were we saying they were no more Christians?
God said honour your father and mother; but that does not include marriage to an unbeliever! She is free to be married to any man she wishes, but only if he is a Christian 1Co 7:39(GNB). I was engaged to this fine brother who loves me and is zealous for Jesus. My mother was disappointed in my choice as he was from Enugu State...and he sold pop corn for a living. Yes pop corn, though he had a Masters from University of Nigeria. I had rich suitors that lived in USA but I refused them. To my mother it was foolish, and my father was enraged. In this confrontation he ordered me at gunpoint “Pack your things and leave my house!”
I was determined to marry with parental consent, both parents. But I was never going to submit to any unbeliever 2Cor 6:14. I went straight to a prayer meeting in my church. The brethren prayed for me that my father would receive me back into the house, and that my husband from the Lord would find favour in their eyes. The leader urged me not to stay on at the prayer meeting. The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will Pro 21:1(ESV). This Enugu State pop corn seller began to find favour before my parents’ eyes, my mother leading. He was encouraged to bring his people for marriage rites!
My father handed me away in our wedding; in a church he did not attend. Of course my mother was there. At the reception Dad said something like “Parents should respect the wishes of their children about marriage and not insist”. God had certainly done His bit. The story does not end here. He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD Pro 18:22(ESV). I held on to this scripture. I worked in a private hospital that did not pay too well, and he still sold pop corn; but we trusted God. His job began to change, after his pHD an information technology firm hired him to manage their operations at Nsukka. It meant he was away from home and the work schedule was very tasking. We decided he should give it up. He was called for a new job: managing director of a micro credit bank! I was also given employment in a federal hospital when I was close to delivery. Over a thousand nurses applied but I was taken even though I could not start immediately but had to deliver and nurse the baby. Who did I know to secure this job, who was my godfather: God almighty! He alone has been moving us up. Child of God hold on to the word of God. It can never fail. What more? We got a USA visa lottery in 2007. Ifeoma now lives and works in Patterson, USA with her family