My Baby Testimony

BABY GIRL AFTER 35 YEARS OF MARRIAGE

2012-01-10T10:17:00.000-08:00

pastor gbenga oso

It was wild jubilation and praises to God galore on 8th January 2012 when Mr. & Mrs. Olukayode and Ajoke Alonge mounted the altar to give their baby testimony at Laughter Foundation Church, Ikeja Lagos.
Screams and shouts of wonder rent the air when Mrs. Alonge announced the year they got married – 10th January, 1976! Immediately, the congregation rose and there was a spontaneous prolonged clapping.
Said Mrs. Alonge,”after our wedding in 1976, I had two miscarriages and from then on it was a battle to have children. We tried all we could over the years, to no avail.
In March 2007, two friends invited us to come to Laughter Foundation and we started coming in faith, making sure we religiously did all we were asked to do.
In January 2011, I missed my period. It was like a dream. I did not go to any hospital until after 5 months. In September 2011, Oluwajomiloju, Iyanuoluwa was born.

Woman Delivers Triplets After 20 Years Of Barrenness

2011-09-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

Pastor Adeboye

It was joy galore at the Redeemed Christian Church of God’s RCCG’s National Convention last night when a woman who had been barren for 20 years announced that she had given birth to triplets.

The triplets were delivered in June 2011 by the family of Pastor Oladele after the General Overseer of the Church, Pastor Enoch Adeboye prayed for them last year.

Thousands of worshippers at the convention were excited when Pastor Oladele came up with the triplets, two boys and a girl to give testimony of the miraculous work of God.

According to Oladele, the couple got married in 1991 and had been looking for the fruit of the womb since then until God did it for them in June.

After waiting for 20yrs, God blesses them with another child

2011-02-10T10:11:00.000-08:00

When they gave birth to their first child, Angel, it never occurred to them that they would wait for another 20 years before a second child would come. But for two decades, Mr. Chris Uche Senor Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and his wife, waited patiently for the child.

Contrary to the norm in the African setting where such issues puts marriages to strain, theirs waxed stronger as they continued to wait on God for a second child. And when the good Lord finally answered their prayers, the Uches last December rolled out the drums to celebrate the arrival of the jewel.

It began at the hallowed sanctuary of the Family Worship Centre, Abuja, where little princess Chinaza Uche was dedicated to God in their Maitama home with friends and associates in attendance.

The excited father summed it this way: “It is a matter of great glory to God that I had to wait for 20 years to have another baby. God had shown through us that indeed, like in the olden times of Abraham and Sarah that He is still in the business of doing miracles today. To wait for 20 years for a child is not a joke. But we truly thank God because we know that it is only God that can do what has been done.
“He never allowed us to feel dejected.

He gave us the grace to hold on. Every year we continued to believe in Him, we never ever gave up, we never ever despaired and we never ever allowed it to be an issue either between my wife and I or between us and others or even between us and God. We did not grumble or quarrel but rather we believed that some day that God will come through for us.

“Year in and year out, we continued to hope and believe God for a child. We thank God that at the end of the day, God vindicated us, and rewarded us for our patience, by giving us the evidence of what we hoped for and what we believed in indeed, the rest as in the time of Paul, was for an appointed time and that even if it tarries, that we should not despair as it must surely come. We are glad that at the end of the day, God came through for my wife and I.

“As a matter of fact, the closer you become to God, the easier it is to go through challenges as this. To be honest, it never for a day crossed my mind to take another wife, I never ever contemplated that because I was very strong in my belief that it would happen for us. I saw no reason why it should happen for us. I think God allowed us to go that aspect of our live and I know that either going to take another wife or trying to have children outside my marriage will be offending God.

“God showed me both in my profession and in my life that He is in charge. He showed up for me and did a lot for me to know that He was with me. At every point even while we were waiting, God was blessing us abundantly. My wife and I understood that God was just using us to make a test case for those who are going through what we went through. So if I go and do what every other average Nigerian would have done, that would have offended God very much and I would have let Him down in this contest between Him and the devil, it would have been an issue of disappointing God.

“God has a way of preparing one for any test. He gave me the kind of wife that is irreplaceable. I would not because I want a child and do away with her. She is just a wife made for me I can’t even trade her in for 10 sons.”

For couples going through childlessness he said women must learn to relate with their husbands in such a way that even if they face challenges like his their husbands would look at them and their conduct, and the way they handing the family and conclude that it would be a great offence, not only to the wife, but to God as well, to do anything to hurt the woman:

“Because of the kind of woman my wife is, even if I had wanted to marry another wife, I would not have seen another woman like her. Again, the first child God gave me is also a very wonderful child that, God forbid, I don’t have any other child, I won’t even take offence because God gave me a girl that is special and wonderful in many ways. I’ve had cause to say she’s worth to me more than 10 sons.”

Uche is no less grateful to God for her first daughter: “She is a prize to us. God had already made things easy for me by surrounding me with two lovely, lovely ladies who made my life beautiful. That helped to ease the go through this long period of waiting for another child. You see, once we understand that God knows us more than we know ourselves and know what is best for us, it would help us to understand God and watch what He is doing for us and what He wants to fulfill through us in any given situation.

“I met my wife in a very remarkable way, showing that God made her specially for me. When I was called to the Bar, I began to mould her to my choice. Her family and mine lived in the same vicinity and her brothers were my friends. So I knew her as a toddler and I saw that she was the one made for me so I began to train and mould her according to my own expectations. She turned out to become what I wanted her to become. Incidentally, she refused to read law and preferred English.

“Our daughter, Angel, became a lawyer in January so we have more lawyers, she is into administration and has provided the variety to life and an alternative perspective to issues in the family. April 2011 will make it 22 years of married life to us and interestingly, we still behave as if we just got married 2 years ago. Having to wait for 20 years for another child did not in any way affect our relationship, rather what we had gone though together had brought us closer and strengthened our relationship. We were prepared to face anything together.

“We have seen marriages which began to despair in less than 3 years over the issue of child birth, so we believe that God was making an example with us to encourage many other families. When such families hear that God answered us after 20 years of waiting upon Him, they will be encouraged to keep holding onto Him. Such marriages would have faith in God. In fact, we are very glad that God had used us as a test case.”

AFTER 30 YEARS OF MARRIAGE, 3 HUSBANDS, WOMAN GIVES BIRTH AT 52

2011-01-27T04:21:00.000-08:00

After almost three decades of marriage, spent in the harrowing embrace of barrenness, and with three husbands, 52-year-old Alhaja Owolabi Kareem against all odds and human expectations not only got pregnant, but also gave birth to a bouncing baby girl.

For the couple, Alhaji and Alhaja Owolabi Kareem of Ajah in the Eti Osa Local Government Area Lagos State, November 26, 2010 will forever be remembered as a day of celebration of miracles. It was the day on which the 52-year-old Alhaja Owolabi Kareem put to bed a bouncing baby girl. It was the first in her life.

Like most women of her age, Alhaja Ajah as she is fondly called by her fellow members at the Saints Gospel Church of Christ Hand of Fire, Ago along Igando-Ikotun Road, Lagos had entered menopause. Some derisively call it meno-stop!

After being married for about 30 years and with no fruit to show for her conjugal labour, she had lost all hopes of ever having a baby but for her new found faith.

Five years earlier, the 52 year old business woman had been introduced to a new faith by a friend who had watched as she struggled desperately and in despair but in vain for a child.

Prior to this, it had been one long struggle filled with anguish, fears, tears, humiliation and even desperation.

According to Alhaja, she had visited all known hospitals and medical practitioners both orthodox and unconventional, local and foreign all to no avail.

It was after she had reached menopause and lost hope that she decided to heed her friend's advice of seeking further spiritual help at a particular worship centre where she worships currently.

