When Apostle Elkana, the Revered Spiritual Superintendent of The Holiest of All Ghosts (THOAG) Tabernacle Assembly, asked me to delay the opening of the school for this year’s second term and join him in prayers for a few days, I thought it would be a short commitment. I planned to delay the school opening by just a few days. I knew this wasn’t right, but as you can imagine, we are too remote for anyone in the Ministry of Education to notice.
“Are you ready to be totally focused on prayer? Nothing else but prayer?” he asked me, adding that we would be fasting, singing, and praying. “Are you ready, Dre, or are you just joking with God’s name?” he mentioned that most people who had gone on such prayer sojourns before did not successfully complete the process. “But the few who completed it have everlasting joy.”
I asked him for examples of people who had completed prayer sojourns to see how successful they were. “Are you doubting God?” he asked. “If you are doubting God, then do not come, do not join me,” he said. “But if you choose not to come, I can assure you that your life will remain the same or go backwards. You will remain planted here in Mwisho wa Lami village, and you may even lose many things God has given you, including your job.”
“There are many other people who would like to go with me for the prayer sojourn. I have selected you, and yet you are giving me problems. I can choose another person if you have doubts,” he said when he saw me hesitate.
“I am in, but let me consult my family first, then I will revert,” I said. He told me not to join him if I was going to tell anyone about our sojourn. “This is between us and God, and the condition is that you tell no one and follow all the instructions.” Once I fully committed, he asked that we meet in church a week before schools opened.
There, he gave me special anointing oil and led me to swear that I would dutifully follow all his instructions, for they were all instructions from God. “The sojourn is not very cheap, but when you return successfully from it, the benefits will be multiple, as God will open all your ways, including opening financial rivers to flow your way.”
“Are you choosing whether you want to pray for yourself only or also for the school?” he asked. I told him both, and he said he would give me proper instructions the next day. When we met the next day, he told me that God had instructed that I get Sh100,000 from the school and Sh30,000 from my own funds to pursue prayer for the school and myself.
I asked what the money was for. “The money is not even for food; it is for our own use as it is a long journey. It is what we will use for transport and other needs we may have on the road. God will not ask you to give Him anything; it is just for our logistics.” Luckily, I had taken a loan to buy a second boda boda motorcycle and could easily get Sh30,000. The problem was the Sh100,000 from the school.
But God opened ways. It was not so difficult to convince the school account signatories that we visit the bank together to get the money. I informed them that I was travelling to Nairobi for school work and would need the money. One of the reasons was to help get two teachers posted to the school, something the signatories agreed was a real need. I have to say that although I had Sh100,000 for the prayer sojourn, we actually withdrew Sh120,000. I am not at liberty to explain where the extra Sh20,000 went - you can ask the BOM chair.
On Saturday, we left for Nakuru on a Nairobi-bound Msamaria Mwema bus. It was myself, Apostle Elkana, and two other people I had never met before: a man and a woman. I paid for the tickets for everyone, and in Kisumu, we had supper at a hotel where Msamaria Mwema stopped to pick more passengers. I paid for the supper.
We arrived in Nakuru to find a car waiting for us and were driven for over three hours, mostly on a dark, dirt road. We arrived at a lonely house where we found many other people praying and singing, and they stopped everything to welcome us. It was singing and dancing for the rest of the night—they said it was to celebrate our arrival.
“Not many people come for this event when they are called. Your life is about to change for good!” the lead pastor said. I must say I can’t remember how he looked; the image keeps coming and disappearing.
In the morning, we were taken through some orientation. The first thing we were asked was to surrender everything we had. In Kisumu, Apostle Elkana had taken us to an ATM and told us to withdraw all the money we had in the bank and M-Pesa into cash. “Where we are going is like heaven; there are no ATMs or M-Pesa agents. And you may need to buy something,” he said. We heeded that call.
The programme was simple: singing, dancing, and listening to preachings. We only took water. It was difficult for someone like me who is used to eating, but everyone around encouraged me to fast. “The body can survive without food for longer than you think,” one person, who looked like a teacher and later confirmed to me as such, told me. He had been at the camp for over a week and had not eaten. “Yet, I am still strong.”
On the third day, we were asked to deposit all our belongings for safekeeping. By then, I was starting to get hungry and dizzy from lack of food. I was prayed for and reminded to keep strong. As prayers, singing, and preachings continued, I started falling into and out of consciousness.
I can’t remember what happened next; all I can remember is waking up in a hospital. I don’t know for how long I have been there. I had nothing and was told by the nurse that I had been there for over a week. “You were brought here by members of your church who then left and haven't returned.”
It took another few days for me to be able to talk sensibly, and more days before Fiona, the love of my life, could be reached. She immediately came to the hospital with my father. They had been looking for me everywhere, it turned out, in hospitals, mortuaries—you name it. It was then that it was revealed to me that I was in Kericho.
Shock awaited us when we went to replace my SIM card after my brother Pious gave me a phone. The phone had no money at all, and I immediately started receiving messages from M-Shwari, Fuliza, Branch, Hustle Fund, Equity, and Co-op Bank reminding me to pay the loans I had taken. I had been swindled everything. More choices awaited me when I got home. Nyayo, who rode my body boda bike and gave me some money daily had, via SMS instructions from my phone, sold the boda boda and sent me Sh35,000. I had also, via WhatsApp, borrowed money from two teachers.
All that happened between June and July. As the country was going through a GenZ moment, I was busy shuttling between hospitals, police, and education offices to explain what had happened. I want to thank whoever rescued me from the throngs of danger, my family for understanding, and the country director of education who has been very supportive. Thanks for the support in getting me back to my feet
Apostle Elkana came back last month, emaciated and sickly. He has not uttered a word since he arrived back. He is lucky because I have forgiven him—otherwise I would have greeted him. I have forgiven everyone because I escaped with the most important thing – my life!
One personal request kindly do not talk to me about my Shakahola ordeal. We can discuss everything but not that. Asanteni!
