This is my entry for the SWC contest BY 
I never came to the actual realization that God and his powers are as real as we are.I read severally that Jesus raised the dead and healed the sick, I believed he did all that but it never dawned on me that it could happen before my eyes. This was when I knew the power in Christ and the assurance that his words bring.
I've always loved to sing, and what better way to use my talent than in the church?
There was a wedding being held on this particular Saturday and being part of the lead vocalists in church, I had to be there, to anchor the wedding hymns. I left three of my younger siblings with my dad, while the rest and I went to the church. Before I left, Ariel asked me if I loved her....she asked me if i would get her something on my way back. I was shocked at first at her question, I smiled and nodded. She then pecked me and shouted "I want gala oh" i laughed and replied "yes ma", then i left with my other two sisters.
It didn't take long before i started to have this awful head ache. I had already sang and the bride and groom were exchanging vows. It was a happy union but my mood had gone sour and to top it off, the head ache was nerve racking. I got up with my cell phone in my hands and decided to take a walk outside the church premises. I noted the choir head and i was given permission.
I had barely spent ten minutes outside trying to cool off when I received a call from my dad.
"Ejura, I want you to come home now! She's dying!!!" I heard him say. I was trying to grasp his words.."come home now!" he repeated and hung up. I began to panic. Who was dying?...a million questions ran through my head as i went back inside the church to get my bag, trying not to disrupt the wedding. The choir master could see that something was wrong, I whispered "home" to him and alerted my sisters. They began to panic too and we hurried home.
I pushed open the gate and walked in, noticing the absence of my father's car. My sisters noticed too, worried and panting from the running. Mama, the fourth of us ran outside to meet us, obviously crying. I couldn't hold it, I began to cry. "What is wrong? where is daddy? where's Attah( the fifth of us, my brother) and Tule?( Ariel's native name, the last of us) She began to sob even louder. "talk now?!"Uyo, my immediate younger sister shouted in panic.
" She's dead sister Ejura" Mama dropped, sobbing loudly. "Who's dead?"my heart was in my mouth
"Tule".....
I heard Uyo and Ufedo( my sister immediately after Uyo) scream. Mama held unto me crying,Ufedo and Uyo were wailing shouting the names of God, the news hadn't sunk in yet. I ran inside, searched the whole house, looking for Tule. I found an almost empty bottle of rat poison on the floor, I kicked away and shouted. My sisters ran in after me, all crying, holding unto me. I still couldn't believe what i had just heard. "Where is Attah?"
"He followed daddy the hospital."
"And mummy?" i asked mama.
"she went out before it happened" she answered.
I removed my scarf and sat down. "TULE CANNOT BE DEAD!" i shouted."She cannot be dead!" I brought out my phone and called my dad. The first two times he did not pick, but he picked the third time.
"DAD?" i heard my mother's voice in the background, shouting in prayer and wailing at the same time. That was when it dawned on me.
"She's been pronounced dead" i heard that before the phone dropped from my hands. I began to shiver. Tule? Dead? I screamed, both hands on my head and fell to the floor. The cries of my sisters increased and became louder....."God where are you!" I shouted at the top of my voice.
It was about 8 pm, all the choir members had gathered in my house, trying to console us and telling us to have faith in God, that he could still do something. I could only stare into space, remembering the question she asked before i left. "Tule, I love you" I sobbed...repeating it over and over again. The choir master held and tried to console me, my sisters were shattered...I had no strength. Moments later my phone rang and My dad asked me to meet him outside the gate, his car was parked there. I ran out to meet him.
"Daddy, please tell me it's not true..." he wiped his tears and wiped mine and asked me to sit.
"dad, please talk to me, what happened?"
"I made breakfast for them and i came out to see the mechanic who was supposed to fix my car. It didn't take long and I came inside........took a glass of water and sat down. Not up to five minutes, Tule approached me from the room, tears coming down from her eyes. I asked her what was wrong, she said I should carry her. I told her to come, before she got to me, she slumped and started foaming from her mouth. " I put both hands on my head.
