I was relaxing in my house on a Sunday evening at about 4:00PM when I received a phone call from Lawson. He informed me that he will be visiting me in the company of some people by 5:00PM. I requested to know the people he was coming with but he refused to reveal their identity.

“Are there people you are afraid to meet? Even if I am coming with my fellow unbelievers, it will give you the opportunity to convert us,” he joked.

“Lawson please, I am not in the mood for your silly jokes. I will be waiting for you and whoever you choose to come with.”

“Lawson will never change. He should have told me the persons he was coming with to enable me prepare adequately for their entertainment,” I thought to myself.

At exactly 5:05PM, as I was watching through my window, a royal blue Toyota Camry car pulled up in front of our house. Lawson and the other occupants, one elderly and another middle aged man alighted and walked towards my room. I opened my door when they knocked and ushered them in. After the exchange of pleasantries, I offered them wine. They refused to take the wine with the excuse that they had come from a ceremony and had taken enough food and wine. They pleaded with me to understand. Of course, I had no choice but to set the drinks aside.

Lawson then introduced the men he came with. “Kingsley thanks so much for the warm welcome. I know you would be wondering who these people I came with are?”

Looking at the direction of the elderly man, he said, “He is pastor John Michael. The senior pastor in one of the main branches of my church. And he is,” He continued shifting his gaze to the middle aged man. “Pastor Ken Paul, the assistant pastor.”

“Welcome sirs. I am blessed to have you in my house.”

Lawson, then requested the senior pastor to tell me their reason for coming.

“My dear Kingsley,” Pastor John called. “Your friend has told us lots of good things about you. He said that you are a talented singer. That, we have confirmed because we sent someone to your church today to watch you as you minister in songs. He also said that you are humble and God fearing. You are kind of ministry helper I need. We are here to officially request you to join us in our ministry. You will be given free accommodation and a monthly salary of N50,000.00. I want you to note that it is a part time job. You will only be ministering on Sundays and other evening services. That means you don’t have to quit your business or any other job you are doing. Please don’t reject our offer.”

At this point, I understood why Lawson refused to tell me who he was coming with and their reason for coming. He has been trying to convince me to take up singing employment in church, but his effort has not yielded any result. Maybe he thought that bringing these pastors to my house would make a difference.

“Sir, I want to appreciate you for this opportunity. I don’t take it for granted. But unfortunately my hands are tied; I cannot accept it. The reason is that I cannot leave my church. I minister there both on Sundays and during evening services. You can always invite me as a guest minister, whenever you have programme in your church. I will honour it, if it is convenient for me.”

“Kingsley, you have to consider our offer. Talking about your church, Lawson told me that they don’t value your worth. He said that there is no form of appreciation for you. How can you stay in such a place when your fellow singers are living in affluence? For instance, in our church, all singers are paid and they are comfortable. Imagine the kind of place you are living. If you ask my opinion, you deserve more than this.” Pastor Ken said.

“Well, sir, I have no choice. Even if human beings don’t appreciate me for the services I’m rendering, in my church, God does. For that, I will continue to serve him there. But the truth is that my pastor is praying for me. Soonest, God will settle me.”

“You have made your choice. I wish you good luck. However, if you change your mind, at any time, our doors are open to welcome you. Feel free to call my phone any time,” Pastor John told me while handing over his business card to me.

I accepted it and appreciated him.