In the
middle of a village where many were poor was a young boy and his siblings who
didn’t really know God apart from their parents. This family was a nuclear
family with five people who were the father, mother, two boys and one girl and
they lived peacefully all the time. The mother of this family is Mrs. Janet
Dzata who was a Christian fervent in prayer, humble in service to God and also
to people. She was a workaholic who put everything in order so that peace
prevails all the time in the house. Mrs Janet whom the children always called
Mama was a seamstress but she also sold provisions in her shop as well as
farmed. Anytime that the rainy season comes, she made sure she planted crops
like cassava, maize, groundnut, beans, and potato among other crops and the land on
which she farmed too was very fertile which honored her efforts always.
Laziness is something this woman never gave room to because she meditated on
the life of Jesus Christ as a man who was very hardworking and having read of
how he began answering and asking questions in his father’s house even at age
12 in Luke 2:46, this woman embraced
more the spirit of hardworking in the strength of the Almighty God.
This family of five lived peacefully and there has never
been a day when there was a misunderstanding or quarrel between Mrs. Janet and her husband Mr. Israel Dzata.
One day, after the family has prepared the favorite food of
Mr. Israel, they discussed life experiences with their children. Mrs. Janet
harvested her maize which was dried and they removed the husk and ground into
corn powder at a mill. That day she prepared ‘eworkple’ and ‘aborbi tadi’ which
the husband loved so much and never played with. The children helped their
mother in the kitchen to prepare the food as she has always insisted on the
children to do the right thing for them to develop good manners which will make
them grow and become responsible individuals in the society. After preparing
the meal, she laid the table and they all ate together as a family in love.
After eating, they watched news at 12:00pm after which the parents told the
children how their life has been in the days of their early youth for the
children to learn from their experiences. The eldest child at that time was 15
years of age and his name is Yao Dzata and the second born is a girl by name
Ewoenam Dzata and the last born also a male by name Eli Dzata. The difference
in age of these three siblings is 3 years each and they lived in absolute
togetherness as their parents also did. Mrs. Janet started the conversation by
telling the family her story about how she was born in a home of intensive idol
worship where every week, there was a ritual performed in the house.
The family sitting together as
the parents share their ordeal in their early youth
She narrated, “Life has not been easy for me because my
parents were desperately wicked towards me even though I was their only child.
Everyday, I went to sell cassava dough in our neighborhood before going to
school. My teacher was always upset with my lateness and he beat me anytime I
was late but I still went late because it was not my fault for going late to
school. One day, he decided not to beat me but to find our why I was late all
the time and after telling him my ordeal, he became so sorry and even regretted
beating me all this while. My parents made me do all house chores, went to sale
every morning and cooked breakfast for them of which I was hardly allowed to
even eat meanwhile I was not given enough money for my feeding in school too.
My class teacher after listening to my plight became the reason why I was able
to complete JSS. He bought food for me to make sure I am fine so that I could
study and he also found time to teach me the lessons I missed knowing that I
was ready to learn and so I remain thankful to him for his immense kindness
towards me. May God remember him wherever he is right now. Mr Ganyo was a very
compassionate teacher, hmm……..he is the reason why I could speak good English
even though I couldn’t proceed with my education further to the level I had
wanted to reach. After completing JSS, I told my parents I wanted to go to the
secondary school but they refused and were not ready to support me further my
education.” Ewoenam asked her mother;
mama, so how did you become a seamstress? The mother replied; “Mr. Ganyo
counselled me that since my parents were not ready to offer their support for
my education, I should learn how to sew from a woman who sewed in our village.
That was how I managed to learn sewing and God helped me in all that I did.”
Yaw has gotten a lot of inspiration from the Christian life of the parents
especially the mother and even made a decision to become an evangelist of the
Lord Jesus Christ in the future so, he asked the mother how she became born
again even though she was born in an idolatrous home. Mrs. Janet was very glad
he asked and immediately she said all the children should close their eyes and
she led them to Christ before she proceeded to tell her salvation story. She
said one day at the place where she was been trained as a seamstress, a man of
God came to them to preach God’s word to them and all of them there were
convicted by the power of God. This was not the only reason why she became born
again, their madam had a daughter who was ill and laid asleep at the time the
man of God came but he prayed for the young girl and she immediately got healed
and it was a happening none of them there ever witnessed before in their life.
