Mindviewers Stories

Lately, I've been having this thought of what life will look like after graduation. Honestly, it's been giving me series of sleepless nights, and the deeper I thought, the more confused I became. So yesterday, after a stressful class and a boring lecture, I and my two friends were just walking back home, discussing how the class went and how we'd just waited our turn only to come and sign attendance.

As usual, we stopped by our normal food stall to buy some plates of food, particularly beans and plantain (bolle). While we waited for the woman to serve the food, my friend called our attention, and he asked the big question: "We're about to graduate; what are your plans?" It was as though he was in my mind, and I became aware that I hadn't been able to answer the question myself. I kept mute, just to hear what others had to say, and they were as confused as myself.

We ended up trying to share business ideas within ourselves. It was then I realized that even starting up a business on a small scale is still not easy and is still capital-intensive. And the worst thing to do is to depend on the government for employment, so we only left our fate to God. We were yet to have a solid conclusion when the woman serving the food called for our attention. We forgot everything and just dived in to satisfy our hunger first.

When I got the invitation to the church conference, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it sounded like an interesting event. I didn’t fully remember the theme, but I figured it would be a normal gathering with praise, worship, and a few sermons. When I arrived, everything started off fine—uplifting music, warm smiles, and a lot of people who seemed genuinely happy to be there. Most of the attendees were students, so I blended in easily. For the first hour or so, I felt pretty comfortable.

Things took a turn when it was time for prophecies. A young girl approached me confidently, saying she would prophesy to me. I was open to hearing what she had to say at first, but her "revelation" didn’t sit well with me. She said I was a student, which was an easy guess given the crowd, but then she started talking about struggles in school—stuff that felt like pure negativity. It wasn’t anything profound, just a list of generic bad things. I felt uncomfortable and took my hands away, signaling her to stop. I didn’t come here for doom-and-gloom predictions.

As if that wasn’t enough, a man came up next. He moved to stand in front of rows of people, and to my shock, everyone in the row he faced fell to the ground as if struck by an invisible force. I was frozen in disbelief. It wasn’t something I’d ever seen before, and I couldn’t wrap my head around what was happening. Was it faith? A performance? I had no clue. All I knew was that I didn’t feel at ease. My instincts told me this wasn’t the place for me.

I decided to pray quietly to God on my own, seeking clarity and protection. I prayed for strength and wisdom to handle whatever spiritual atmosphere I was in. The environment was overwhelming, and the theatrics around me didn’t feel right. After finishing my personal prayers, I made up my mind to leave early. Staying for the full event didn’t seem wise.

I left the conference about two hours before it was supposed to end, feeling relieved to be out in the fresh air. As I walked home, I couldn’t help but reflect on how I ended up there in the first place. It was an eye-opening experience, not just about others but about myself. I realized the importance of discerning invitations and protecting my own spiritual peace.

I've consistently noticed the vibration from my phone. I knew it was a call from either a family member or a close friend. However, it was uncomfortable for me to reach out and take the call because I was in a church service. On the constant ring, I decided to excuse myself and take the call. Fortunately, it was from a female friend. That alone kept me wondering why the disturbance and how urgent it was. Whatever the situation was, she wanted to distract me from the service.

Little did I know that it was a serious case, as she was crying. I kept asking what the problem was, then she said her dad was kidnapped on his way back from the office, and they hadn't heard from him. For one second, I was speechless, so she ended the call herself. Not too long after, she called again, saying they'd heard from the kidnappers, who were asking for seventy million. There was no possible way they could raise that money within the limited time. The situation was dire, and raising such an amount would be very hard. I never knew when I burst into tears with her.

At this point, we could do little or nothing but pray and believe in God for a miracle. So, we decided to take the next step and ask God for a miracle, which we did. After much conversation with the kidnappers, they were able to reduce the ransom to ten million. So, we started making calls, asking for help from all related friends and family members. Thank God we were able to raise the money they requested, and the payment was made instantly.