Nwachuku Deborah @borah

When I was about to leave for NYSC camp last year, my family and I prayed together. My dad gave me some advice and blessed me before I left. I was nervous but excited.

I took a bus to Abuja, where I would spend the night with a relative before continuing my journey to Taraba. But things didn't go as planned. The road was bad, and I had to cross a sea to get to my destination. I was scared because I had never done anything like that before.

When we got to the sea, I was really worried. I even called my Dad to tell him about it and he encouraged me to be brave. Our car drove onto a ship, and I got on too. Everyone around me was praying for a safe trip. I joined in, hoping everything would be okay.

Crossing the sea was a strange experience. Funny enough, I fell asleep inside the ship despite being afraid 😂

When we finally reached the other side, I thanked God for keeping us safe. I did my training for 2 weeks at the camp and the rest was history

I'll never forget the exam period when I was a teacher. My assistant teacher fell ill, leaving me to mark the scripts alone. With the deadline far, I procrastinated until the last minute. Finally, at 3 am, exhaustion took over, and I decided to rest for a bit before finishing the task.

I felt a tap on my shoulder around 4 am. Weak and disoriented, I initially thought it was just a dream. But when I tried to move, I realized I was paralyzed with fear. That's when I saw him - a man standing before me, but his face was hidden in darkness.

Panic set in as I tried to scream, but my voice was trapped in my throat. In desperation, I whispered "Jesus," hoping for comfort. And then, the man disappeared into thin air, and I was able to stand up.

As I looked around the room, I wondered if it was all just a hallucination. But the memory of that scary encounter was too real. Who was that man, and why did he appear to me in my moment of weakness?
Had I been visited by an angel or a ghost?

The following day, my colleagues said it was sleep paralysis and I should thank God I survived cause many people pass away from it.

I celebrated my birthday yesterday, and my twin sister's. After church, we went home and I made hot tea and had it with bread.

Later, our elder brother surprised us by sending us 20,000 naira. Our dad added some money, and our younger brother also contributed 20,000 naira. We wanted to use the money to cook a special meal at home. But our dad had a different plan. He insisted that we go out and enjoy the day with him. So, we went to a bar with our parents.

At the bar, we had a delicious meal of goat meat pepper soup and rice. It was so tasty! We had a great time together as a family, laughing and sharing stories. Our dad even sang a happy birthday song for me, and everyone in the bar joined in. I felt so loved and appreciated. We also took lots of photos to capture the memories.

I'm grateful for my family's love and support. They made my birthday special and memorable. I feel blessed to have such a wonderful family who always come together to celebrate special occasions. We don't always get to spend quality time together, but yesterday was an exception. It was a day filled with joy, love, and laughter.

We had a wonderful time at the bar, laughing and chatting. I honestly can't wait to celebrate many more birthdays with them.