Even her parents who served idols that they believed have powers did not do anything
of that sort before. They were all led to Christ that day and the man of God
prayed for them. After the man of God was done and about leaving, she asked him
how she would be able to tell the parents of her new faith since they were
wicked and would not allow that to happen. The man now sat down and gave them
some teachings and by prayers, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and
boldness filled her spirit so much that the fear was gone. The entire room was
very quiet as Mrs. Janet told them all that she went through.
Mr. Israel also told his story and all the hard times he had
to endure to become a teacher who was revered for excellence in teaching
delivery and relationship with people no matter their status. For him, his
parents died when he was very young and a relative in their family was asked to
take care of him. At age 8, he was taught how to weave kente cloth and he was
made to weave the cloth everyday. After he is back from school, he wove till
evening before he is given his food and he had to also wake up early at dawn to
weave before leaving to school. It was a hard battle for him to face and
sometimes he was unable to do his home works before going to school the next
day and his teachers didn’t forgive him for his failure to do the home works. He
now finally made a resolution to do his home works right after school has
closed lest he might not be able to do them at all and he would surely be
liable to punishment. Saturdays and Sundays were the days he would wash the
clothes of his caretaker and that of the children and after which he had to go
to farm to weed the grasses in the farm. Despite his sufferings and hard
treatments, he was able to finish JSS because he had a vision in mind which he
pursued without relenting. He was very brilliant so much so that, whenever he
gets a free time in school, he used it for learning because at home, hardly
will he get time for studies. The government during his time was giving
students who performed well in their final examinations scholarship to study in
a secondary school of their choice with free accommodation and feeding also
provided. He was also a beneficiary of that scholarship opportunity because he
was the overall best student in his school and he decided to read Agricultural
Science. God being so good to him, he pursued excellence and completed
university and after completion, he became a lecturer in Agricultural Science
in one of the universities in the country. Mr Israel became born again during
his time in secondary school and with his devotion to God, God made way for him
to succeed in all his pursuits because he served feared God in all he did. The
family became overly excited because both parents were able to excel in life
though the situations they have been through should have hindered them from
achieving their goals but it was rather the other way round. They have never at
any point in time forgotten the main factor that helped them to achieve despite
their predicaments, and that factor is God.
In this household, everyone has a bible, a diary and a
devotional each that they used to learn the word of God in order to grow in all
spheres of life. The children loved and appreciated the work their parent did
for living and in that regard, they avail themselves to give them helping hand
in their work. Mr. Israel one day had an educational seminar to attend and Mrs. Janet also wanted to go to the market and purchase some items. The children
were now deciding whom to follow because definitely none of them would be left
to stay at home alone. The eldest child followed the father to the seminar
whilst the others accompanied their mother to the market. In the seminar, a
number of great intellectuals came to speak on different topics and even though
Yaw could not really understand some of the topics presented, he was very glad
to follow his father to the seminar. On their way home, he was telling his
father how he thought it was not that hard to become a professor or doctor in
any field of study. The father smiled and asked him if he had taken notice of
the plenty books he had packed nicely in the room. Yaw nodded in response; Mr. Israel told Yaw how every successful individual who has achieved great had to
persevere before being able to reach the top. He also spent time to tell him
how it will also be in vain to work hard without God knowing that even with all
one gets they will all remain on the earth but the individual person is very
important to God. Which in a more clearer sense, he meant that the soul and
spirit of man is very important to Him that it is not His wish for any human
being to perish. In the market, Mrs. Janet bought tomatoes, kontomire, pepper,
smoked fish, beans, cooking oil and other foodstuffs. Everyone went with a bag
to carry something home to reduce the burden on their mother. As they were about
leaving the market, Ewoenam told the mother to buy her something nice and the
mother smiled in agreement.
