Simon had to teach at some discipleship classes in the Northern part of Ghana. Before he left on this trip, he noticed a slight waist pain. But he was determined to embark on that journey. Simon had been to the North of Ghana severally. He was very familiar with the rugged deteriorating roads he was to pass through, but he never envisaged what that journey was going to do to his already ailing waist bones.
As the bus he was travelling in kept
galloping in and out of the gaping holes (created by erosion) that filled this
road, the pains shot through his entire body. The pains at a point were
becoming unbearable, yet he endured. After one jump in and out of a
particularly dangerous ditch, Simon felt a dislocation at his back. He could
not help wincing and groaning out loud.
He never knew that a terrible damage had
been done to his ailing waist. It was when he arrived at his destination that
he discovered he could not walk again. It appeared he had a partial stroke but
the doctors who examined him called it Lumberosis…
“It is going to be a difficult journey back
to Accra”, I said to myself when the brethren called to tell me of his
condition. It was so hard for me because he had gone to represent me there. I later
spoke to Simon on phone, trying to console him. I also tried to persuade him
not to worry about the meetings when he expressed his concerns about them.
On that day as the time for the meeting
approached, the brethren were so sure, they had no guest speaker for their well-advertised
meetings. Simon was in such great pains and they did not mince words in telling
him he could not go to preach. Simon was of a different opinion altogether.
“I am going to take the meetings even if I
have to crawl there” He said to them point blank.
Given the way he cringed under the pains
each time he moved himself, the brethren still could not believe he could do
that. When it was close to the time however, they had to convey Simon to the venue
of the meeting when they saw he was really ready to crawl to the meeting!
They had watched him as he climbed down
from his bed and painfully began to crawl on his hands and buttocks out of the
house. Sam actually crawled to the car, but could not climb into the car. He
just could not. The brethren on seeing his determination teamed up and carried
him int the car. At the venue, Simon was also carried out of the car. He again
crawled in. When it was time to preach, he was lifted to the stage where he sat
down and taught the Bible studies.
It was such a great marvel to all who knew
what pains he had been through before the meeting and how he was carried up to
where he sat at the moment teaching. The most amazing of all was the grace God
released to the brethren. Many were converted and restored as they trooped out
when he gave the altar call.
Simon did not just insist on preaching the
first day; he preached on all days for which the meeting was billed; and in all
the locations in spite of his pains. The brethren were all so thoroughly
blessed wherever he went. When I heard about this from the brethren who called
to tell me what God was doing in their midst, I was shocked, but overjoyed. I
however still wondered how he was going to travel back to re-join his family.
God still did this for us as I gathered brethren
in Accra and we joined hearts and hands to pray for a miracle. It was when God
brought him through those very rugged roads again and we had a doctor examine
him at Accra that we knew this brother was a bundle of miracles. The doctors
told us categorically that he might not be able to walk again.
At this point, the brethren and I spent
more time in fasting and prayers. We were determined to have our brother back
to his feet and in good health again. To God’s glory, Simon is on his two feet
today still running with great zeal in the services of our great God.
Simon’s courage during those painful days in
the North of Ghana and how God honoured his faith given the final outcome of
those meetings have remained a challenge to me. From Simon’s example I have
confirmed that what God seeks each time he is working on a life is to produce
unbendable arrows he can shoot into the camp of the enemy.
My wife and I had being through those rugged roads from Accra to Northern Ghana very many times since we came to Ghana. We know the turbulence and how our own bodies have suffered. If Simon had given up, he would not have seen the work God did in the lives of his listeners.
Culled from "Shake Well Before Use" by Samuel Shittu