ETIABA BECOMES A FATHER AFTER 15 YEARS OF MARRIAGE

2009-11-22T23:49:00.000-08:00

The joy of the Lord is the strength of Barrister Emeka Etiaba, former governorship aspirant in the 2010 governorship election in Anambra State and that of his wife, Barrister (Mrs.) Joy Etiaba, as they and other members of their families are still basking in the arrival of Emeka and Joy’s first child after 15 years of marriage.

Emeka and Joy are happily married and have been living happily since their wedding in 1994, asking and looking onto God for what they have now. Their son, Neluchukwu Mmelichukwu Chiedozie was born on the 8/11/2009 weighing in at 9 pounds, 5 ounces.

The arrival of BMC Jnr(acronym for Emeka’s late father) came a month after Emeka’s bid to secure a governorship ticket of the Progressive Alliance (PPA) for the February 6, 2010 governorship election in Anambra was frustrated. If Emeka had been losing sleep over his unsuccessful bid to become governor in 2010, the arrival of BMC Jnr. will make him sleep like a baby. Congrats Emeka and Joy. They have started coming!
SOURCE: COMPASSNEWS

ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING

2009-11-05T16:03:00.000-08:00

TESTIMONY
20 Years Barrenness Broken!

“My wife and I joined the commission in 1997, and since then it has been from glory to glory. We are one of those couples, whose stories have been changed via this ministry and specifically, prophetic declarations from the bishop. To god be the glory!

During the ‘Night with the King’ programme held on November 7, 2008, you prophesised by the leading of theHoly Spirit ‘By this time tomorrow, you will have a new song’ At the meeting, I received these words of prophecy by faith; my entire being was transformed and eventually twenty years of barrenness and marital spells were brought to an end.

My wife and I can now boast in the Lord of a male child – Emmanuel Imo-owo Solomon Abai.

By this development, shame, reproach and tears have been terminated in our marriage. This is indeed Divine intervention.
I count it a privilege to be associated with this great Commission.
Dcn.S. Abai

CANAANLAND FAITH TABERNACLE
KM 10 IDIROKO ROAD, OTA
DATE: FRIDAY, 6TH NOVEMBER 2009
TIME: 10.00 PM

It was hell looking for a child for 15 years - Oshiomhole’s aide

2009-11-05T15:56:00.000-08:00

He is a top notch politician, very influential and generally successful. But for Hon. Omon Ezomon and his beautiful wife, Bridget, there was a painful snag.
For 15 years, the couple had no child. Recently, however, God wiped away their tears and removed their shame. After 15 harrowing years of waiting on the Lord, Ezomon and his wife were blessed with a bouncing baby girl.

Hon. Ezomon, is the Special Adviser on Legislative Matters to the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole. Thrice, he contested and won elections to represent Owan West constituency in Edo State House of Assembly. Despite being elected the Deputy Speaker of the House in 2003, a position he held until late 2006, Ezomon and his wife lived with a vacuum in their lives.

But all that changed with the arrival of a baby girl, Favour, Ehabi (Destiny) Ezomon. And since the arrival of the bundle of joy, the Ezomons’ home in Benin City has become a house where joy dwells. According to Mrs. Ezomon, when the doctor told her that the result of the pregnancy test she took was positive, she could not contain her joy. Excited and nervous, she put a call through to her husband who was on his way to China and informed him about the good news.“In tears, I told him that by the time he returned from his trip, he should start preparing to be a father,” she told Daily Sun. With a precautionary advice from her doctor to take some rest, she confessed with a glint: “To me, rest was an understatement. I immediately took a sabbatical leave from my business.”

For a woman who had been called heartbreaking names by even her loved ones, carrying the baby to the due date was one challenge she prayed fervently to surmount, especially as age was no longer on her side.Despite being in the U.S, an environment that boasts of the best medical facilities, her fears and anxiety continued to mount. “I was shaking with fear on the day of the delivery. At a point, I asked one of the nurses if I was going to die”, she recalled, a smile playing on her lips.

Mrs. Ezomon, who is still relishing the joy of motherhood, said that even in those traumatic days, she believed that God would not disappoint her.She noted that her positive stance propelled her to make preparations for the babies’ arrival, even though she was not sure of when it would be. She decorated different rooms for her expected male and female children.“Every day, I would enter the rooms I prepared for my children and say, ‘this is the boys’ room and this room is for the girls. See today what my belief has done. The Bible says it would always be unto us according to our confessions,” she stated.

On the psychological trauma her barren state inflicted on her, she remarked with a smile: “It is only those who wear the shoe that know where it pinches. It is when you feel the pains that you would fully realize what it means to be a mother after 15 years.” Speaking further, she said: “It is a feeling you cannot explain. The humiliation and the stigma were too much to bear. Sometimes, I found myself crying for days. During those trying days, it was the grace of God and the love of my husband that kept me going. I also drew strength from the book of Exodus 23 that says: ‘There shall be none barren in the land, not even among animals.”

Just as his wife, Ezomon is still bubbling with joy months after the arrival of the baby. He told Daily Sun that the birthday of his daughter would remain the greatest day of his life.The former parliamentarian said none of his political victories has given him the type of joy and sense of fulfilment he is now enjoying. But how does it feel to be married without a child for 15 years and still carry on as if nothing was wrong?The former legislator said it was a very sad memory. “The joy of seeing my first child after 15 years of marriage wiped away the pains and agony of the past. It has brought jubilation into the family. The joy of every couple is to get home every day and be welcomed by their children. When it doesn’t happen, it becomes a nightmare.

Our 15 years of childlessness were years of torment. It is difficult for someone who has not travelled that road to know how it feels. It is a very sad memory indeed.”As it is well known that pressure is mounted on a man in the African society to take a second wife after the first fails to have a child, Ezomon admitted that his case was not different. He is, however, grateful to God that he did not succumb to the pressures.“It takes the grace of God to withstand family pressure. I didn’t see the reason for a second wife because I had the kind of wife that I needed from God. Even with that problem, she remained a pillar of strength. Whatever glory that I may have achieved today politically can be attributed to her understanding and co-operation. I never lost hope of her being able to give birth one day.”

Recalling the pomp and pageantry that laced their wedding 15 years ago, the Special Adviser to Governor Oshiomole said their wedlock had the seal of heaven. According to him, the ink had hardly dried on their wedding certificate when the former Head of State, General Sani Abacha, sacked the Interim National Government’ headed by Chief Ernest Shenokan, thereby returning the country to the dark days of military rule.

Consequently, Hon. Ezomon, who incidentally was a first time legislator at the Edo State House of Assembly, lost his job.The couple who believe that their beautiful daughter would open the gate for more children could not but encourage those now travelling the path they once treaded not to lose faith in God.“Those that are still hoping and waiting upon God for the fruit of the womb should hold on to God firmly. I am a living testimony that God can revive dry bones. People thought that there was no hope for me. But I kept telling myself that there is hope. I knew it was just a question of time,” Mrs. Ezomon said.

HOW I CONQUERED BARRENESS AFTER 14 YEARS

2009-10-17T05:50:00.000-07:00

LEFT: PASTER CHARLES ORIGHA & WIFE MARY WITH BABY

Imagine a home without a baby for about 14 years. Imagine a minister of God praying for barren women to receive the fruit of the womb, yet he cannot have a child to call his own.

This picture aptly captures the dilemma Pastor Charles Origha went through with his beautiful wife, Mary. It was a very tough period in their lives and they kept waiting on the Lord for a miracle.

While family members, well wishers and many others were worried about the state of the pastor’s fruitless marriage, God told him to be calm. For 14 years he lived with the pain of childlessness, he believed God for the fruit of the womb.

God did not rescind on His promise to Pastor Charles Origha. Like the Biblical patriarch, Abraham, Pastor Charles Origha’s wife conceived and bore him a son. The child was named Emmanuel with means ‘God with us.’ “This is the beginning of many good things to come. God is faithful to his promises and will give us more children,” he enthused.

