On my way back from CDS(Community Development Service) last Wednesday, I had an experience that marked me so deeply.
Just as I had alighted at Berger, heading to the overhead walk path that would get me through to the other side of the road, I saw a watch repairer just by the roadside. I had been on the lookout for a repairer since the strips of my wristwatch fell off.
I was negotiating the price to fix it with him, he called his apprentice to go check for a better replacement in the inner shop.
As I was patiently waiting for the apprentice to get back, one Agbero stopped by to greet the repairer. He sat down almost immediately, and it shows how close they must have been.
He turned and saw me and offered me a seat with him on a one-legged stool. I smirked and politely rejected the offer. You know how we unconsciously act around people of this caliber, right?
He began to tease me and then, at a point, he asked me, "do you want to talk to me?"
I said "nope!". This guy insisted that I had something for him. In my mind, I was like I don't have time for this.
He had some wraps of weed in his hand and had probably had too much to drink.
Anyway I decided to take the opportunity to share Jesus with him through our little conversation.
Then he began!
Guysssss, he was tearyyyy.
I was afraid at first. I mean, have I said something wrong? I asked myself.
I was beginning to think of how I’d escape if anything happens.
And as he shared his story with me, I didn't see a drunk, doped up street guy. I saw a guy with painful childhood experiences, deep soul wounds and trauma.
He told me of how he was raised in a Christian home and how his parents abused him; how he was labelled, verbally and physically abused to the point where he had to run away from home. How he was lied on and how his parents never believed him, and even when they found out he wasn't the culprit on several issues, his parents never once apologised to him.
I saw a street guy broken. To the world, he's a bad guy; a menace to the society and a disgrace to his family.
Yet, all I saw was a broken 12 year old that needed to heal.
He told me he wanted my Jesus, but not the Jesus of his parents.
90% of the people we meet everyday have inner struggles that they constantly have to contend with to live life fully.
No one wants to consciously experience pain. We all try to run away from pain and wouldn’t want to address it because we fear the pain that comes with it.
But we fail to understand that the pain that is not expressed or dealt with, doesn’t go away. Even though you don’t get to see it anymore, it becomes something else that sparks up in another area of your life.
Toxicity didn’t just start when people grew up, it is a trait that wasn’t addressed when they were younger.
If you want to go through the process of true healing, then you need to learn how to embrace pain.
You need to stop trying to fix results and outcomes without addressing the root causes. There are internal expressions that needs to be dealt with, not just the outcome.
None of us will ever end up on the streets like my agbero friend, but unhealed wounds will ALTER the course of any man's journey. The highlight of the conversation for me was how he recognized the deep root cause of his pain.
I’m glad to inform you that he is on his way to a better version of himself.
This is why we must keep showing up!
You haven't lived if you haven't healed.
You haven't begun scratching the surface of the possibilities that exist in your life until you let God help you peel layers of hurt.
I'm asking you to stay the course.
Keep showing up.
Keep listening.
Keep engaging.
Keep doing the work.
Stay with me. Stay with us. Stay with God.
You are possible! The You in the heart of God is possible.
It will take work and commitment that cannot be outsourced, but it will birth a transformation in your life that you'll forever be grateful for.
I love you and I'm praying for you❤
❤️❤️❤️
Well-done WOG. My love to you and your Agbero friend.