I WAITED FOR THE LORD BY: Abraham Sigenye

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As I sit down to reflect on the wonders of God in my life I see that He really is great. In 1998 when I was in junior high school I fell very ill and was sent to the hospital in Tumu in the Upper West Region of Ghana. There I was referred to the psychiatric unit where I was given drugs to take on a continuous basis. The situation got worse, as I was given a series of shocks which sometimes made me unable to walk, sit or stand.

After being admitted in the hospital in Tumu several times without improvement, I was referred to the Regional Hospital in Wa where I spent two weeks. All this time, the members of my church, especially the prayer group, were constantly praying for my speedy recovery. My mother was always by me praying her rosary and encouraging me not to lose faith. I was discharged from the hospital as my situation got better.

But things got worse three weeks later while I was still in Wa. My uncle, who is a herbalist, said I was possessed by a spirit and could only get healed through traditional healing. Against my will and that of my mother, my uncle went ahead to consult a number of soothsayers and acquired a lot of concoctions and herbs for me. For three months I bathed in herbs, drank concoctions and inhaled smoke from leaves and roots. It was a terrible experience. I lost weight as I couldn’t eat any solid food and I wasn’t getting any better.

The prayer group in St Cecilia Parish, Wa, was informed about my situation and the healing and deliverance team fasted and prayed for a number of days. One fateful evening they visited me in our house and the ‘miracle’ happened. As they stretched their hands towards me I felt something moving out of me as I yelled for help. Fifteen minutes later I was a changed person, thanks be to God. I returned to Tumu and joined my colleagues at school.

Despite the fact that I had missed classes for a whole semester I was able to cope and passed the junior high school exam and was admitted into Kanton Senior High School at Tumu to study Science. It wasn’t easy for me after graduating from there since I didn’t excel in my elective subjects and had to repeat each year from 2002 to 2005 before I could get some good passing grades. Today I am a first year student at Rural Development College, Kwaso, in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

My favorite quote from the Bible is: ‘But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint’ (Isaiah 40:31).

This passage has always inspired me to continue to hope in the Lord knowing He will never disappoint me. I have come to realize that many times we ignore God because we want things to happen fast, but His ways are not our ways and so we should always ask for His will to be done in us. I am very grateful to God for all the wonderful things He has done in my life.

You can contact the writer at abrahamsigenye@yahoo.com or Rural Development College, PO Box 2, Kwaso, Ashanti, Ghana

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