Salvation Colony

Chapter Ten

51 Salvation Colony: Sequel to No Way to Die Chapter Ten Dennis Nunqam Ndendemajem W hen did you last go to church?” Pastor Shrapnell asked me when it was finally my turn and I entered his office to talk to him. “About ten years ago,” I said in my throat and then lifted my head and looked into his face, expecting the worse. I noticed that he did not look as alarmed or disturbed as I was fearing he would. “That’s pretty long,” he said, shaking his head more in obvious sympathy than condemnation. “That is the precise beginning of the problem you have,” he said. “You had abandoned God.” A very long silence followed and then I, bent on defending myself said: “Sir, but I know of people who have not been to church for 20 years, and they are happy....” “That is true, brother Dennis,” he said. “Sin and suffering are two different things. Being in a state of sin is not like being in a state of epidemic or plague where all affected persons must die, as soon as they catch it. Some of those you think are happy are not actually. There are many, very many who are doomed. They, unlike you, are irretrievable.” I looked at him in surprise. “Oh yes,” the man nodded. “Those individuals don’t have to. They do the will of God. When a man suddenly becomes conscious of sin as you have done, it is an indication that he does not belong to the world of sin. It shows he can be saved as you are about to do.” 52 Linus T. Asong “You mean I can be saved, sir? I mean, Pastor, Our Father?” I asked. One moment I would believe that I would be saved, the other moment I would think that I could not be saved. “I don’t see why not,” he said. “At the gate the message is clear: THERE IS NO SIN TOO BIG TO BE FORGIVEN IF ONLY YOU ARE TRULY SORRY. “My wife, my friends, my relatives, they may never forgive me,” I said almost to myself. “They don’t have to,” Shrapnell said. “God’s forgiveness is all that matters. In John chapter 15 verses 18 and 19, Jesus tells his disciples: ‘If the world hates you, just remember that it has hated me first. If you belonged to the world, then the world would love you as its own. But I chose you from this world, and you do not belong to it; that is why the world hates you. “Next week is Soul to Soul,” he continued, “you will find that you have done very little to be worried about. As I said in church, I will personally present your case to God and ask Him to forgive you, and my heart tells me that He will forgive you your sins.” “For how long are you here? For how long do you want to carry the cross of Jesus?” “For as long as you are here, Our Father. Nobody wants me. If you want me, I shall be here forever.” “You are my child,” he said with profound tenderness which almost moved me to tears. “Everybody here is my child. Christ said it all in Matthew 19, verse 13: ‘suffer little children to come unto me. Forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven...E-i-m-e-n.” “E-i-m-e-n,” I replied. 53 Salvation Colony: Sequel to No Way to Die “First thing, you must find your feet in this colony,” he said. “To help anybody you must be able to stand on your own feet. What do you do best?” I rubbed my hands together, grimaced, rubbed my eyes with the back of my right hand and remained silent. The last time that question was thrown at me was when Dr. Essemo had come for me and we were travelling back to his house, my hell. When I told him to choose what he would like to have me do, he had suggested the impossible, that I should do medicine, that I should be a doctor, that medicine was the profession of professions! I had come to look for God. I would not give an answer which would make me lose that chance. Pastor Shrapnell had some mysterious power of reading people’s minds. He immediately saw that...