You could see happiness deeply etched on his face during the dedication of Emmanuel, his son, at the Apostolic Church, Ikorodu Road, Ilupeju. The couple danced like David but their clothing did not fall of their bodies.

In a traditional African setting, succession is a very serious issue. Every family wants a male who they believe will carry on the family’s name unlike a female child who will marry and bear her husband’s name. Mr. Origha’s family amazed him when they did not react like most families by accusing the woman of being the cause of their childless marriage. He revealed that “my parents rather prayed and believed God as the giver of all good things. Even as the first son of my parents, they were worried but did not interfere with our marriage.”Before the birth of the child, some people had speculated that his childlessness was an act of God, having divorced his first wife. Such people emphasized that God had visited his sin on him and that he would die childless. “But God has used the foolish things of the world to stun the wise. His thoughts are far from that of man, just as heaven is far from the earth.”

According to him, “God is not a man. He does not act on speculation. I got married to my first wife by mistake. She was my senior and the marriage was contracted in the dark. After I saw the light and we both found out our incompatibility, we had to part ways,” he submitted. With regards to my wife, after periods of medical examinations, the doctors discovered that she has a growth that had affected her womb. She underwent a successful operation and God was so faithful to us.”Having experienced the sad side of marriage, he advised youths to always look before they leap especially in matters that concern choosing a life partner.

Pastor Charles also enjoined those who are married and have not had the fruit of the womb to wait on God rather than resorting to self-help through the black power. “God has promised that there will be no barren among His people. Believers in God ought to seek God’s intervention in their entire situation. There are no impossibilities with Him as He specializes in things which we think are impossible. God intervened in Hannah’s situation. He did the same with Abraham. And He has promised to do even more,” he averred.

SOURCE: NATIONAL LIFE

SIX YEAR WAIT OVER

2008-12-16T15:36:00.000-08:00

I got married in June, 2001, hoping to get pregnant immediately because I and my husband got married in our early 30's.

In January, 2002, I got pregnant but the devil tried its tricks and I lost the pregnancy. I was sleeping when I felt a sharp short pain in my right ear and the second day I felt objects moving all around my tummy that was the ovulation period and the time of menses.

BABY EMMANUEL

Most often I felt being pregnant, but whenever the moving objects started that was it, I would see my menses. I got pregnant again in July, it was terrible pain throughout and the Doctor told me I had fibroid which I was never diagnosed before, in October, I lost the pregnancy and the fibroid was removed in 2003 March. Since that time I have not been able to get pregnant again. I prayed, fasted to no avail.

In 2006, I had to sell my property in London and came back to Nigeria to seek more spiritual advice and prayer. By God's divine direction I met our Mummy in the Lord [Mummy Onaolapo] who counseled me and by Holy Spirit direction and inspiration, mummy told me to for prayer and also that she would anoint me for three days service. I also attended the Night vigil which mummy did for all of us praying for the fruit of the womb. Indeed it was a glorious night. Every Tuesday I also come for the deliverance programme where I would be ministered to, prayed for and counseled.Mummy always called me and prayed for me whenever she had the urge to.To God be the glory, I got pregnant in August, had my baby in May 2007. He is named Emmanuel.

Sis. Kemi S.

TESTIMONIES FROM ABUNDANT LIFE CHURCH

2008-12-16T15:27:00.000-08:00

We got married in 2005, and like every newly weds trusted God for the fruit of the womb. In the first year of our marriage, we had a challenge retaining the conception. But when we got to Abundant Life Church in August, 2006, within three months God sent his word thus, The Man of God and we held on to it. As we trusted God and held on to his word, he gave us conception.

After about 6 weeks into the pregnancy, I was bleeding seriously and I went for a scan, the doctor said the pregnancy was not viable. He advised that I should do evacuation, but we left the hospital, not believing what we just heard, we went straight to the church and the Bishop and

Rev [Mrs.] prayed for me.

To the glory of God, the pregnancy that was initially pronounced “Not viable” became viable when I went back for another scan. And it matured till the full term and God gave us victory at delivery. I had my baby 3 rd July 2007.
Praise God for his wonderful gift unto us.
Sis. Osas .A

HOW I CONQUERED BARRENESS AFTER 14 YEARS

2008-08-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

Imagine a home without a baby for about 14 years. Imagine a minister of God praying for barren women to receive the fruit of the womb, yet he cannot have a child to call his own.
This picture aptly captures the dilemma Pastor Charles Origha went through with his beautiful wife, Mary. It was a very tough period in their lives and they kept waiting on the Lord for a miracle.

While family members, well wishers and many others were worried about the state of the pastor’s fruitless marriage, God told him to be calm. For 14 years he lived with the pain of childlessness, he believed God for the fruit of the womb.

God did not rescind on His promise to Pastor Charles Origha. Like the Biblical patriarch, Abraham, Pastor Charles Origha’s wife conceived and bore him a son. The child was named Emmanuel with means ‘God with us.’ “This is the beginning of many good things to come. God is faithful to his promises and will give us more children,” he enthused.

You could see happiness deeply etched on his face during the dedication of Emmanuel, his son, at the Apostolic Church, Ikorodu Road, Ilupeju. The couple danced like David but their clothing did not fall of their bodies.

In a traditional African setting, succession is a very serious issue. Every family wants a male who they believe will carry on the family’s name unlike a female child who will marry and bear her husband’s name. Mr. Origha’s family amazed him when they did not react like most families by accusing the woman of being the cause of their childless marriage. He revealed that “my parents rather prayed and believed God as the giver of all good things. Even as the first son of my parents, they were worried but did not interfere with our marriage.”

Before the birth of the child, some people had speculated that his childlessness was an act of God, having divorced his first wife. Such people emphasized that God had visited his sin on him and that he would die childless. “But God has used the foolish things of the world to stun the wise. His thoughts are far from that of man, just as heaven is far from the earth.”
According to him, “God is not a man. He does not act on speculation. I got married to my first wife by mistake. She was my senior and the marriage was contracted in the dark. After I saw the light and we both found out our incompatibility, we had to part ways,” he submitted. With regards to my wife, after periods of medical examinations, the doctors discovered that she has a growth that had affected her womb. She underwent a successful operation and God was so faithful to us.”

Having experienced the sad side of marriage, he advised youths to always look before they leap especially in matters that concern choosing a life partner.

Pastor Charles also enjoined those who are married and have not had the fruit of the womb to wait on God rather than resorting to self-help through the black power. “God has promised that there will be no barren among His people. Believers in God ought to seek God’s intervention in their entire situation. There are no impossibilities with Him as He specializes in things which we think are impossible. God intervened in Hannah’s situation. He did the same with Abraham. And He has promised to do even more,” he averred.

SOURCE: NATIONAL LIFE, August 9 2008

JOYFUL MOTHER AT LAST, AFTER 23 YEARS OF BARRENNESS

2008-03-05T15:36:00.000-08:00

When I got married to my husband, we were living happily without problems. I never knew that however joyful life may be, it must have its tempting hours. My husband loved me so much and he cared for me as the bone of his bone and the flesh of his flesh. Great love was between us; we hardly had problems, but when three years into our marriage, I still hadn’t conceived, tongues started wagging. People started spreading false rumours. The members of my husband’s family gathered against me for not bearing a child. My mother-in-law became very angry and mad with me. She did not want to set her eyes on me. She called me all sorts of names like ‘good for nothing woman.’

My husband and I started visiting hospitals, going from one hospital to another for solution. At the first hospital we visited after several tests were carried out, the doctor diagnosed damage in my womb. He said that the damage had resulted in infertility. My husband couldn’t believe what he heard; he became angry with the doctor. We left the hospital for another one.

From that time, we went from one hospital to the other, from house of prayer to house of prayer, yet there was no solution. My husband’s relations made me an object of laughter and mockery. I could not talk in my husband’s house. I was treated like a house help. I was regarded as a stranger. The sense of belonging was not there. I was always in a sorrowful spirit. When others were sleeping, enjoying their sleep, I wet my pillow with uncontrollable tears. I was crying because of my affliction. Whenever you see a woman looking desperately for the fruit of the womb, pity her.

