Journey of Grace

Heartbeat! Heartbeat! I felt a very sharp pain at my left chest side. My wife, Eila, was in the kitchen; she heard the loud commotion in the bedroom and came running. She found me lying down; I could hear her mourn from afar; then what followed was total silence, full darkness. I couldn’t tell where I was, if life existed there or not.

Hope seemed to have evaporated. I found myself sitting in darkness: no light, no path, just an abyss. I then saw a thin light coming toward me; I was terrified for I could not trace any path to escape. I began reciting “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Ps. 23:4 [NIV]). The light became bright; I could figure out someone walking toward me; his radiance was so magnified that I could not see his face. He took hold of my hand and commanded me to follow him. His white robes shined in the light, and his aura was all over. We soon came to a hill; he showed me the other side of the land, which was so beautiful, covered with green trees. I saw people in white robes, walking and singing in that land. I saw my grandmother Rasoah, who looked at me with a big smile, then waved to me to go back where I had come from.

The man in the white robe with glowing face then directed me to take the path on the right side. I came past a shining gate that opened as I passed through and finally came to places I had known before. As I followed the path, I heard the cry of my wife, Eila. I came close and saw my four children, Kaila, Laila, Mabish, and Glove, looking at me with sad eyes. Two nurses were cleaning the room, and immediately they left the room. I saw my general superintendent, my deputy general superintendent, my senior pastor, and my clerk, and three women entered the room. They surrounded me and began to sing the Swahili Injili hymnal number 110, “Ni Tabibu wa Karibu” (“The Great Physician is Near”). The moment they finished singing, my general superintendent prayed for God’s will to be done. He prayed that God knew me as a sojourner here on earth; and that he knew a day will come to go on the journey; and that, “if He so wills, then let me have the journey of grace. And if the journey is not yet, then let Him grant me the grace of healing.” As my general superintendent finished praying, there was a loud bang of the machine.

I began to breathe with heaviness; I looked back and saw the man in the white robes and bright face waving his hand to me that I should now get up. As I opened my eyes, I saw people crying aloud, others running to call the doctors. The nurses came quickly and found me with open eyes. The doctor came and confirmed that my breathing was restored back to normal. They took me out of the supportive machine, and joy reigned in the air. Worshiping and praising the Lord overtook the hospital in waves; many people, including other patients who were there, came to witness the miracle that had happened. It was not just an ordinary doing.

I sat down on the bed and testified that I was on a long journey, realizing that I had been admitted for three days in the hospital. It was a journey of grace that God had granted me, to come back and proclaim his message of Christ to save those who are perishing. And so I said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16).