Miracle claims printer’s life

Miracle claims printer’s life

Many Christians troop to the church these days not solely because of the love they have for their Creator or the desire to serve Him but for their appetite for earthly blessings. Poverty, disease and all manner of afflictions have driven many a Christian to seek solutions in the church. The situation in Nigeria is very pathetic.

No one seems to agree that the miserable conditions that propel Christians into the sanctuary are direct consequences of the economic mismanagement and systemic corruption in high and low places. In almost all the churches, especially the new generation ones, the emphasis is on how to land uncommon blessings. The pulpits now spew “mammongelism” at the expense of evangelism which is the key component of the Christian faith.

In their desperation to overcome poverty, most church-goers are gullible enough to succumb to all kinds of subterfuge, coercions and even subtle threats from their pastors. At the end of the day, the little most of them have are taken away from them in anticipation of bigger miracles.

A printer based in Kaduna had struggled through life with nothing much to show for his efforts. Before he ventured into printing, he had partnered with someone who was a close buddy back in their undergraduate days to float a promotional outfit and succeeded in contracting a good number of top-flight musicians to stage live concerts at some campuses of higher institutions in the northern states. His buddy was the senior partner in the business but he was doing much of the leg work to keep the outfit afloat because of his charisma and oratorical power.

However, things began to go awry for the business as the senior partner became extravagant in his lifestyle. Eventually, both the capital and profits were squandered, leading to the collapse of the business. They then parted ways. It was at that point that the printer ventured into the world of publishing which is quite lucrative and relocated to Jos. His decision to go into printing was informed by the exposure he garnered when his immediate elder brother got him to serve in a publishing firm in Lagos during his youth service.

Because of the crisis bedeviling the Tin City, business was not as good as expected. With a family of four to cater for, he became very desperate to succeed. The church then offered him a glimpse of hope. He keyed into all manner of programmes and crusades that held promises of mind-blowing miracles. For a very long time, his conditions did not improve. The blessings were slow in coming and his blood pressure began to climb up.

Either by coincidence or divine intervention, one of his proposals was suddenly approved by a big firm located in the city. Worth N3m, the printer could not believe the miracle which would leave him with a profit margin of close to N1.5m. Miracles can be a double-edged sword. For a man who had not seen the sum of N20, 000 in one go for a very long time, such hefty profit stirred up an excitement that was too much for his heart to bear. His blood pressure hit the roof and he had to be rushed to the hospital where doctors battled to jack it down.

For close to one week, the printer fought a survival battle with his pastor and church members doing night vigils. And just as his condition appeared to be improving, the printer slipped into a coma. He never came out of it. He was pronounced dead by the doctor even as the N2m cheque for the contract mobilization fee was cleared in his bank account but he did not live to execute the job let alone hug the life-changing experience the miracle came along with.