•Despite long delay, I didn’t lose hope—Wife
There was animated joy penultimate Sunday in Ikere Ekiti as friends, family members and well-wishers celebrated with a couple, Pastor Michael Sunday Ajala and his wife, Mrs. Helen Folasade Ajala, who were blessed with a set of twins; a boy and a girl.
Pastor Ajala and his wife, Folasade, were joined in holy wedlock on August 18, 2001, at Emure- Ekiti, but their hope for early childbearing was dashed after the woman suffered stillbirth at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife in Osun State, a few months after their marriage was consummated. Doctors at the hospital attributed the loss of the baby to a cardiac arrest Folasade suffered during pregnancy.
It was a long wait for Folasade, as efforts to procure another pregnancy proved abortive even as the couple was subjected to medical tests and visited gynaecologists in various hospitals amid fasting and prayer. The couple’s prayers were eventually answered in July 2016 when Folasade began to see signs of pregnancy.
Medical tests later confirmed that the she was pregnant and their joy knew no bounds. Nine months later, precisely April 2, 2017, Folasade was delivered of a set of twins (a boy and a girl). The news of the birth spread round Ikere Ekiti like a wild fire in the harmattan.
The home of the couple located in Oke-Igbe area of Ikere Ekiti was filled to capacity as neighbours, relations, family members, church members and other members of the public trooped there to congratulate them and welcome the new babies. A lavish naming ceremony was held on April 9, at the Gospel Faith Mission International (GOFAMINT), Hephzibah Cathedral, Kajola, Ikere Ekiti, where the couple worship.
At the ceremony, thousands of well-wishers rejoiced with the long suffering couple. The baby boy was named Philip; Sunday; Taiwo; Temitope; Abimbola; Oluwapamilerin and Ayomide, while the girl was named Delight; Bisola; Kehinde; Iyanuoluwa; Bosede and Modalayo. In his sermon at the ceremony, Ikere District Pastor of the church, Pastor Olumide Fred Akinrotohun, described the birth of the twins as a reward for the faithfulness of the couple in spite of their plight during the long wait. Quoting from the books of Genesis Chapter 30 Verse 1, Psalm 127:3-5 and Psalm 128:1-6, the cleric said nobody can by his own power produce children except God grants him the grace saying worrying and anxiety can’t do it but only faith in God.
Pastor Akinrotohun said the story of the Ajalas was a testimony that God still answers prayer commending the couple for soldiering on in faith when every hope seemed to have been lost. Giving testimony before the congregation, Pastor Ajala, 52, who hails from Ikere Ekiti, said he felt a sense of relief when God spoke to him on July 31 that He has done it and in a matter of months his wife would put to bed. He said: “The Lord is good, the Lord is wonderful.
At times, God may delay it to answer you better. We serve a God who turned impossibility to possibility and who reversed the irreversible. “Some people were spreading false rumours about my wife, others gave me suggestions that I should marry another wife which I rejected. I had a strong belief in God that He would do it at the right time.
“I never allowed the problem of childbearing to show on my face. In fact, some people used to tell me that is the God you are serving not able to do it for you? But I thank God that He has done it today and this has become a reality. “There is no problem too big for God to solve, there is nothing impossible for God to do. This is an evidence of what God can do and this should encourage couples still going through similar problems that God will answer them.
“God made the delivery of the twins easier for us during this period of economic challenges as God raised people for us who supported us financially. This is a wonder from God and we will continue to praise God for answering us at last. “It has been almost nerve-wracking experience but we thank God that He eventually saw us through because we have been believing in Him for all the 16 years we were expecting.
