My first encounter with God happened when I was about 11 years old, when I was in darkness, not knowing who I was and what the future holds for me.
As a child I grew up to find out that I have no parents. What I was told was that my parents passed two (dad) and three (mom) years after my birth. And from then on I had been living with my parents' relatives, from one house to another. The home I was when I was about 11 was my second foster home, I think. The person that I was living with was my great uncle - my father's elder brother. I called him 'Bami' (my father). He was a very old man and spent most time in the village-town due to his farm work. So I had to live with him in the village instead of our hometown.
The village-town is one of the various farm settlements (camp) where people from our hometown do their farm work. Most people live there, working from Monday to Friday or on monthly basis and then spend their weekends in the hometown city for relaxation and enjoyment. Those who have nowhere else to go would stay in the village-town all through week days or several months before visiting hometown. I was always there most days of the years. I only visited hometown with Bami whenever he was visiting for a long time and there was no one I could stay with in the village before he returns to the village.
Most times, there were always enough food available in the village. But the numbers of my clothes were few. I would wear whatever clothes and shoes were provided and slept on leaf mat or plastic sheets meant for drying cacao. There was no luxuries, no birthdays, and no toys. But sometimes I do get gifts from people when I run errand for them. Though I was enrolled in a Village School at the back of my foster home, I didn't understand anything being taught there, and I always got the last position in my class. I couldn't recite ABC. I couldn't read or write nor understood any simple arithmetic, even though I was over 11 years old. Moreover, no one was really there to care about my performance in school. Bami was too old to undergo the stress of homeschooling me.
The village-town is one of the various farm settlements (camp) where people from our hometown do their farm work. Most people live there, working from Monday to Friday or on monthly basis and then spend their weekends in the hometown city for relaxation and enjoyment. Those who have nowhere else to go would stay in the village-town all through week days or several months before visiting hometown. I was always there most days of the years. I only visited hometown with Bami whenever he was visiting for a long time and there was no one I could stay with in the village before he returns to the village.
Most times, there were always enough food available in the village. But the numbers of my clothes were few. I would wear whatever clothes and shoes were provided and slept on leaf mat or plastic sheets meant for drying cacao. There was no luxuries, no birthdays, and no toys. But sometimes I do get gifts from people when I run errand for them. Though I was enrolled in a Village School at the back of my foster home, I didn't understand anything being taught there, and I always got the last position in my class. I couldn't recite ABC. I couldn't read or write nor understood any simple arithmetic, even though I was over 11 years old. Moreover, no one was really there to care about my performance in school. Bami was too old to undergo the stress of homeschooling me.
However, when I was a little bit above 11 years old God showed up and changed my life. He came through my (now late) brother Wilson Akinrinlola to take me from the village-town (Omilifon Camp) to our hometown (Odode Idanre) and enrolled me into a better Primary School. There I was enrolled into Pry 3, instead of Pry 6, because I couldn't read or write - not even able spell out my own name. Afterwards, my brother would come to my foster home every evening to teach me how to read and write. He would teach me the Yoruba Alphabets and show me how to form syllables, to pronounce simple letter words. He did that almost every evening for many days.
Coincidentally it was during this period that I happened to come to know about God - about His ability and willingness to give wisdom and understanding to people that ask Him. And I remember one day, I prayed to God asking Him to Give me knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. I told Him to make me The Head and not The Tail, that I too want to be known for excellence among my peers. And God heard me and answered my prayers requests that day.
Not too long from that day, I was able to read and understand everything I was taught, both at home and in school. It appeared to me that my eyes were just opened. I understood things clearly and could remember whatever we were taught in schools, even without having to read my notes. I can learn anything and do them excellently. I became very good that I became the best student in my class and got First Position starting from that term. And by the time we got to Pry 4 I was selected by our class teacher to replace our Class Captain, who was removed from office for stealing another student's item. Some of my duty was to maintain order in class and collect homework from my class mates for submission to our class teacher and vice versa. I maintained my status as the best student and Class Captain till my final year in Primary school, and also served as the School Senior Prefect Boy (Senior Boy) in the final year. Truly, my status was changed from being The Tail to become The Head as I requested from God.
This experience - how God used people (especially my late brother) to change my life and grant my prayers request, giving me knowledge, wisdom, and understanding - was the beginning of my journey and encounter with God. It was the first encounter that changed my life forever, and it was over 20 years ago! But there are still many more encounters I have had with God that is left to be written another day, hopefully.
My hope is that this story will inspire faith in your heart to put you trust in God through Jesus Christ, His Son! May God bless you!
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