I kept thinking everyday. My husband’s family advised him to marry another woman. He refused, because he loved me so much. He and I kept on visiting hospitals, taking various types of treatment, all to no avail. I felt very worried, asking why I should be in this problem and how long this difficult time would last. We went to hospitals in other states. We went to Port Harcourt, Calabar, Enugu, just to name a few. Without hesitation, we went to these hospitals, but all our efforts failed. Doctors were still saying the same thing, singing the same old song. In the process of searching for solution, my husband lost his job for absenting himself from office. This simply compounded our problems.

Things became so hard and very tough. I didn’t know what came upon my marriage. Every minute, my face was bathed in tears, but weeping did not solve my problem.
Later, we went to a renowned hospital in Lagos. The gynaecologist there out of pity asked us to go for child adoption. I supported this advice but my loving husband refused to give his consent. God is an instructor and the word of God is a channel of instruction. In the Bible, God instructed husbands to love their wives. My husband acted in obedience to God’s command but his people saw God’s instruction as foolishness, not knowing that the foolishness of God is wiser than men.

I went to various places with my husband. I don’t want to mention some of the places I went to with my sympathizing friends. My good friends took me to so many herbal homes and native doctors, giving me the assurance that I would conceive. In all these places, I did not get any solution. To me, it seemed my problem could not be solved. I didn’t know God was working out an answer to my problem. It was a trial and a traumatic experience. I do not wish this experience on any child of God.

In all this, my husband was patient and compassionate. He knew that our suffering was not God’s will. His sisters who had initially supported our union, turned fully against me. They said that I held my husband with charms, that I used magical sentences to talk to my husband, preventing him from seeing other women.

All sorts of rumours were going round. It was rumoured that I did not have a womb. My eyes poured out tears unto God. I was always in the bitterness of sorrow. I didn’t know that I was under a curse. My stepmother had put a curse on me that I would not conceive all the days of my life. This is a woman that I loved so much. Anything that I gave to my mother, I gave her also, not knowing that she was the one responsible for all that I was passing through. Her reason for cursing me was that I married before her daughter. By the time I discovered why we had this problem, we had been married for 18 years.

One day my mother-in-law came and ordered me out of the house. My husband came out with me. She was furious. Suddenly, she brought out a knife and threatened to stab herself if I did not leave her son’s house. She held the knife firmly to herself. Her eyes were red. I was frightened, when I knew she really meant to stab herself. His mother was angry with him for taking the foolish decision of not getting married to another woman. I wept and wept, begging her on my knees, but she turned a deaf ear, insisting that I should go to my parent’s house, that all she needed was a grand child. I cried my eyes out with a broken heart. When we saw that she was not listening to our pleas, my husband pleaded with me to take some of my things and go to my parent’s house to stay for some time.

A lot of people condemned her actions. After thinking for a while, not knowing what fate had in store for me, I obeyed my husband. I packed and went to the village. My husband promised to visit me. I stayed with my mother as my father is late. If my father were alive, with all the distress, he wouldn’t have allowed me to go back to my husband.

My family members frowned at their actions and ill treatment. I stayed with my mother for two years. During my stay in the village, my husband visited as he promised. Later, he took me back home. By the time I got back to the city, I had already built my hope in Christ Jesus. I decided not to go anywhere again in search of a solution. I prayed without ceasing, asking God to intervene in my case. When I returned, the fight was fierce but God said I should not fear. I looked to Christ, the author and finisher of my faith.

My husband’s family came up with the issue of a new wife since he refused to adopt a child. I supported them for peace to reign in the family. My house was in chaos. There was nothing else I could do than to welcome the idea since to them that was the best solution. The date of the traditional marriage for the new wife was fixed.

One fateful Wednesday morning, I woke up with a fever and loss of appetite. It was four months to the date fixed for the traditional marriage engagement. My husband in his usual loving and caring manner suggested that we go to the hospital, attributing it to be symptoms of malaria. We went to a nearby hospital for malaria test. The result was negative. The doctor advised me to do a pregnancy test. We were reluctant to do it. At last, it was done. When the result of the pregnancy test came out, we saw smiles on the doctor’s face. He congratulated us and said: “the result of the test showed positive.” We could not believe his report. I collapsed, but the doctor revived me. I saw tears of joy flowing from my husband’s eyes.
My husband quickly informed his family on this latest development. The news circulated round the whole village. God in the multitude of his mercy and his great power cancelled the slated marriage plans for a new wife by compensating me adequately at the right time. Nine months later, I was delivered of a bouncing baby girl. I became a wonder to many people. They did not have the understanding that when things look impossible, that is when God works, and when things go wrong, He, Jehovah, will make it right.

Today, I am the proud mother of two boys and a girl. This shows that prayer is powerful and God answers prayers. God is a barrenness bulldozer. Jehovah in his infinite mercy delivered me from the embargo that hindered me for 23 horrible years. He also lifted my husband from grace to grace; he now doing very well in business.

That same God who is able to do abundantly above all that we ask would do it for you – no matter how long it has taken. Though it tarries, it must surely come to pass. The God who does what no man can do, the Lord who appreciates your problems, who in not unaware of it, will do it for you. He will visit your ugly situation and put joy in your heart. Stop weeping, stop crying, stop complaining about your condition; don’t do it yourself, take it to the Lord in prayer. Don’t care about what people are saying about you. God is a winner, you must win every battle. To the barren, God says, sing; to you who have not borne, the Lord says you should break forth into singing. Sing aloud, you who have not laboured with child. When the hand of God touches your womb, you will not remember the shame of barrenness and childlessness. Let this testimony minister grace and peace to you.

MY MIRACLE BABIES

2008-02-24T16:04:00.000-08:00

http://www.prayerbabies.blogspot.com

CLICK ON http://www.ivfnigeria.blogspot.com/ for more info on ivf

Tokunbo Egeregor:
“I got married in February 1998. Like every young couple as much as we enjoyed having ourselves to each other, we looked forward to the kids coming at God’s own time. God’s own time was supposed to be like six months or a year later. The year stretched on to two, then three, then to….Wait a minute what’s up? With us or with God?

About 5 years before I got married I had undergone Fibroid surgery. My fatherly doctor at that time had told me then to get married or get pregnant as soon as possible. Fortunately, I had just become born again and I was determined not to backslide. I decided to trust God to provide the husband when His time was right. However that did not happen till six years after the surgery.

Six months into the marriage, I started seeing doctors. My husband reluctantly went with me and we ran all the tests and were put on various medications. From that point on it was from one doctor to another. Once I spent 6 months with a doctor and there is no result, I would move on to another. Today it’s “oh you have fibroids,” tomorrow it’s “oh, low sperm count,” then, “oh you have adhesions,” “oh its hormonal imbalance, your prolactin level is high.” I was put on all sorts of pills. At times the doctor would suspend my period for months.

From regular fertility treatment with antibiotics and clomid, I graduated to injectables. From that to artificial insemination, (about 10 cycles), then onto IVF (about 3 cycles) then finally to ICSI(about 3-4cycles). After all this, I finally told my husband that I had had enough. My life revolved around my menstrual cycle and doctors. My business was suffering and I had no social life.

After the second IVF, a renowned fertility doctor from King’s Hospital, England was asked to review my case. After a scan and the review of my case note, he said, “I think you should consider surrogacy. You have healthy eggs, you get good embryos but your uterus cannot sustain a pregnancy. You have large multiples Myoma (fibroids). So the best thing to do is to get someone to carry the pregnancy for you.” The level of devastation and pain can only be imagined. At 33 plus, doctors had given up on me. I wasn’t ready to give up then, so I went off to South Africa to see yet another specialist. The verdict: Laser Surgery to remove the fibroids. I decided to proceed with the surgery.