Mrs. Janet Dzata, Eli and Ewoenam holding
their bags as they return from the market.
Eli immediately jumped and said, Ewoe! Ewoe! “Thank you,
this nearly skipped my mind but God did not allow it. Thank you Ewoenam”. Their
mother approached a shop and bought Yoghurt and a pastry each for them. They
received it from their mother and put it in their bags with excitement as they
walked back home. On their way home, they met Eli’s class teacher, Mr. Kponyo
and they greeted him with joy. Mrs. Janet asked of Eli’s conduct and academic
performance in school from Mr. Kponyo. He smiled and said, “Eli, he is the class
prefect and does very well academically too. He is among the best 10 pupils in
the class and every morning, he shares his quiet time with the class and leads
them in prayers before I come to teach.” Mrs. Janet was happy about what she had
heard and commended Mr Kponyo for his hardwork and asked him to continue taking
good care of the wards in his care. They parted way and Mr. Kponyo also went
home. Yaw and his father came home an hour later after the members who went to
the market came back and had already finished the Yoghurt and the pastry.
Years passed and Yaw was in SHS 2 reading Visual Arts, he
was a very curious guy and did not limit himself in anything so he conceived an
idea of helping his society by bringing up an innovative idea that when
implemented, will positively impact the whole community and beyond. This guy
could not hide his excitement whenever he saw anything Agriculture or
Biotechnology in his books and from there he began thinking deep about his
dream of producing an innovative product for the whole community. Now in Enyonyoge
village, the majority of the people had low income levels and a very low
standard of living. The assemblyman of the area who happened to be an
evangelist also worked as a farming consultant. Aside his occupation as a
farming consultant, he had large farms where he planted varieties of crops.
Before he started farming, he was already working as a farming consultant and
majority of the foodstuffs in the village were normally purchased from nearby
towns and regions which made the prices of food in the village to be high
making the low income level people wallow in lack and want. His aim before
starting farming was to cut down on the percentage of foodstuffs purchased from
nearby towns and regions by 50%. It was a great task for him looking at the
quantity of food normally bought from the nearby towns but with the grace of
God and his determination to accomplish the target and give some comfort to the
people, he entered into an agreement with the chiefs who leased acres of
fertile lands for him to undertake his project. With his expertise in farming
consultancy, he engaged the energetic in the village who were largely the youth
and he offered good terms of work which encouraged them to work hard for the
success of the project.
Some of the laborers busily working in the
farm
After the first two years of implementing the vision, the
aim of embarking on this project was almost attained. The purchase of food from
nearby towns and regions was drastically brought down by 45% and this alone
brought down the prices of food down by a very high margin. He engaged with the
elders and chiefs of the village as they analyzed the impact of the project on
the whole community. As assemblyman for this area, he was commended and given
full support to do more and the chiefs made a decision to retract from the
agreement of leasing the land to him and instead gave the lands out for free
use. This made it possible to get more farmlands and also hire more laborers
to push the initiative forward. By the end of the third year, the village had
no need to buy foodstuffs from anywhere again and prices also went down again
to a level where everyone was able to afford a balanced diet 3 times a day.
Education and Christianity was also taking over the village because the people
were seeing the fruits of the assemblyman who was also an evangelist who worked
tirelessly in the power of God to give the people comfort. Pastors in the
village were supported by the community chiefs to build churches to accommodate
the growing population of Christians. Unity and love reigned in the village as
the people gave themselves wholly to God as they also followed the precepts of
the Most High with all obedience.
A ministry was established in the village by the leaders of
the village and it was an initiative spearheaded by the assembly man, Mr. Godson
Gator and it was called “The Innovation Support Ministry” to support any member
of the community with any innovative idea that is able to improve upon the life
of the community. In this village, the people used firewood and charcoal as the
major sources of fuel for cooking and other needs but watery eyes with some
other health complications normally resulted after exposure to the smoke and
the fire and this was of concern which requested for an action to be taken.
