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” Kola called to inform me that he had to return home urgently,” Jerry said to Deaconess.
She nodded, looked up straight at him and continued to stare like she was reading something from his face. She whispered. ” You said you are Dr. Jerry.”
” Yes ma’am.”
” The Doctor that has been booked to flush out my baby. The Doctor that is good at helping women rid their bodies of unwanted intruders. The Doctor that is not scared of ending emerging destinies. I guess you are already thinking of how I’m going to lay on your hospital couch, spread out my legs and pull them up. You will insert your instrument into me. You will twist, turn, push and pull, in order to rid me of the unwanted foetus. You must have been thinking of the money you will get at the end of the assignment.” Deaconess picked multiples chips with a fork and turned them round. “Let me ask you something” she said.
” What madam?”
” Aren’t you afraid that you are going against the law of God that warned against killing whenever you aid people to carry out ab@rtions?
Doctor Jerry did not give an immediate answer. Instead, he began to stare intently at Deaconess, just as she was starring at him before. He seemed to be ruminating on something.
” I did a brief research on the internet,” Deaconess continued. ” I discovered that fetal breathing movement begins as early as 10 to 12 weeks of pregnancy. In order words, my baby is already breathing. That is physical. Spiritually, life begins the moment a spermatozoa and a egg connects and become one. At that very moment, it is established in heaven that a new life has begun. There’s no conception that is beyond the knowledge of God. He has plan for everyone right from the mother’s womb. So, anyone terminating life unnecessarily is going against the will of God and will not go unpunished. The doctors or nurses that also assist people to carry out ab@rtions will have their own share of punishment as well.”
Jerry smiled and said. ” Madam, you speak as if you are not willing to go on with the process. What Kola told me was quite different. He said the two of you consented to end the pregnancy.”
” That was at the beginning, when I wanted to use whatever means to cover my shame. I was ready to go to any length to hide the aftermath of what happened between me and Kola. Along the line, I discovered that one cannot cover a sin that God did not cover. I then decided that I won’t end this baby’s life for anything.”
“Is that your final decision?”
” Yes Dr. Jerry. That is my final decision. I am keeping my baby.”
Jerry smiled and pushed his head forward.
” I didn’t have the intention off assisting with the ab@rtion in the first place.”
Deaconess gasped …”what did you just say?”
” I said that I did not have the intention of helping with the ab@rtion.”
” But…Kola said…”
“Yes. I gave Kola my words that I would help out. When he called me, I heard the desperation in his voice. He gave me your credentials and the reason why the pregnancy had to go. Ordinarily, I know that a woman will not want to end her baby’s life for anything, even if the pregnancy is just a day old. There are some few exemptions anyway. Let me ask you madam, if the pregnancy had come through the right channel, would you have considered terminating it?”
Deaconess looked down at her fingers and shook her head. She whispered “no.”
” You see, every child that is conceived has the right to live. Women terminate their pregnancies for so many reasons. The only reason I support is when the pregnancy could pose a great risk to the health of the mother. Most other reasons are premised on selfishness. If you hear some women’s reasons for doing it, you will almost slap them. Last week, a woman was at my clinic. She was pregnant and wanted to end it because her hubby refused to meet her material needs. Another time, a married woman wouldn’t keep her pregnancy because she wasn’t sure of the owner; her husband, her driver or the houseboy.”
” Haaa.” Deaconess opened her eyes wide. ” I was almost becoming like one of them.”
” When Kola asked me to help him out, I knew he might end up going elsewhere if I refused. I considered the odds. Talking about your age, it would be a risky thing to do. It would even be riskier if you get into the hands of quacks. I thought of what I could do to stop the decision and marveled at what must have led Kola into the mess in the first place. The Bro Kola that I knew in school was very disciplined and straight forward. Even as a single man on campus, I could vouch for him. In those days, he helped so much in checking my excesses and calming me down. Even though I always behaved as if I wasn’t interested in his constant preachings, they got to me in a way and helped in several decisions that I made about my life. I was surprised that he could be asking me to do something as bad as an ab@rtion.”
Deaconess was almost in tears. She understood what Jerry said clearly. He was suprised as much as disappointed In Kola.
Jerry continued.
“I wanted Kola to come so that I could talk him into changing his mind. See madam, no matter what happens in life, the sun will never stop shining. The moon will never stop giving its light. Life will always continue. There’s no need to go to the extreme.”
“Yeah. You are right. When this happened, it looked like my end had come. I contemplated suicide. Sleeping with Kola was a very costly mistake.”