After the surgery I was shocked when I was told the laser couldn’t take out the fibroids as they were embedded unto my uterine walls. It was as if all hope had now gone. My husband and I encouraged ourselves and decided to use the opportunity to enjoy our stay in Cape Town. On arrival in Nigeria I booked in for another ICSI/IVF which also failed.

While all these was going on, I continued in prayers, fasting and sacrificial giving on different levels. I made various pledges, church seats, pillars for our new church building, motherless babies and so on. I sowed into the lives of people and children in the hope that my harvest would finally come. Several times all on my own I would conduct a communion service taking bread and wine. I did all that I knew to do in faith. Looking back now, I know that none of the things I did was in vain. I learnt some important lessons along the way. I learnt that you cannot move faster than God. God will move in His own time to make all things beautiful. He will turn your captivity around and give you 7 fold restoration. That is what He did for me.

In February 2003, I decided to go for another fibroid surgery as it appeared the pregnancy could not take with those fibroids in my womb. I could not believe it when after surgery, I was told again that the fibroids could not be removed as all my internal organs and the fibroids had fused together. The doctor (in Abuja) in fact took a video of the operation and asked me to show it to doctors anywhere in the world. He was certain that removing the massive fibroids would be at great risk to my life. My husband now asked what chance we had of conceiving if we were to try one more IVF cycle. The doctor said that considering the state of my womb, only 5%.

My husband declared that he was willing to give that 5% chance to God and see what He would do. God honoured his faith and I finally got pregnant in March 2003 and my joy knew no bounds when we were told it was TWINS! Even all through the pregnancy the attacks continued. I had a threatened miscarriage at 12weeks and I lost so much blood that I felt it was over. I couldn’t even pray any more. Thank God for my husband, who stood in the gap for me. I remember calling my Pastor crying and he said he wanted to talk to my husband. He told my husband that he needed to fall on his face before God pleading for mercy. He obeyed and God honoured us. At the time of my delivery, the doctors on scanning me marveled that I could ever have carried two babies in my womb with the massive fibroids. At a point, one of my babies stopped growing and I had to be delivered at 32 weeks to save his life. He was 1.05kg at birth and the other boy was 1.9kg. To God be the Glory, today at 18 months old they look like 3 year olds. Very handsome, very intelligent.

My sisters, I went through so much physically, spiritually and emotionally but I refused to give up. Never give up. It’s never too late with God. He truly makes the barren woman to keep home. Praise the Lord!”

Source: 'God's Waiting Room' By Yewande Zachaeus

*You may choose different ways to overcome infertility, as long as they are not fetish or contrary to God’s word. CLICK ON: http://www.ivfnigeria.blogspot.com/
and
http://www.naturalfertilityaids.blogspot.com/ for further information.

AFTER 11 YEARS BREAK IN TRANSMISSION, WOMAN DELIVERS TWINS

2008-01-13T15:56:00.000-08:00

RIGHT: THE ABIAKAM FAMILY WITH TWIN BABIES

For the family of Mr. Chidike and Mrs. Gloria Abiakam, June 24 2004 shall forever remain a date for sweet memories. It was the day the miracle of the Lord became manifest in their lives as Mrs. Abiakam gave birth to two bouncing babies – boy and girl after 11 years “break in
transmission.”

Mrs Abiakam, a native of Amaigbo in Nwangele LGA told how she had been betrothed to her heartthrob Chidike Abiakam at a very early age.
“My husband took me as a wife in 1987 and by 1988 we had our first baby. Two others followed in 1990 and 1992 before I started having difficulty in conceiving.”

Not deterred by the early t ime out, Mrs Abiakam said she put her whole trust in God since she had no medical problem and the husband was very okay.

Tension over a male child
That never disturbed me because my husband never for once showed signs of a worried person. In fact, it was from my husband that I started doubting stories I heard about turbulence in marriages because of the sex of a child. He never for one day worried or gave me cause to worry. I was even the person who worried initially but drawing courage from him, I now took solace in God and my whole trust was in Him.”

The birth of the twins
“When I finally took in eleven years after my last pregnancy, I thanked God for hislove and mercies upon my marriage. I felt with their birth, God in his wisdom and love decided to make me a testimony point and further strengthen my faith.”

She also narrated how the twin babies were delivered with the girl coming out first “and the doctors and nurses around who knew me and my desire for a male child were all giving words of encouragement until the second baby was noticed and it was a baby boy. The entire labour room went wild with jubilation, that God had answered my prayers.”

The testimonies of the Abiakams are eloquent as are indicated in the names given to the twins. The girl is AMBLESSED CHINYERE KELECHI while the boy is MIRACLE SAMUEL KAMISIYOCHUKWU.

FOR NOT BEARING A CHILD AFTER 17 YEARS OF MARRIAGE, A SMALL BOY TOLD HER SHE WAS AN ECONOMIC WASTE, AMONG OTHER INSULTS

2008-01-02T18:11:00.000-08:00

For not bearing a child after 17 years of marriage, a small boy told her she was an economic waste, among other insults

Since marriages are crumbling because of childlessness, then one could imagine the tension that enveloped the family of Rev. and Mrs. Imo Samuel Nyah, a pastor in the Assemblies of God Church, currently at Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State, for 17 years without a child: the family literally came to the precipice, but survived.

Today, that tension and apprehension has paled into oblivion since the arrival of their son more than a year ago.

Mrs. Precious Nyah
In the beginning

My name is Mrs. Precious Nyah. I come from Itu Mbon Uso in Ini Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. I had my primary education there and after that I attended Dorcas Commercial Secondary School in Calabar where I met my husband and got married in 1986. we met in the same church- Assemblies of God in Calabar. Later he answered the call into the ministry and the wedding took place on August 13, 1988.

Expectation
Like every other woman, I expected a child after the wedding. Though it was not easy, we kept on praying, believing God that I would take in soon. Initially, I used to have miscarriages, but after eight years, the thing stopped. We consulted doctors. One of them even said I had fibroids; and encouraged me to go for an operation, but I rejected his advice because I was afraid, more so, I thought it might not be successful. Believed that God would perform his miracle even with the fibroids in me.

Apart from the fibroid problem, there was also a time I went to the hospital for check-up and the doctor advised me to wash my womb. He said I should check my tubes whether they were in order. I did that.

I expected them to tell me that there was a problem with my womb or so. After washing my womb, they confirmed that my womb and tubes were okay, but after all that I never took in and when I asked them, they couldn’t tell me the exact problem.

In-laws and parents’ reaction
My parents were worried. My father, in particular, encouraged us to find some other options apart from prayer since we had prayed and nothing happened. He asked us if we would like to consult a native doctor and that he would give his clothe for us to go with it to find out if he was the cause. So, they really wanted a solution to the problem. When they said all this, I told them that, I believe in God and I knew that God would do it at the right time.

Regarding my in-laws, I knew they said all kinds of things. I remember when they asked my husband if he wanted to be like Abraham. They advised him to take another wife. They said if he didn’t want to bring the second wife to his station, he should keep her in his house or in the village so that he could have children through her. They reminded him of his younger brother who had three or four children, but I didn’t bother about all those things because I believed in God.

Harassment
Some people were sometimes even bold enough to accost me openly. I remember one person asked me whether I aborted some babies when I was single. She said that could be the cause of my problem. I told her that I never did such a thing and that inability to take in was not because of that.

A boy’s insult
I can also remember another case. I visited one family and there was a boy whose mother was a member of our church. When I greeted the young boy, his response was shocking. He said, look at you; don’t greet me. Don’t you know that you are a waste? The food you eat is a waste. Since you cannot have a child of your own, the food you eat is a waste.’
I felt so bad and cried within me. When I got home, I shared this with my husband. He comforted me, saying there was nothing we could do. I advised that I either slept with him or another man who would make me pregnant so that I could have a child. I felt so offended and lambasted him. I later told my husband.

