“Isatta, can you please come?” said my secretary over the phone. “There are things that need to be arranged at the school.”

I rushed in to the bedroom, changed and headed out. Wow! It is hot. Do I really need to go there today, or can I just wait? I said to myself. I thought how much nicer it would be to stay in my cool house and nap until the sun went down and the heat wasn’t so bad. It was so hot that I could see the heat waves rising from the ground. This should not stop me from doing the work of God, I resolved.

I took a motorbike taxi to our school. When I had finished with the necessary business, I looked at my watch and realized I had some free time. I felt impressed to visit our home school. Our home courtyard is quite small, so my husband and I decided to teach our children at a church member’s house on the north side of town. This way, they feel more like they are going to an actual school. When I arrived at the church member’s house, all his children came running up to greet me.

The owner of this house has an 18-year-old daughter named Nafisatu who is one of my Sabbath school students. Some time ago, one of Nafisatu’s cousins, who works at a bank, became interested in her and asked her father for her hand in marriage. Her father accepted with the condition that Nafisatu finish college first. He made no other restrictions, and this was how the trouble began.

The young man began visiting often, bringing expensive gifts for Nafisatu and the rest of the family, and the parents allowed him to spend the night in their house when he visited. Soon tensions began to arise between Nafisatu, her parents and the nephew. Nafisatu felt her parents weren’t respecting her fiancé enough even though he was providing the majority of her support. The tension kept rising, and Nafisatu became more disrespectful of her parents. Then she became pregnant. Upon learning of the pregnancy, Nafisatu’s mother was enraged and planned to kill her. Nafisatu heard of the danger and ran away.

When we learned of Nafisatu’s pregnancy and the family strife, we tried our best with the help of God to bring reconciliation. We brought Nafisatu and her parents together to talk. We pointed out to the parents that they had effectively sold their child for gifts and would have to bear the consequences. We called the fiancé and asked him if he was the father of the baby, and he categorically denied it.

All this conflict completely changed the cheerful and sweet Nafisatu to a bitter, resentful, arrogant and insensitive girl.

After playing with the kids for a few moments, I went and found Nafisatu. I could see she had been crying, and I asked her what was wrong. “My former fiancé keeps calling and provoking me,” she sobbed. I instantly felt anger well up within me. This guy had denied being the father and even slandered Nafisatu’s parents. And now tormenting phone calls? This was too much. I calmed myself and sent up a silent prayer.

I could sense the pain Nafisatu was going through, so I prayed with her and gave her some counsel. She lifted her head and said, “God brought you here today. I was just planning to secretly get an abortion. I don’t care if I die. I can’t stand this pain anymore.” She continued, “My parents are making things hard for me, showing their rejection of me in little ways.” All I could do was wrap my arms around Nafisatu and cry with her. I gave her some more counsel and reminded her of the love of God. She told me she was so happy I was there and wished she could have me by her side all the time. I replied that Someone far greater is always by her side. “Only He is capable of healing your wounds and reviving your spirit again,” I said.

After leaving Nafisatu, I took her parents aside and let them know that their continuous provocation was pushing their daughter to abortion. I pleaded with them that she needed them now more than ever.

Fred and I have taken responsibility for Nafisatu’s care and medical bills. Just two weeks ago, she gave birth to a baby boy.
When God impresses you to do something, make sure you do it and put your heart into it. He has reasons for everything.

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