” What do you plan to do now? Hide away? Give out the baby for adoption?…
” I’m keeping the baby, I will stay hidden for a while until I’m strong enough to face the world.”
” What will you tell Kola?”
“I will state out my decision to him. I will assure him that I won’t tarnish his image or scatter his home. I’m ready to carry my cross alone. I am even ready to remain mute about the paternity of the baby. If Kola deems it fit to tell his wife about it, fine. If not, it’s left for him. I want to take my time but I will let the church know in due course.”
” The church?” Jerry hissed. ” I stopped going to church since a year ago. I prefer staying at home and doing my thing. I read the bible and pray on my own.”
Deaconess adjusted in her seat. ” Why if I may ask.”
” You are asking me why mama? You and Kola are a typical example of what church people do.”
“Oh.” Deaconess placed a palm across her mouth.
” The church is full of hypocrites, and I hate hypocrisy. Bishops, Reverends, Pastors, Minister and others; everyone is always trying to cover one thing or the other. Those that are not covering do waste a whole lot of time casting aspersions on people that fall into sin.In times past, the church was a sane subset of a big confused world. The reverse is the case now.”
“Hmmm.” Deaconess Beatrice sighed deeply. ” I agree that there are some misguided people in the church, but there are still Godly and upright individuals. Believe me, I had always walked upright until this happened to me. I wasn’t careful enough and I allowed my flesh to rule me for a while. Someone else in my state would give countless excuses for her action. I have none. I had everything at my disposal to say no to what was about to befall me. The book of Titus 2:11 clearly states thatThe grace of God trains us not only to βrenounce ungodliness and worldly passions,β but also to βlive self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present ageβ
” I lusted after Kola. I should have taken active steps to avoid being alone with him. Instead, I continually craved his presence in order to feed my lust. Now, this pregnancy has cured me of the ungodly desire.I’m prepared to put what happened behind me. I want to go back to a state of being holy. That and other reasons is why I would come out clean at the due time. Let people cast stones and disparage me as much as they want.”
” They would. Most people that will condemn you are not better than you anyway. Those that are not stealing church money are manipulators. Blind leaders of the blind. We can only talk about the ones we know. They come to me all the time, with various kind of problems. As a gynaecologist, I see a lot that I’m not permitted to say. Last month, a pastor(Mrs.) brought her unmarried daughter to my clinic. She wanted her to have a good family planning done to prevent pregnancy.”
” What?”
“Yes. The girl is fond of sleeping around. She might get pregnant, her mother said. Pastor(Mrs.) Is scared for her reputation. She wants everyone to continue seeing her daughter as a good girl. She wants her to get the best husband as well. Deception of the highest order. Who’s fooling who?”
” It is bad.”
” Something happened that made me take the decision not to attend any church again. That incident also made me stop carrying out abortion on women. I also made up my mind about not getting married.”
” Hen? You won’t get married? Why?”
” Where are the good girls? In those days, parents will advise you to marry in church to get decent girls. Where are the decent girls, I repeat? Is it the like of the Pastor ‘s daughter that is being helped to hide her promiscuity? Last year, a gospel artiste came to me to help her abort a pregnancy. She’s very popular. If I mention her name, you will know her. She’s very active in church. She was in courtship with a man abroad, a fellow christian. At the same time, she was dating another person here. The man abroad would come to wed her soon, and she was already two months gone for the man here. She needed to hide her secret to be eligible for the abroad brother. We carried out the act. She barely escaped with her life but lost her womb.”
” Jesus!” Deaconess exclaimed. ” Don’t tell me she went ahead wedding the abroad man.”
” She did. I’m sure he isn’t aware that his wife is wombless. It’s a deception of the highest order. That was the last abortion I carried out on someone. After the incident, I never stepped into a church again.”
” I quite agree with you. You have reasons for wanting to stay away from church, but they are not reasons enough. That you have a splitting headache doesn’t mean that you should cut off the head. Despite the atrocities, there are still remnants in the church. It’s not everyone that is bad. When Elijah cried to God that he was the only prophet of God left in the land of Israel during the reign of king Ahab, what did God tell him?
Rom.11.4 – …I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
– Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”
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TO BE CONTINUED
Β© BOSEDE FAGBEMI
We live in difficult times. It’s getting lots and lots harder to live as a Christian.
I want you to say this prayer as you go about your activities this week.
Lord, I want to be part of the remnants. Give me the grace to live a Godly life.