"I ran towards her and picked her up, her eyes were almost closed, black foam from her mouth. I screamed and ran inside to find what was linked to that. I got to my room to noticed she had drank the liquid rat poison I bought months ago. How she found it, I don't know because I hid it. How she opened it, I don't know either because i hadn't opened it. Mama and Attah saw the black foam pouring out of her mouth, I ran to my car and put her inside, rushed to the hospital, I asked Attah to keep calling her name so she wouldn't close her eyes....." He paused.
" Before I got to the hospital, Attah started crying that she had closed her eyes. I began to cry as i pushed through the gate of the military hospital(our family hospital). I carried her and ran inside the hospital shouting for help. Nurses came, seeing her condition and called for the doctor. She was rushed to the emergency ward and I called your mother, before i called you. I hadn't finished talking to you before the doctor told me she was dead." I screamed again, calling the name of Jesus, sobbing. "Tule!!! I screamed in agony"
" Before I left, they had put an oxygen mask on her,....feeling no pulse, no response whatsoever...Your mother has been crying and praying, even other patients joined her. Ejura I am finished! I watched my own daughter die in my hands!"
" Daddy no!!!!!!!...." I sobbed........
He got a call and had to rush back to the hospital. I opened the gate, locked it from inside because he said he, my mum and my younger brother would be sleeping at the hospital just in case something came up. It was very dark and the outside lights were still off. As I turned from the gate, I saw her. I froze.
She just stood there, staring at me, with her finger in her mouth....looking at me. The halo around her was white, she was totally covered in white, i shook my head. "Tule" I called out. She still stared at me, just looking. I reached out to her...."Please come back" I sobbed..... and before i could reach her,She vanished.
I rushed inside and told every one what I had seen and I urged them to all pray. 20 of us, held hands and we prayed in agreement. I was asked to end the prayer, I challenged him, told him to prove himself as God. I told him to show us that he was the same yesterday, today and forever. I recited certain scriptures and asked if he now denies his promises. Oh I prayed like i had never prayed. I shouted her name seven times and asked her to come back,sobbing, still praying. I shouted with all my strength, everyone began to weep, speaking in tongues.
THE MIRACLE
It was at about 2am when my dad called again, he asked me to make pap and a hot flask of water, to bring to the hospital the next day. Heasked that I not tell my siblings yet, so as not to make them falsely eager.He said the doctor began to feel a faint pulse and that she had began to vomit black substances. I covered my mouth in glee. Did God answer my prayers?
I walked into her hospital room.
"Daddy, see, Ejura is here." I heard Tule's voice. I froze, looking at the little being, like nothing happened to her. I approached my parents who were sitting beside her and greeted them. They were both smiling....I looked at Tule again. "akpom baby?" that's the tease name I gave her, although she doesn't like it.
"ooooh, sister Ejura I told you I don't like the name now!" I grabbed her and hugged her....ooooh, i began to cry. I held her so dearly. "Tule, don't ever do this to me again!"
"do what?" she replied, petting my back....telling me not to cry.
I turned to my parents and asked how she came back to consciousness.
"At about 10 pm, your mother who was still praying and crying by her side noticed her fingers moving. She called me and I noticed it too. I called for the doctor and before he came, she had started vomiting a lot of smelly black substances. She vomited for a while and later on she stopped, the doctor who pronounced her dead was obviously shocked. He felt her heart beating. He said he had no explanation, he was confused. Your mother and I held hands to pray, calling the name of God to revive her. It didn't take long, she opened her eyes and started asking for water." I began to tear up. I remembered the choir members left my house 45 minutes past ten pm after we prayed. God had answered my prayers at the time.
There is truly power in the word. She didn't undergo any surgery, she was given a few drugs and injections and she was just too normal. Seeing her after the incident, one would't believe she had actually died and came back again. My parents shared the testimony in the church, we did thanksgiving, God had proven himself. This happened in 2015. Ariel Tule will be 7 this year and below is a picture I took with her on new year's day.
Indeed we serve an awesome God. We do not know our power in Christ if we do not go through such trials and testing of our faith. Have faith and always rely on God, he will not let you down.
