Adjusting quickly to a whole new life without the presence of our very strong energetic and resourceful mother and father, who doted on us, was especially brutal for the dear younger ones. Our parents now mostly could only support us with their fervent prayers, long distance phone calls (this was before cell phones became accessible to all), and many words of encouragement. They had let go of most of their staff, did most of the work themselves, and wrestled daily with their new circ.u.mstances on the home front. Today, looking back, I commend their fort.i.tude, tenacity, and unwavering determination. They never quit, and I don't recall hearing either parent ever speak of giving up, though they were now in extremely dire straits. They worked tirelessly and relentlessly to the end, believing in G.o.d's ability to bring them through. Because of their great tenacity, though they had lost all of their own capital investment, they were able to pay back every creditor and did not lose any of the many acres of land they had purchased and owned. Upon their pa.s.sing they were able to leave all of that real estate as an inheritance for their children.

Both of my parents became born-again Christians some years after this very dark period. After this fresh encounter with G.o.d, they both rededicated all of their land to G.o.d, renaming it "G.o.d's Green Fields." Our father then began to work tirelessly, serving the Lord in his local c h u rc h . M a ny o t h e r m i n i s t r i e s a n d C h r i s t i a n organizations also benefttted from his zeal and dedication to Christ's service. He succeeded in a.s.sisting one of the largest ministries in the nation, The Sword of the Spirit Ministries also known as Christ Life Church founded by Bishop Francis Wale Oke and headquartered in Ibadan Nigeria, in acquiring much of the land for many of their major buildings.

The purpose of sharing and spreading the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ now became his and our mother's sole daily focus. The most impressive part of the real estate acquisitions he helped the church to purchase was the speed with which he could get things done. The purchases with which he was involved were always completed in record time. He devoted great attention to every paperwork detail, processing each with honesty, accountability, and transparency. This accomplishment was unusual and was no small achievement, as the purchase of any real estate in Nigeria was subject to extremely long delays and many scams while many officials would demand large amounts of money as bribes before being willing to do the job for which they were paid. This was largely due to the extremely high level of corruption in the nation at the time. We all now believe G.o.d must have especially anointed him for this special service during that period for the furtherance of His kingdom purposes on the earth. Many dark and trying moments from this very difficult period of all of our lives are hard to forget, but one will forever stand out in my memory.

It involved a piece of music that I doubt I will ever be able to listen to again without tears welling up: "Pachelbel's Canon." It is the name commonly given to a piece of music by the German Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel in his Canon and Gigue for three violins and ba.s.so continuo. The occasion was an end-of-year school event at my brother Muyiwa's high school in south London. He was being honored with an award for doing so well, and I had rushed through an extremely busy workday to be there to support and watch him receive the award. At some point during the evening's program, I heard this memorable piece of music for the very ftrst time. It was their high-school band playing Pachelbel's Canon. It might have been sheer exhaustion on that dark, cold winter night, combined with memories of my parents and how our family used to be, or some other thought, but suddenly I was overwhelmed by a great wave of acute sadness. Struggling quietly not to break into loud sobs that would have startled the people sitting right next to me on both sides, embarra.s.sing my young brother, and disrupting the program, I struggled as I sat through the entire piece. The realization of how much my parents had lost hit home hard as they were not here to see how well their son was doing.

As the piece played its lovely repet.i.tive sound, my distress at how much we had lost as a family only grew. The deepest sense that we had lost more than our economic status, but our oneness and ident.i.ty as a unit had never been greater than in that moment and on that day. At the time I also did not know that my brother Muyiwa would never see our father alive again. I felt totally spent energy-wise, my very long dark hair for which I had been quite famous on college campus begin to fall out, but soldier on we all did. I was not yet as strong in gaining victory with the word of G.o.d as I would later learn and share with you on this journey. If I had been stronger in the word, I would have replenished myself in those early days with this faith lesson from His word:

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He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.

Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.

They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary.

They will walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:29–31 NIV)

My understanding and thinking would later be revolutionized as I learned how to wrestle and gain the victory over life's circ.u.mstances with the word of G.o.d. In G.o.d's word are the keys to our source of all the power we will ever need to live, share, and proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks must, however, again be offered to G.o.d as He revealed Himself as a helper again and again

during our tremendous struggle in answer to many prayers through a local church that had a strong emphasis on youth ministry. Generous members of their congregation offered help and support for my two brothers from their own resources, becoming surrogate parents to my two younger brothers. Extremely grateful for their a.s.sistance, my struggling, lonely young siblings, especially the older of my two younger brothers was able to start part-time work while completing his studies. He began to contribute support for himself and our youngest brother. My younger sister and I also continued to muddle through. "Blessed to be a blessing" is another Christian principle that was fully practiced by this precious congregation whose rewards can only be measured out by the Lord Himself.

Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. (Proverbs 11:25 ESV)

Besides, G.o.d is able to make every blessing of yours overßow for you, so that in every situation you will always have all you need for any good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8 ISV)

A few years later, after offering fervent prayers regarding the future of my youngest brother Kolade, who was later renamed Bolaji, I gained fresh wisdom from the Lord. He revealed to me that my brother's life and G.o.d endowed destiny would only fully blossom if I trusted Him (the Lord) with it. a.s.suring me of his full protection over his life, He strongly and gently prompted me to allow Bolaji to return home back to our parents in Nigeria. This was at ftrst not a welcome idea to any one of us because my two brothers were extremely close and did not want to be separated. All four of us being together were the entire cohesive family unit we had left, so we did not wish to be torn apart. I also, in addition to the many hards.h.i.+ps, would have to purchase a very expensive plane ticket for him to go back to Nigeria.

G.o.d again revealed Himself as a wonderful helper, raising all of the necessary funds and helping me to overcome both my parents, and many of his local church leaders' extremely strong resistance to his return. Thus, he safely returned to our parents in Nigeria. Today as G.o.d had promised, he has become a household name and well- known minister of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in Nigeria and abroad. Both my younger brothers, having overcome many trials and hards.h.i.+ps, have gone on to become highly successful. To date, they both continue to express profuse grat.i.tude to and show their support for the wonderful local congregation that shared the love of G.o.d with them and took them in during this great time of need.