TESTIMONIES
ONE HOLIDAY OF SERVICE, A LIFETIME OF LESSONS BY SIS C.W.
When I went home for the holidays, I decided to take Pastor’s advice to heart – to honour my parents and guardians, and love on them. I won’t deny, I’m a lazy person. But I made a conscious effort to be hardworking and help out.
My grandma came to stay with us, and even though it was a bit of a challenge, I saw it as an opportunity to learn and grow. While everyone else complained about how difficult she was, I chose to focus on serving her, and ensuring she was comfortable. I helped with household chores, cooked for her, and took care of her needs generally.
It wasn’t always easy, but I kept my eyes on the prize – God’s rewards. And you know what? It paid off. Before I left, everyone told me how much they appreciated all that I did, and it felt amazing to know that I had made a difference in my family’s life.
I’m sharing this to encourage you to honour your loved ones even when it’s tough. Trust that your efforts won’t go unnoticed, and that God will reward you for your kindness and love.
TESTIMONY OF HONOUR AND REIMBURSEMENT BY SIS D.O.
From when I started working, I made it a point to spend my one-month annual leave with my family at Uyo since I work out of town.
Since I joined God’s Lighthouse and learned the teachings on honour, especially honouring and serving one’s parents, my visits began to change. Whenever I traveled home, I would go with gifts for everyone. As God enabled me financially, I would take gifts for my mom: clothes, perfumes, bags, and other things she liked and appreciated.
But beyond physical gifts, I also learned another way to give – by being a blessing to the house. One of the practical ways I found to do this was through cleaning. From around 2017 to about 2021, I used to do the cleaning of the house myself. Our house is quite large, and there was usually no proper deep cleaning all year round.
So whenever I arrived home, I would begin almost immediately, often the next day, by cleaning my mom’s room and bathroom, washing her clothes, and attending to the spaces that belonged to her. Then, I’d progress to other areas in the house. This became a consistent practice. Over the years, I did more each time, ensuring that there were visible and immediate changes in her space.
In 2022, after I had done a thorough cleaning, my aunt came to visit my mum. Then, she entered my mom’s restroom, looked around, and said in our local dialect, “Now a daughter has arrived. Now it looks like you have a daughter.”
It was a funny comment to me because my younger siblings were around the house. But it was clear that while they handled basic things, the deep cleaning, washing piled-up clothes, and restoring her space stood out.
That effort was deeply appreciated, not just by my mom but also by her sister. Over the years, every time I did these things, my mom would thank God for me, bless me, and pray for me.
Now, the particular incident I want to share happened in 2023. I went home, and the house was in a very bad state. There was accumulated clutter in different parts, including documents and old items. Rats lived under the stairs, leaving urine and droppings everywhere. The house smelled, and the cushions and furniture were affected.
By this time, one of our church businesses – Amazing Christian Girls Housekeeping – had started operations. I realized it would be a better use of my time and money to engage them rather than trying to clean everything myself over several exhausting days.
They came in and did a deep clean over a 2-day period, and the results were outstanding. I spent a significant amount of money, but the transformation was remarkable.
Beyond cleaning, we also fixed several other things in the house that needed attention.
The night before I traveled back to Lagos, I went to meet Pastor, and he prayed for me. Toward the end of the prayer, he specifically prayed for reimbursement, repeating it thrice – reimbursement for all expenditures, financial and otherwise. He was aware of some of the expenses I had incurred for the house.
At the time, I received the prayer simply with not much thought. It didn’t immediately register with me, and I was slow to connect it to the service, as you’ll see.
The next morning, my mom drove me to the airport. After dropping me off, she transferred money to my account. I can’t remember the exact amount, but it was a very large sum, enough to essentially reimburse all the money I had spent on the house and more.
When she sent it, she said something along the lines of, “Reimbursement.” She thanked me for everything I had done for the house, and I was glad to be of service. It was after I got to Lagos and we were sharing testimonies in church about unexpected monies that I remembered this event and specifically the same word used by both of them – reimbursement.
I’m sharing this because it is a direct testimony of giving and serving. I honestly can’t count the number of favors and blessings I’ve received simply from serving.
God has been extremely faithful. My life has been full of testimonies, and I truly believe this is connected to honor.
READ NEXT: HONOUR (PART 14)