Yaw all this
while had not relaxed about his vision but was rather able to research and he
acquired knowledge in the field of biotechnology in respect to his innovation
and came out with a strategically planned idea to initiate an innovation. He
told his father about the idea and one day after church, the family sat down to
listen to Yaw’s idea in order to criticize it and shape it for the best before
it is let out. He talked about the idea with enthusiasm: “Here in this village
where the sole source of fuel is firewood and charcoal which even have many
side effects on our people, this is what I have decided to do. The agricultural
foodstuffs are biodegradable which means they breakdown to release their
chemical compositions when acted upon by bacteria. I will setup a system that
will keep this food crops like wastes that are biodegradable and after some
days, they will be broken down by bacteria and the chemical compounds they are
made of will be released which we will treat into fuel for cooking for the households.
With this, our people will not use firewood and charcoal again. This source of
fuel will be clean and very cheap to afford with no harmful effects.” The
family cheered as they rejoice over this idea and pledged their support for the
implementation of the idea. His father asked him to work on a prototype or in
other words a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) so that they can send a proposal to
the ministry that has been setup in the village to support the project on a
large scale. Yaw became very excited and worked tirelessly on the project and
he always prayed to God for wisdom and direction to do the right thing. With
some money provided by his parents, he worked on a prototype which during
testing worked perfectly well and they experimented with it by using it to heat
a cup of water. The whole family went with Yaw to the assembly to submit their
proposal on the project for support. The District assembly checked the
innovation idea and the prototype thoroughly and they were extremely thrilled
by it, they gave him patent right to his innovation and gave him a full
financial and technical support to make sure the project is adequately
resourced for effective implementation. After one year of acquiring rights to
his innovation and the supports he was given, he built a company that made and
delivered the products to households. The assembly with the chiefs organized a
celebration purposely to celebrate with the entire community and the people
helping to transform lives in the community through their developmental
initiatives. For the first time, the Minister for the region and other public
figures came to celebrate the achievements of Enyonyoge village. Yaw and the
assemblyman Mr. Gator were the top achievers who were celebrated and recognized
for their efforts that changed the life and state of the community forever.
Yaw delivering his speech as the family and
relative stood behind him
Speeches were delivered by the guests and the assemblyman as
well as Yaw. Yaw at this time has completed university and became a great
entrepreneur with Ewoenam a director of a bank in region and she worked on
international projects. Eli the last born was in charge of all security
services in the region. When it was the turn of Yaw to give his speech, he
invited the family to stand by him as he gave the speech. One of the things he
said made him worked hard without looking back to support the community was the
story his parents shared with them when they were young. From the story of his
parents, even though they suffered, God helped them as they put their reliance
in him and this he said caused him also to depend on God for everything he did.
He gave great glory to God for everything he has achieved. Every one present at
this august and novel celebration or event was happy to be present as they
learnt from the stories of great achievers in the town. It has always been the
desire of the chiefs, elders and custodians of the village to see Enyonyoge
village develop beyond limitation. The priority of the chiefs anytime a meeting is called in the palace was to see
every youth engaged in something responsible for the good of all. This is one
of the philosophies on which this community stood, ‘You have to be morally
upright and relate well with everyone in the society, especially the elderly.
Our culture is to build up every youth to become responsible and helpful to our
land for it is our heritage and our treasured possession.’
