Dear Friend,
All the days of your life have been ordained by the LORD even before anyone of them ever came to be. I got to discover this first had as that taxi sped off towards Kampala from Mbale that night.
As we approached the city, my colleague kept dialling our host’s number and it was switched off. At about 8:30pm, we alighted the taxi right opposite Tourist hotel near Nakasero Market. Everyone seemed to go some where except us, we sat quietly hoping that perhaps we would receive a call directing us where to go, but nothing.
After an hour or so, I felt the leading to ask the special hire drivers, if they knew of a church near by, one of them said there was one not so near but he would take us for a fee of 20,000 shillings. He put Shamims mattress and suitcase in the boot and we sat behind, it was my very first time in a special and it felt special.
After what appeared to be less than a 5 minutes drive, we got to our destination, right at the front of Kampala Pentecostal Church (KPC) on the side of Kampala road by the steps that go to the parking and side entrance. I felt like we had been cheated but then without him, we wouldn’t have known the place.
It was my idea to find a church because while in Mbale before I got born again, I used to hear about night prayers, so I thought they happened all the time. I left my friend to watch over her own luggage because I had only travelled with what I was wearing and I went to the church to register our presence and take part in what I got to discover was called overnight.
As I got to the entrance, a met a lady who said to me that overnights only took place on the last Friday of the month and she said I should come back on Friday at 10pm. When she said I had to come back, I zoned her out, I got lost in deep thought, my idea of coming for the night prayers was so that we could spend a night in church. I went back and sat next to Shamim and I told her the church is closed until Friday. She started wailing saying what shall we do. We sat quietly until the streets started to get empty as shops closed.
I decided I would check the church once more but this time from the back along Buganda road, but still nothing. As I stood there, I could see my friend, I saw a woman walk past her then moments later that same woman walked back and stood right next to her. I hurried back just in case she turned out to be a thief. I found her asking Shamim questions trying to find out why she was on the street this late, in response to the woman’s question, I told her the truth in under a minute. This didn’t quite go well with my friend because she stopped crying instantly.
I told her we are here to work but our friends phone is switched off and we have no where to go and the last money we had went to the special hire driver. She asked for the telephone number and dialled it severally but it was still unavailable. Then she said the strangest and sweetest thing, “You could come to my house and spend the night then maybe tomorrow I could help you locate this friend of yours, did you say he works with Daily Monitor?” Shamims response got hair on my head standing, she said she didn’t know if he worked there and she had met him once. All she knew is that we were meant to sale newspapers on the street.
We accepted her offer without hesitation but she warned us that her house was too small, but that didn’t mater, all we wanted was where to spend a night. We got into taxis heading to Nakawa and got off right opposite Total and walked into the Nakawa estate. When she said her house was small, we didn’t ask how small, it was in fact the outside store to the main house.
The space inside could only take a bed and the remaining size was about two feet wide. She quickly prepared tea for us and said she would share with the girl while I slept on the floor. As we took out tea, the revelation came. She said she worked at Makerere University as a chef, her shift ends at 9pm so she usually takes a taxi from the university up to city square then she takes another one to Nakawa.
That night as she walked towards the taxi she heard a voice saying, “Walk, don’t take the taxi.” She didn’t hesitate but started walking instantly. She didn’t notice that it was getting late to walk. In obedience she walked while wondering why the LORD had asked her to walk so she decided to pray the entire time. When she got to KPC that’s when she saw Shamim seated by the roadside and she said at first she walked past her, then she heard the same familiar voice that instructed her to walk telling her to walk back and talk to the girl.
Then she said, “If I hadn’t obeyed the LORD today and walked as He asked me too, I wouldn’t have met you and we wouldn’t be here now. I thank God I walked, she added.” She then asked us if we were siblings and how we got here; we spent about an hour talking before we slept off. Then something happened in the night, which I will you in my next letter that made me realise that all the days of our lives have already been pre planned by God. The people we meet, the places we go to, and the events in our lives however dramatic all serve a purpose.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. Psalms 139:16 NLT
This is the Word of the LORD.
His servant,
Pastor Mark A Odeke Mark
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11:36
