“They were here! They were here! Now I don’t know where they are! They were here!”
Pastor Marfo’s wife got startled in the middle of the night after hearing her husband talk from his sleep.
“Honey! Honey! Wake up!” she jolted Pastor Marfo from sleep. He looked frightened and was disoriented for a while when he finally woke up .
“Hey! What is it?” his wife enquired. The scary look on her husband’s face got her more worried.
“I… I had a dream… a very strange dream…” he said wiping off the sweat that had gathered on his face.
“What is it? Tell me...You look frightened!”
“Honey… I really don’t understand it! It was a very scary dream... I found myself on a large pasture… and there was a large flock of sheep on the pasture… A very large flock… Some looked healthy, others looked sick, and some were hungry even though was pasture. Some were weak, some strong, injured, fattened, some had fractured limbs, some were excited as well, and some of the sheep were just sleeping and inactive. Some were even wandering off the pasture and were getting to swampy areas beyond the forage…”
“Okay… and what happened?” His wife asked encouragingly.
“Then I saw some shepherds… Quite a number as well. But they all seemed busy. I really can’t recollect what kept them busy, but they didn’t have their attention on the sheep.
And it looked like some of the bigger sheep were to teach and tend the younger and weaker sheep how to walk, and how to graze, but they also were just jumping about in fun and focused less on the weak ones…
Then suddenly in the dream the whole place got dark… And all that could be heard was thudding footsteps, maybe as loud as that of a giant. Then a voice asked, “Where are they? Where is my sheep?”
Before the shepherds realized a greater portion of the flock were off the pasture and were sinking in the swamp beyond the pasture… I really don’t understand this dream!” Pastor Marfo said to his wife. His wife was also at sea.
“Hmm! It’s okay Honey! Let’s just pray about it and go back to bed okay? I’m sure with time God will grant us understanding!” she said to him which did little to calm him down.
#TheCharge
THE CHARGE - EPISODE 18
So Esi and Caleb finally lost the desire even to attend church. Truly too, no one from the church got in touch to find out why. Esi eventually came to the conclusion that the situation in her family wasn’t going to get any better.
School reopened and Esi got back to her normal way of fun-filled life with her friends who as well didn’t have any relationship with the Lord. And she found all the "chilling" and fun as a means of relieving her of frustration and depression.
Back at home however, Caleb continued to suffer the chaos. Their parents were now threatening each other with divorce.
About a week to Caleb’s 18th birthday, he made an appeal to his parents to spare him of any squabble or argument that week. Mr. and Mrs. Owusu were sad to hear their son make such an appeal. They gave him the assurance that things will be okay.
Things however didn’t change much. Caleb just hoped that his birthday week would be a peaceful and a joyous one for him.
Lo and behold, Caleb’s birthday came. The whole family was excited, and though Esi was in school, she spoke with her brother on phone and then sent some gifts to him at home.
“I promise to come home over the weekend so we celebrate it in grand style!” she said to her only brother over the phone.
Mr. Owusu as well got for his son an iPhone as his 18th birthday gift. Out of excitement Caleb showed it to his mum when she got back from work, and then asked his mum to help him thank his dad. And that somehow turned out to be a wrong move.
#TheCharge
Dorothy Budu-Arthur
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