Despite all efforts of the Christian leaders and the chiefs
in the village to make sure people live responsibly, some people and most
especially some of the youth were trying to be miscreants. One of the
irresponsible behaviors was theft and some other kinds of bad manners in
exhibition. Stakeholders saw the menace as an emerging trend because the
miscreants continued to influence others and it was becoming unbearable. The
chiefs collaborated with government agencies like the district, municipal and
local assembly to institute security measures to make sure there is peace and
stability. Rules were intensified and enforcement coupled with punishment was
very rigorous and whilst some of the stubborn people were being transformed by
the punishments, others were exhibiting immunity against the rules and the
punishments. One time a program was organized during Christmas period for the
youths to enjoy themselves as they said and it was not a Christian event any
way. People got drunk and engaged in all sorts of irresponsible attitudes with
no shame at all. A major incident happened which scared everyone. In the course
of the program, a fight broke out between two groups and the whole place became
so disorganized. Stones were thrown into the gathering of people, bottles were
broken in the process and many got severely injured and some were at the verge
of dying. Many ran away and the injured were left stranded. Some Christians who
closed from carols service that night saw these folks and were moved by compassion
and offered help by sending them to the hospital and on their way to the
hospital, they were prayed for by these Christians for God to forgive their
sins and heal them. Fortunately nurses and doctors were available and attended
to them urgently and they recovered by the grace of God.
In the hospital, the doctors and nurses
treated the victims of the fighting incident and the Christians who took them
to the hospital stayed with them and responded to their needs.
These Christians were able to preach Christ to these people
and from all the love the Christians have shown them when all their close
friends left them and ran away when they were about to die, how much more does
God love them? What a friend they have in Jesus that they can wholly give their
hearts to him? They received the message of truth and were converted to
Christians. The chiefs and elders were still contemplating some measures to put
in place to fully eradicate bad behavior and irresponsibility among the youth.
Mr. Gator, an evangelist who was also assemblyman for the village for two terms
of service was around and also partook in the meeting that was called. The
paramount chief requested for everyone’s view to be able to decide on the
rightful steps to take so the sub-chiefs and the elders gave their suggestions
which were lacking some essence but the Mr. Gator made his submission which was
very potent of bringing about change. His submission was that a law must be
enacted against the operation of nightclubs and other events that are prone to
cause misunderstanding among the youth which might escalate to a fight or riot.
The paramount chief pondered over this particular suggestion and it was good to
him. The former assemblyman also made an important request from the paramount
chief on behalf of the churches in the village. He asked for permission to
allow the churches to organize crusades at some strategic places in the village
and his permission was granted with full support. From this meeting, there was
a smell of relief as the final decision was predominantly standing on God’s
agenda which was like giving God the way to move in His power. The crusades
were organized with rigorous evangelistic activities in market places, schools,
streets, house-to-house, placard evangelism and it was very massive. Lives were
touched in all these activities with many records of healing, deliverances,
miracles, signs and most importantly the salvation of many. One of the major
messages of one man of God was ‘A new generation’ and his message was about how
a new generation of people must emerge so that the people would give God all
the glory and desist from all idolatry because God detests it. He prayed for a
generation of people that fears God and accords him glory in all things knowing
that he has made us all and we must give him worship. Yaw and his family always
fellowshipped with the brethren and they did not hold back help from whoever
needed help. Though the family has achieved great making them famous, they did
not consider their achievement a thing to boast about but they rather humbled
themselves in service to God and their fellow human beings. In church, this
family swept the church and arranged the chairs and made sure all things were
in order. People wondered how this thing could be but it was a habit they
developed and learned from God’s word and they have clung to it so strongly. James 4:10 [Humble yourself before the LORD
and he will lift you up in honor.] Though
all things have worked out for good for this family and the entire village, it
has not been an easy journey to endure. This village by name Enyonyoge village
has witnessed and undergone some changes that marveled towns and villages
around. For every traditional certain as this village, it was not common to
have the chiefs desist from everything idolatrous but his was what
differentiated this village from other ones. The paramount chief had been
converted to a Christian and likewise the sub-chiefs especially those who work
in the palace. His conversion was a major factor behind the reduction of many
irresponsibility and criminality among the people and he became a role model
for many. Though all these conversions from the leaders of the village to the
layman were taking place, some idol worshippers still wanted to take authority
and be the ones to take rule. Everyone was given the right to his or her object
of worship but taking advantage of that to become a nuisance to somebody else
belief was highly abominable. A traditional group in the town was celebrating
their annual festival and in that year, they made a town crier go round the
village announcing that for a whole month no one should play drums or stay in
the night beyond 10:00pm. This was done without the paramount chief made aware
and they began to enforce this. A Sunday morning when churches were in session,
groups of people affiliated to this group went to the churches with violence
beating people and they seized some instruments of the churches. The paramount
chief was in one of the congregations and these people rushed in to misbehave
as they had already done elsewhere and when they saw the paramount chief, they
quickly ran away so that their identity would not be disclosed. The churches
continued their service anyway and committed every occurrence into the hands of
God in whose hands are the times and the seasons. Immediately the chief got
home, he called an emergency meeting where all elders and sub-chiefs came.
