As pastor was in his office, he kept on ruminating on everything that happened since yesterday that he came to the church. The warm reception had not left his mind. It gave him a feeling of relaxation that made it seem that he had known the church members for ages.

His decision to pastor the church has gotten him heavy criticism from his colleagues. They saw his decision to come to a small church when the sectional headquarter was available, as foolishness. Some of them felt that even God will not ask him to do such thing. At a point doubt crept in. He had to bind it and cast it out. God told him that he was coming to make a difference. The area which he needed to make the difference was unknown to him. However, he believed that God would continue to direct him.

He felt a soft tap on the door. Was someone knocking at the door? Or had he imagined the sound?

He tried to dismiss the thought but the sound came again. This time, louder and more forceful.

“Come in, the door is not locked.”

The door opened and someone peeped in. It was elder Femi.

“Ah! Elder. You are welcomed.”

“Good evening sir. I hope I am not interrupting your quite time,” he asked with a childish grin.

“Not at all, please come in and sit.”

“Pastor, how are you coping with our environment?” he inquired, showing deep concern.

“Everything is fine sir. You and other members of the church are wonderful. Your hospitality is top-notch.”

“I have been worried about you. The environment you are coming from is different from ours. You have been in the town. I don’t know how you will cope with this our glorified village, the bad roads and awkward nature of the town,” elder Femi lamented

“The truth is that I like the serenity of this environment. Sometimes, one gets tired of the hustle and bustle of the main town, the noise pollution and even the traffic.

The only little challenge is that power is not really steady here. But then, I’m fine.”

“What of food? Is there anything special that you and your family will like to eat so that my wife will prepare it? She is a good cook. There is no type of food that she cannot cook. Ranging from our local to even continental dishes,” he pressed on.

“Wow! That is nice to hear. But then, we are fine. You know that it was just yesterday that she brought different kinds of soup and even rice. The soups are in the freezer. Other church members brought too. All the same, thanks so much for your concern. I and my family are grateful. God bless you.” Pastor’s face beamed with appreciation as he spoke.

Elder Femi was highly elated about how things were going between him and the new pastor.

As he sat there, he was finally convinced that the same method which had been working for him will also work with the new pastor. As pastor Ephraim was waiting for elder to end the visit which he thought was a very short one, the elder himself was warming up to launch into the main thing that brought him. He cleared his throat to draw the attention of Pastor before he stated talking.

“Pastor, there are some things I would like to discuss with you but I don’t know if you really have the time.”

“Please go ahead. I have all the time,” Pastor encouraged him.

“I have been struggling within myself whether to say these things or not. But this afternoon, I became convinced that God want me to tell you.

Some members of this church don’t like you. Even among the elders. They are not happy that you were posted to this church. I don’t know their reason. Some of the elders have even gone ahead to spoil the mind of innocent members. But you don’t have to worry, I have spoken to some of the member and they have promised to support you. Another is that some of the elders are not trustworthy. They embezzle church money. Before our former pastor discovered it, it was already late. That was why he handed over many things to me to oversee. From that point, things started running smoothly. Even the women, some of them have their problem. I have already instructed my wife to assist Mama. She knows how to handle the women. The elders you need to be careful of are…”

He was still talking when Pastor interrupted him calmly.

“Sir I really appreciate your concern. But I don’t really welcome this kind of discussion. I prefer to watch and see things by myself. I didn’t bring myself to this church, God brought me. He will show me the things that he wants me to know. You just said that elders are embezzling money, you are right. The Lord told me that that a particular elder is a robber.”

Elder Femi shook involuntarily when he heard that. But Pastor’s next words calmed him a bit.

“He has not shown me the person. I may not even pray that he should reveal the person , unless he want to reveal it. What I normally do in every church that God send me to, is to put structures in place that prevents people from stealing. For example, not even I, the pastor is allowed to count money alone . It is done in the presence of all the elders.

Church members have a particular column in their tithe card, where they record there tithe, by themselves. Elders will cross check and record theirs. Every other income is documented strictly. In addition, I usually invite external auditors from the church national headquarters every three months to audit the church account. I am doing all these in other to help my members because anyone that steals from God is closing his doors of blessing. Of course that person is already a candidate of hell fire. Another new thing that I will introduce in this church is cctv cameras. There must be surveillance camera in the elders office.”

“But sir, we cannot afford it. The church doesn’t have that amount of money at the moment,” elder Femi quickly informed him.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I will sponsor it.”

Elder Femi was stunned speechless and at a complete loss of what to do or say. He clutched the handle of the chair he was sitting so tight even as he gazed blankly on Pastor’s table. The sensation of Pastor’s speech crept over him and weakened his knees. He was quietly releasing his breath in a bid to regain his composure. Then, he suddenly looked up and saw Pastor smiling at him.

“Don’t worry yourself elder. The Lord will build his church. The gate of hell shall not prevail against it.”

The smile and words were enough to soothe elder Femi’s his jittery nerves and the anxiety that Pastor might be suspecting him melted away.