Lowest moment
Though I cannot mention the exact period, there was a time I felt so bad and told my husband that there was no need punishing him. We had stayed all these years without a child and people were saying all kinds of things. Moreover, every month when I had my period, I would be weighed down and would say that there was no need for me to stay. I remember that I packed my things and went about from house to house. I was just roaming up and down but my husband called me and asked where I was going. I said I didn’t know, anywhere I liked.

Husband’s attitude
His attitude towards me was encouraging. Each time I was down; each time I began to think, my husband would encourage me. He told me he was not bothered about the problem. He would ask me whether he had ever challenged me because of my inability to take in. he would assure me of his love. He would tell me not to worry about what people said. In fact, he really helped me. If he did not support me, anybe, things would have turned out differently, but with him on my side, I was encouraged. Some other genuine friends also supported us.

Conception
After my graduation from the Bible school in November 2003, I came back not feeling fine throughout December. I thought it was stress and malaria. I took some drugs, but I was still uncomfortable. So, I consulted a nurse and she advised me to go for pregnancy test. I was not happy with her but she insisted I should do it. And my husband supported that I should go for the test. He even took the sample to the hospital and the result was positive. I asked what was positive; he said pregnancy. It was as if he was not serious about it and personally such stuff was not on my mind so, I told him it was not true. I said okay, let some months pass. I was advised to go and register at Ikot Abasi General Hospital. It was there that they confirmed the pregnancy. In fact, it was like a dream.

Peoples reaction.
When people saw the pregnancy, they praised God. Some came from far places to confirm if it was true. When they saw me, they were overjoyed. Even those who abused me earlier were happy. I remember during the child dedication on November 14, 2004, many people came and the church could not contain people.

Advice
My advice to women going through similar experience is that they should keep on believing God. God has said in His word that none of His children shall be barren and that word is sure. I believe that scripture despite what people say. They should have faith.

Child’s name
As would be expected, the child’s name is Samuel. Not necessarily as a namesake of his grandfather who also answered Samuel, but principally because the mother, Mrs. Precious Imoh Samuel Nyah says: “I like First Samuel, chapter one that talks about Hannah, the husband and their son Samuel. So, that place was always a great inspiration to me. I don’t know the exact length of time that she stayed but it came to a time that she was provoked and she went to God in prayer and right there, God answered her prayers through the man of God, Eli and she got her miracle.”

MIRACLE BABY - Reverend Mother, 60 gives birth

2007-12-31T14:31:00.000-08:00

BELOW: BABY PETER-EMMANUEL ERUTEYA

Peter and Gladys Eruteya hail from Edo State. They had met at a Nigerian airport 40 years ago. They got married in England in 1968 having courted for two years. Gladys (nee Emokpae) was 25 while Peter was 25.

The first few years of

marriage was happy until the waiting for a child wore them down. They sought for medical help, home and abroad and Gladys went through series of surgery.
“We started praying, seeking for help, which was a natural thing for any young couple who are anxious for the fruit of the womb. We actually started seeking for medical help a little before our marriage because I was a bit worried as I never once missed my period like some of my friends constantly did. We used to joke about it then. We have at least six passports for different countries of the world. From one country, we would be directed to another and so it continued. During this time we spent so much money but nothing positive happened.”

Despite all these efforts, the doctors told her she could never have a child. As a Minister of God, Gladys went into fasting and prayer most of the time. It was during one of such occasions that she had a vision, in the 17th year of her childless marriage, in which she claimed God told her she was going to have a son.

“ I remember that on October 4, 1985,after I had gone through several operations in Germany, a professor there, whose name I would not want to mention for certain reasons, said I should not come to their hospital again because it was not possible for me to ever have a child. Before then while I was still in Germany in 1977, I was at the back of our housewhen I heard a voice say to me: ‘I will give you a child’ The voice explained what the child would do when it arrived. I then said to myself this is the Holy Spirit speaking to me. I went in and told my husband about it and we wrote it down and accepted what the voice said. So from then on, anytime we prayed, we always reminded God of his promise to us until He brought it to reality after 38 years of childlessness and at my old age of 60.”

An elated reverend couple, the Eruteyas, told their story to MARY EKAH (Guardian reporter) about their longsuffering and the miracle baby, Peter Jr., at the child dedication and 60th birthday anniversary thanksgiving held at the Foremost of Christ Counseling Centre Church.

When did you reach menopause?

Menopause? About nine years ago.

Since you reached menopause years back, how then could you be pregnant?

I would just say the Lord made a way for me. That is all I would say. God made it possible, without the help of God, we can do nothing. God made it possible for me to have the child. That’s all. One thing I want you to know that with God nothing is impossible. God will always make a way whether menopause or no menopause. God is still able to do all things.

What was your reaction upon discovering the pregnancy?

When I found out I was pregnant, I was more than pleased. I don’t even know how to express it. It would be impossible for me to tell my experience of these forty years of childlessness. I cannot tell you everything that happened in these 38 years. But my prayer is that let no one go through what I went through in these 38 years of anguish and shame. Childlessness is like leprosy. I won’t say it was the devil that rendered me childless but it was God that was testing my husband and me.

Did you bear your pregnancy at 60, better than most young women?

At that age to carry a pregnancy is not an easy thing but God was good to me. I thank God that He kept the child. It was God who put the child there in me and He was able to sustain the child for me through the period of the pregnancy. There wasn’t any problem except for the first three months. Aside that, all the normal things that happen to younger women also happened to me. I experienced all the things that happen to younger women.

Was it here in Nigeria that you got to know that you were pregnant or when you were abroad?

(A long pause) That’s a confidential thing to me. I would not want to discuss that. Whether here in Nigeria, London or wherever it was confirmed, I was definitely here in Nigeria by October, when iwas about four months pregnant and there was a very big thanksgiving for me like we had today. Those who knew before then came to see if actually I was pregnant. Some who even did not know me also came when they heard the story. They all saw me when I was here in Nigeria with the pregnancy and later God directed my path and I went back to Europe to have the baby.

When exactly was that?

I left here by December last year and had my baby by February 13, 2003.

AFTER WAITING FOR 13 YEARS...COUPLE NOW HAS BABY BOY

2007-12-30T17:21:00.000-08:00

As a spinster and many years back, she had been assured that her first baby would be a boy. The assurance came from the Holy Spirit who ministered to her in a dream. So, when she got married in 1992 she expected the baby to come without delay. But Chief (Mrs) Ngozi Okoro, president of Sisters Fellowship International, Cotonou chapter, had to wait for a stressful 13 years for this dream to be accomplished.

In the long period of childlessness she continually questioned God, asking Him to fulfil His promise. And God replied, asking her not to question Him. Soon rumours started to spread that her husband, a prosperous Nigerian second hand clothes dealer in Cotonou, had used her womb for money rituals, but she dismissed this with a wave of the hand. And on August 16, this year, God fulfilled His promise to Mrs. Okoro by visiting her with a baby boy. Daily Sun was in Cotonou during the dedication ceremony of the baby and spoke with Mrs Okoro who narrated her travails during those 13 years without a child.

Introduction
My name is Chief (Mrs) Ngozi Okoro. I am married to Chief John Okoro from Amaeke Amankalu in Alayi, Abia State.

Actually, it was a surprise to have got married at a tender age, but finding myself unable to conceive. I was actually married to my husband in 1990 and by 1991 we were living together and in 1992 we did our church wedding. But all these 13, 14 years we have been just there looking for the fruit of the womb. But now, I understand it is divine, something that God did so that He will be glorified.

My mind in those 13 years
Yes, I was disturbed from the second year. The fifth year was the worst for me. If you are unable to conceive and still be able to live with your husband for seven years and you are not divorced, you won’t be divorced again. You will get pressure from every nook and cranny of the community, the family and even your own environment will be against you.