And God proved Himself beyond all reasonable doubts.� “We believed in the efficacy of the power of God. We were praying and we believed that God can do all things. We believed in the grace of God, that there is nothing impossible for Him to do.” In an interview with our reporter after the christening service, Ajala who is also a senior officer in the Ekiti State Ministry of Education, said he held on to God and resisted attempts by some individuals to arrange a “secret wife” for him by those who had given up that his wife could bear him a child. He further disclosed that some suggested a visit to witch doctors to unravel the mystery behind the long delay in childbearing and get a solution which he rebuffed because of his faith in the living God. Ajala said:
“So many people came to me and gave several advice. Some said that I was getting much older to the point of having grey hairs. They urged me to marry another woman. “Some even arranged a secret wife for me but I refused all these overtures because I believed in the promise of God that it would come to reality. Others suggested that I visit herbalists and other spiritualists but I refused because I believed only in the Lord Jesus Christ. We believed that there is a living God in our church, the Gospel Faith Mission International that answers prayer. “We are both ministers in the church, by God’s grace and we held on tenaciously to our faith in God.” On his advice for barren couples, Ajala said: “If I were to advise other couple still waiting on God for fruits of the womb, I will simply urge them to be just a little patient. This is because God has a better package for them.
“He wants to answer their prayers in a better way. They shouldn’t be moved by pressures from both families, friends, relatives and what have you. It is only God who can answer their prayers. “His gifts are perfect and add no sorrow. By the time they wait on God, He would answer them in a bigger way and they will give all glory to Him. “For us to have been able to hold on till this time that God answered us, it has been by God’s grace and our closeness to His word which kept assuring us and the church has really helped us a lot.’’ Giving her testimony before the congregation, Folasade, 46, an indigene of Emure Ekiti, said the birth of the babies had put an end to her long wait for the fruit of the womb and given her a testimony. She said:
“This is the handiwork of God and it is an evidence that God still answers prayer of those who wait on him. Despite the long delay, I didn’t lose hope and I never gave up believing that one day, my prayers will be answered. “During the period of waiting, some people used to wonder that they never saw me in a sorrowful mood. In fact, somebody asked my mother-in-law that what is wrong with me that whenever they were celebrating occasions, I was the first person that would be there. “The fellow said why am I so swift to celebrate with other people and also assist them to cook food to celebrate ceremonies and what is making me to be happy despite not being a mother yet.
“But I told my mother-in-law that I have to celebrate with others so that they will celebrate with me. I told her that I must celebrate others so that they can celebrate me as well, that as I go to other people’s occasions, they will come and celebrate my own with me. “I told Mama that the person was reminding God to answer my prayer. That person was spurring God to answer me swiftly and I thank God for answering my prayer; God has done it for me eventually.
“I want to thank God for giving me in-laws who stood by me throughout the difficult period. They supported me, encouraged me and prayed for me and today, we are all celebrating together. “I want to encourage couples that are still waiting for their children not to lose hope, if God can do it for us, God can also do it for them because children comes from God. They should hold on to God who has the power to turn around their situation for good.”
Speaking on her challenges during the long wait, Folasade, who is a staff member of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) said: “There were many challenges. One of them and very painful was during December period when I see other mothers buying many gifts for their children for the festivity. “In my place of work, I would see many parents buying gifts for their children. Many would be talking about what they are buying for their children and some would be saying that if one has no child in this world, his journey on earth is in vain. “So, I had heard so many unpalatable things about our condition from friends, colleagues at work and even church members. But I wasn’t discouraged or moved through the grace of God.
“I wasn’t moved with such mockery and insults because I believed in God’s power, I have been praying and He had assured that He would do it. So, whenever I hear those things, I hold on to God’s promise. “That way, I didn’t entertain so much worry. Fortunately, there were no pressures from my in-laws. They supported us and were praying for us. They are very loving people.’’� Advising women who are still in her former condition, Mrs. Ajala said:
“For women out there who are still expecting this bundle of joy, they should stick to God, strengthen their faith in Him. “They should therefore depend on God for their own miracle because, from my experience, I have come to know that there is no impossibility with God. Whatever He says He would do, He would surely do it.
“The year we got married, God assured me that I would never be barren, so when this delay came, I didn’t doubt Him, I held unto His word and kept faith with it.
“To those who have mocked us, derided us, and given wrong advice to us, we enjoin them to come closer to God and seek to know Him better, because if they had come to the knowledge of Christ, they wouldn’t have done such.”