The head of security for the region and other stakeholders
were present to help solve the problem at hand. The leader of the group that
caused the commotion was arrested, tried and found guilty of many things.
1.
He transgressed by making a public announcement without
the knowledge of the chiefs.
2.
He infringed on the rights of people by beating them
without a reason.
3. He
with this group destroyed properties and also stood against the religious
freedom of others.
He now began to plead for mercy because he knew all he did
was totally unlawful and deserved a critical punishment. The chief asked him an
important question; “If your gods have power, are you the one to fight for them
when someone disobeys them, can they not fight for themselves?” He could not
answer. From that day the chief gave a decree that nobody is to worship an idol
in the village but the only one deserving worship is the God Almighty, Maker of
all things. Men of God like pastors, apostles and evangelists came around to
destroy the idols totally and the leader of the group with his members were led
to Christ. Now the people who caused troubles and disturbances in the village
were being transformed by the power of God which meant that God took dominion
over the entire village. [2 Corinthians
3:17 – Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is
freedom.] Enyonyoge village has now been transformed with many individuals
who were intellectually built showing their love to their motherland in diverse
ways. Yaw’s project was a big time innovation which created jobs for many of
the youths who were graduating from school and they took the company to higher
levels of excellence. Demands were now laid upon this company by name NATGAS
FOR ALL to help solve the issues faces by some nearby towns with regards to
fuel access for household use.
Front view of the factory that Yaw built
with the support of the community chiefs and the elders to produce clean gas
for the whole community and beyond.
The people were glad to hear this and after some days, the
systems were made and delivered to these towns at discounted prices. Everyone
who used the system was very grateful because of the effectiveness of the
product. The agriculture of this village was very proficient with huge capacity
that people lived peacefully in food security as they were well-fed. Hospitals
were no longer full as they used to be with cases of malaria, cholera,
malnutrition and even mental problems. Many of the lands in the village that
were not plowed were turned into farmlands and because the farming done in
the entire village was organic, no food poisoning as a result of chemicals was
ever recorded. The people at the helm of affairs of the village still pursued
excellence and they achieved every target set for themselves. A whole week was
set aside where the community fellowshipped at their school park having the
chiefs and great men of the village in attendance. Free meals were given as
they took some time to rest and enjoy the fruits of hard work.
Glossary of words
Workaholic- Person with a compulsive need to work.
Intensive- Tending to give force
Desperately- with much urgency
Predicament- An unpleasant situation of plight
Nod- Lower or raise head to show agreement or confirmation
Persevere- Refuse to stop
Consultant- An expert who offers advice
Biodegradable- Capable of being decomposed by bacteria
Novel- New, fresh
Miscreant- A person without moral ethics or scruples
Rigorous- Thorough
Contemplate- Think deeply about something or a subject
Enact- Order b virtue of superior or authority
Ponder- Think about
Nuisance- Something or someone that causes annoyance
Unethical- Not conforming to approved standards
Proficient- Skilled, skillful
QUESTIONS
1)
What is the main reason why Mrs. Janet was not lazy?
2)
If the eldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Dzata is 20, how old
will Ewoenam and Eli be?
3)
How did Mr. Israel become a lecturer?
4)
State the occupations of the assemblyman in the story.
State his name.
5)
State one value Yaw and his family that made them to
succeed.
6) What
moral lessons did you learn from the story?
Awesome!
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