Yes, as a woman I felt threatened during the period, but one thing that gave me confidence was that God was always reassuring me that it was well. In 1993, when I came to Cotonou here, I had an experience when I was praying and the Holy Spirit said I should not ask him questions. This was because I was asking God questions, why this? Because I know the kind of life I lived. I was brought up in a very decent Christian home and I grew up in the fear of God. The Holy Spirit said I should not ask him any question, that he was doing that to me for a purpose, so that I would teach other people what I had passed through. And, indeed, the experience I have acquired from all these 13 years I cannot reveal in one day.
BABY JOHN OKORO

My friends
I have no friends. From my childhood, I’m not the type that keeps friends. Everybody is my pal; I don’t have a specific girlfriend. And because they know the kind of person I am, we don’t discuss such things (whether the childlessness then was from my husband).

Tests
I was fortunate enough to have a man that understands what life is all about. He knows what he wants in life. And when this problem came up, he said let’s go and check it out. And quite unlike other men, when their wives tell them, let’s go and see what is going on, they will say, I’m fit. He didn’t say that; instead, we went together to the medical doctors and to my greatest shock, he was doing everything he could, taking any kind of medicine that comes his way. He didn’t say I will not take this. That gave me a lot of encouragement.

After the tests
That was another blow, a very hot one. I only thank God because the grace of God was always there for me. My brother, not even your enemy should go through this. Childlessness is terrible!

The lesson
It taught me to depend on God. God passes you through one thing or the other for a purpose and when that purpose is fulfilled He brings forth what He wants. God has so much equipped me that today I am a blessing to many women in this city.

What kept my husband
I know he loves me and he knows what he wants. We were about adopting a child this year. He was about going home for December and he said, let’s go together and I said I wasn’t going to avoid people asking me, what’s wrong with you. Some will even be looking at me as if I’m a ghost from somewhere. And just like that he left without my knowing I had conceived. And when he came back from the Christmas ceremony, I was confirmed by my doctor that I was pregnant. So, when he came back, I told him, but he wasn’t excited. It shocked me and I was very angry. I was expecting him to be excited that we are about to have a child but he wasn’t excited.

Checking the baby
So, I went to my doctor and said, doctor what am I going to do? He said he would do a scan to see what the baby looks like in the womb. The time the doctor gave me for the scan, I did not allow it to reach because my husband wasn’t excited. When the doctor showed me the fetus on scan and said this is the heartbeat, it was just doing kpu, kpu, kpu like that. I said God and I was shedding tears and the doctor was just looking at me. He was surprised.

I tell women these days, let no situation, let no circumstance intimidate you.

The problem
Tension might be part of the problem just like in any marriage when you find out you have not conceived in the first year.

Advice to other women
I will like to tell them to calm down. You don’t get these babies by fighting, you don’t get these babies by condemning yourself. It is not your fault. Do not allow anybody around you to intimidate you because of your condition. There is nothing I don’t take part in. if they ask me to lead the whole women in Cotonou childless, I will still lead them and talk to them the way I want to talk to them without saying I have not got a child.

Even childless, I was the President of Sisters Fellowship International here in Cotonou. With childlessness, I was praying for other women, I was interceding for other women. Some people will say, she is childless, let her pray out herself first before praying out others. Yet, I didn’t allow these talks to weigh me down. Yes, they said it to my hearing, that I should pray out myself before praying for others. But it was a challenge to God. Any woman that is passing through this problem, if you look into her life, she is a star. God has deposited something into that woman that is looking for a child. Even in the scriptures, all the women that looked for children, God deposited something special in them. And because the devil, the enemy has seen that thing that God deposited in them, he will not leave them alone, but fight those things that they do not come forth.

Knowing I was pregnant
I was so excited. I wanted to jump up, but the doctor said no, calm down, this thing doesn’t like excitement. I was shocked when he said it doesn’t like excitement. He said Lolo, please oh don’t jump up, don’t be excited and I said okay, went back to my seat and sat down. When I came back to the house, I told my sister and we prayed to God. All through that month, I was just praising God. When I didn’t see my menstruation, I didn’t rush to the hospital immediately because I was just tired of checking.

The pregnancy signs
That was one other exciting period I had. The pregnancy was not quick in coming out. I have never been pregnant in my life before and I was looking forward for this thing to start coming out so that I will start doing guy with it. I told people that I will do shakara with this pregnancy and I did so.

But for the first, second and third month, there was no tummy. And I went to my doctor to say the tummy was not coming out but he said there was nothing wrong, I should go back home. And I said before I will go home allow me to hear the heartbeat so that I can sleep that night. That was because I was not feeling anything; I was looking forward to the tummy coming out. And when the tummy eventually came out, I flaunted it. Oh God! I flaunted it. And I started praying to God that I don’t want to be sick, I was so light and thin that some women started discussing in the saloon that I was padding my tummy with clothes and wasn’t pregnant.

My baby boy, John
I was aware from the first day that I will have a baby boy. Before I got married, I knew that my first child will be a baby boy. Don’t ask me because if I tell you prophetically you will not believe me.

Before I got married, I had spiritually entered into this marriage and the spirit of God told me I was going to have a baby boy. So, every year, I will ask God, where is my baby boy? That was why He told me that I shouldn’t ask him questions.

Delivery day
From the day I knew I was pregnant, I browsed the internet and luckily I saw this www.babycentre.com and I said okay, this is where I will be resting. So every week, I will go to see what the baby will look like and how it is developing. I was doing this until it got to nine months. And I said God, this is the 9th month. And a week or so after the 9th month, I went to the doctor and said, I think this pregnancy has reached nine months, and he said yes. I said I want this baby out because I was also telling God that I would want to give birth that week because I was tired.

So that fateful morning, I called my husband that I was going to have this baby today and he looked at me and didn’t say anything, he is not the talking type, anyway. I went to my aunty and said, please drop this bag for me in the car, don’t allow anybody to see you. She did that and I called my doctor and said I’m coming oh, are you ready? He said start coming, you are going to give birth today. I drove myself to the hospital. I did not want to give birth close to my house because if I do so, the whole Cotonou will pull down my house. Because just the mention of my name, even a little kid in Cotonou will tell you I know her. So, I chose a far place. When I got to the clinic, it didn’t take up to 5 hours, 30 minutes and I gave birth to my baby.

Paying God back
There is nothing that will be enough to pay God back in this kind of thing except by submitting your life, everything unto Him and to serve Him and mankind. This is one of the greatest payments one can make to God and also to make sure that the child is brought up according to God’s will.

The day I gave birth
The day I gave birth, it was as if the whole of Cotonou was looking up to it. The moment the news hit the city and entered the market, within two hours, everybody left the market to come to my house and the celebration started immediately and had been like that till today.

We are using this ceremony to tell those that are looking for the fruit of the womb that God is on the throne. Everybody in this Cotonou knows me and nobody thought I would be able to carry a pregnancy because I was so lean.

And there was this rumour in town that my husband used my womb to do juju (ritual). The young man himself did not hear this and the rumour was just spreading. But I heard it before I got pregnant. I said he is the only surviving son of his parents and his father is dead. I said how can he use my womb to do juju while in his lineage he is the only one left. So, I started asking myself what he was doing with my womb and has not given me any child from outside. So, I was not disturbed. I knew it was a mere rumour. In my dictionary there is no fear, so I did not confront my husband on this. But to God be the glory.

Most men will not be able to do what my husband has done, to wait all this 13 years. That is why I see myself privileged to be married to him. I am maybe the most privileged woman in the whole world for the kind of person he is.

A MIRACLE, 30 YEARS AFTER

2007-12-30T17:15:00.000-08:00

A miracle, 30 years after

In Africa, the fruit of the womb, to a large extent, determines the blissfulness of a marriage. The inability to procreate has led and still leads to the breakdown and sometimes dissolution of many marriages. On tying the nuptial knot, couples look forward, with high hopes, to childbearing. A few years into the marriage, questions are asked and and eyebrows raised when none is forthcoming.

But Pastor and Deaconess Asuquo Dan Ukoh of the Olodi, Lagos branch of The Apostolic Church, watched the years roll by with expectations, believing in the Lord for offspring of their own. For 30 years, they remained prayerful and steadfast in their faith and confidence in God.

That finally came to fulfillment on April 2, when Deaconess Dora Dan Ukoh put to bed a baby girl. Theirs was a case of unlimited joy as friends, relations, church members and well wishers streamed into their Rasaki Street, Olodi-Apapa, Lagos residence to congratulate them. Indeed, their happiness started right from the early days of her pregnancy. “I was happy the day I got to know I was pregnant, because many men of God had prayed with us and for us. Through the prophetic message, I believe that I was going to have my own baby,” said an elated Mrs. Ukoh.
Dora said that she had gone to so many hospitals to no avail as she was always told that there was no problem with her womb after undergoing a series of tests.

“So my husband and I took it upon ourselves that prayer is the only option left,” said the 46 year old mother.
“We prayed fervently to God for children and in the end, God answered our prayers. We give thanks to God for fulfilling his promise,” added 50-year old Asuquo.

In the compound where they have been living for over 30 years, they have come to be known as a symbol of happy, holy matrimony even though they had no children of their own. Their generosity had seen them train quite a number of direct and extended relations. In fact, some of their neighbours found it difficult to believe that they were childless. Their apartment is filled with children – other people’s children who call them mummy and daddy.

“I never lost hope for I knew my God will bless us with children which he has now done,” said Asuquo.

The road to fruitfulness was not without thorns. Naturally, there were interferences, sundry suggestions and insinuations from members of both families, but the couple stood their ground, supported by their faith in God. Their parents, they revealed, were supportive of whatever actions they decided to take all along, most especially Asuquo’s father who was an elder of the church.

Both lost the goodwill of their friends when they refused to budge or seek a herbal treatment. “We don’t have friends now. They tried to discourage us and our faith, so, we took God as our friend,” Asuquo said. He also ignored all those who advised and encouraged him against his wish, asking him to look elsewhere. Said he: “there were friends who tried to mislead me, all of them left when they couldn’t convince me. I refused to abandon her. According to the Bible, once you are married, you become one. There was nothing anybody could do when I know the words of God and as a pastor, I couldn’t do otherwise.”

Indeed the temptations were high and so were the stakes. But “all through, we kept on praying. We didn’t have to go to any herbalist or another church. Our parents did not teach us to go to herbalist whenever we had problems. We prayed and we are still praying,” he said.

Were they expecting babies immediately after their wedlock? Asuquo smiled, burst into laughter, then said: “I don’t know how to answer that question because what else does one expect when he gets married?”

Asked how he felt waiting for so long, Asuquo queried:”How would it be like when you marry a wife and have to wait for 30 years to have a baby?” He was quick to add: “My wife is a woman of faith and hope. Whenever people mocked her for not being able to bear children, she normally replied in a way that strengthened my own faith by saying, “I know for sure that I will not die childless.” As for Deaconess Asuquo, she said she did not feel too bad about it “because many people had been praying for us and I told God that one day, before I die, I will have a child.”

The Asuquos were married when they were very young. They tied the nuptial knots in 1970 in Lagos at a time both were in secondary school and Dora barely 16 years. She soon joined her husband in their present residence. He met his wife in the church and made further enquiries about her having been seeing her around. Thus, when his mother encouraged him to get married even as a teenager, he quickly “rushed” her before someone else did.

“If you were the one, wouldn’t you have done the same thing?” he asked as husband and wife roared with laughter, almost tearfully, as if they simultaneously remembered that very first day they met formally. Obviously, he had the beauty of his wife in mind and she his desperation then.

How does it feel to be a first-time father at 50 after 30 years of marriage? “I am very happy. In fact, everyone who has gone through an experience for one year, two years or three years should be happy, how much more 30 years. How else can I feel?”

His wife chipped in philosophically that “it is just 30 years, afterall, Sarah waited longer in the Bible.” Just 30 years indeed, for one who prayed and believed it will certainly come to pass. Asuquo chipped in again: “Supposing it was your wife who gave birth after 30 years of marriage, how would you feel? For me, I feel like somebody who got married yesterday and his wife gives birth the following day. I have a child and thank God for that. A father is a father and I feel like I was married yesterday.”

The couple’s hope was raised last year when they encountered Pastor Cornelius Ajayi Ogunyemi, the Apapa Area Superintendent of The Apostolic Church who, according to Asuquo, prophesied “that my wife was going to conceive very soon.” He came to our house and we agreed in prayer.

“That has been our prayer ever since and God has now answered it at his appointed time. If he had allowed me to pass the year 2000, maybe I would have changed my mind and that is why he fulfilled his promise. The Lord is worthy.” In the church, he preached year 2000 as a year of prosperity and blessing and believed same for himself and truly, that has been manifested.

The pregnancy itself was not without pains, especially for a first time mother at her age. Asuquo said: “During the pregnancy, my wife had some pains and went to consult a doctor who asked us to bring N10,000 as cost for examination and treatment. But when we told Pastor Ogunyemi, he told us not to pay a kobo to any doctor or hospital, that God has laid hands on the baby. He said God who placed the baby there will deliver her of the baby safely when the time comes.” To that, they also agreed in prayer.

“Then on Sunday, April 2, I was ministering in the church and when I looked in the direction where my wife normally sits, I couldn’t find her. Later, somebody came to inform me that my wife had put to bed.”

That day’s service turned into a celebration of a sort as people came over to congratulate him, even his friends who had earlier abandoned him when he turned down their advice to divorce his wife. “What a miracle,” he said.

In fact, when he got home after the service, the whole area was filled with people who had come to rejoice with them.

The baby whose arrival has brought joy of inestimable value to the family and marriage, has been bestowed with names such as Ekemini Abasi (meaning the acceptable time of God), Precious, Aduragbemi, Happiness, Utibe and Lucy. “She is precious to me,” said Pastor Asuquo.

Penultimate Sunday, a dedication service was held at the church for which friends, relations and well wishers of the couple came from far and near. It turned out to be a celebration more elaborate than the couple anticipated. There, they poured out their hearts and experiences in encouragement of couples looking for the fruit of the womb. In the words of Asuquo: “In the Bible, Sarah and Abraham were married for so many years without a child, yet, they did not divorce themselves. God has been promising me “I will bless you, I will bless you.” I believed that and kept faith that sooner than later, before I leave this world, God would answer my prayer and as people say, the year 2000 is a year of miracles. I didn’t know that I will be one of the people the miracle will manifest in their lives.”

“We are broad-minded; we took good care of other people’s children while hoping on God to have our own. It is the promise of God which has come to fulfillment,” Dora said. “This has strengthened our faith and commitment to God with whom all things that seemed impossible have become possible,” Asuquo added.

Now that the door has been opened, do they expect more children? The question elicited a long laughter, a sigh and then: “Why not, if that is God’s wish?” answered Asuquo. Asked what advice they have for married couples in dire need of their own children, Asuquo said: “They should hope in God.” And from Dora: “They should trust in God for it is never too late. If He can do it for me, He can do it for anybody else. All we have to do is to wait for God’s appointed time. It will surely come to pass.” At that point, the baby who had been having a quiet time in the inner room cried out from the cot as if to remind her parents that she was listening.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

2007-12-30T17:11:00.001-08:00

The issue of infertility is a personal one and many people who are going through it tend to keep their pains and frustrations to themselves. However it helps when you learn about other people who went through the same experience; you will be encouraged by their stories.

There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Even with a complicated medical diagnosis or sometimes ‘unexplained fertility,’ miracles do happen. They can also happen to you!

Infertility is a worldwide problem and even if you are not an African reader you will be able to identify with these couples, the ladies especially, as they tell their stories. You will cry, and ultimately laugh with them.