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Pastor Derick made me his trusted chauffeur and would go to almost all the places he was invited to preach with me. He gave me a special assignment anytime I accompanied him to preach in another church, I would be the one to read all his scripture texts. I was happy being with him because after every endeavour with Pastor Derick he always gave me a stipend of not less than one hundred and fifty cedis. In addition, I was given a monthly allowance of three hundred cedis for the chauffeur responsibilities. 

 Sister Lesley, Pastor Derick’s wife who was popularly known as ‘Asaafo Maame’ which means the ‘mother of the church’, a title usually given to pastors’ wives in Ghana. Asafo maame being a lucrative businesswoman sometimes travels to China, Dubai and other countries to transact business. There were times I had to alight her or pick her up from the airport when the husband is engaged with church assignments. 

 Asafo maame Lesley, surprised me when she returned from one of her business trips. I woke up one Thursday afternoon from my usual naps and saw her missed calls. I returned the call and she asked me to pass by their house on my way to the church premise. I was wondering what could be the reason for this appointment. I took my bath, dressed and set off.  

Upon getting there, she welcomed me with a mesmerizing smile which ignited a joyful response from me. I inquired about the whereabouts of our bishop and she said he went out to visit some church members. She served me with some chilled exotic apple juice and some shortbread biscuit. I had not had such warm reception in ages. I really enjoyed myself even as we were talking about church and its related issues. She excused herself and came back with a concealed package in a gift bag. “Sammy I have been wondering what to get for you, but I hope you will like this, it is a Samsung tablet”  I jumped with excitement and with my arms wrapped around the package like I was hugging the love of my life, I exclaimed with my eyes wide open “waw AsaafoMaame!, What a surprise?!” I was indeed overly excited. I now possessed the latest Samsung tablet, which was neat and fresh looking. She smiled and said, “this is a token of appreciation for your selfless service to us”. Later that evening, I pondered about some declarations made during one of Pastor Derick’s preaching that there is a blessing in serving the Lord. I called Pastor Derick to express my appreciation and he was pleased that I liked the gift.  

I wanted to do something more to gain fame and recognition in the church. In pursuit of that, I took up the challenge to lead worship service. My first attempt was successful. The opportunity was given to me when we met on one Saturday before the Sunday Church service. It became apparent that the one to lead worship on Sunday had become unwell and hospitalized. Pastor Derick asked me if I could do it and I willingly accepted the challenge.  I was nervous but determined; I went through a series of rehearsals throughout the night preparing assiduously for the task ahead. Indeed the day came and I had performed the task and to my surprise, it was rather well admired and well commended. I knew I had made another stride. My eloquence was on point and I could see the admiration on the faces of the church members whiles I led the worship service. Mum, could not hide her joy, after church service she was just receiving cheers from members for bringing her gifted son to church. When we got home, she kept praising the Lord for my transformation and for what the Lord is using me to do in her church. From that day forward I became an active and frequent worship service leader.  

There were times that I got astonished by the sight of the beautiful ladies sitting on the front sits. Some will occasionally give me flirtatious smile and I would respond back with a promising one. I could see the eye signals sending messages of  “I want to get intimate with you”. It was really tempting but I held myself. I got to know that ladies can be very polite if they are interested in you. Doreen was one of these ladies. She was light-skinned and beautiful. She had round cheeks and usually carries an electrifying smile. Her imposing physic was a structure that would keep a man’s eyes wide open upon close contact. I felt attracted to her sexually and I believe she did too. She came to me after one of the Wednesday evening Bible studies to ask if she could have my number which I willingly gave her with no hesitation. Our WhatsApp conversation began that evening; we had about thirty minutes of chat before I finally fell asleep. Our numerous and endless conversations led to a lovey-dovey relationship but was kept on the low side to avoid any church member from getting to know about it.   

Doreen was in her first year at Accra Polytechnic studying Catering and Hospitality. I loved the fact that she was a good cook. She sometimes brought me some of her dishes and pastries as a gift to the servant of God. For Doreen, she was happy to be dating brother Sammy, one of the popular guys in the church. She was naïve and saw life in a very romantic way. Her mother was also a member of the church and one of the people who liked me a lot. She had no idea what was going on between the daughter and me. She sometimes would refer to Doreen as my spiritual daughter in the Lord and tell me how her daughter likes my ministry of leading during worship services.  Innocently, I will respond with words of appreciation and give credit to the Lord. The medium of communication between Doreen and I was usually through calls and texting via WhatsApp. I occasionally would visit her on campus since she was at the hostel even though they lived in Accra.  

On one faithful weekend, she had promised to prepare a sumptuous meal for me at her home. She assured me that she will be home alone since her parents will be travelling to their hometown for a funeral and will not be back until Monday. I was excited about this arrangement but reluctant to honour the invitation. All the same, I was determined to enjoy the delicious meal of my beautiful girlfriend. It was a sunny Saturday morning, I got up early went through my devotional routine and set off for Doreen’s house. I got there some few minutes after 1:00 pm. The traffic in the town was unbearable but I desperately made it to my destination. I realised that Doreen was coming from a well-to-do home. It was a gated house and well ornamented with flowers. I saw two vehicles parked in the house as she ushered me into the sitting room.  I now understood why she never asked me for any money. The only fear that kept me away from dating is the financial demands of ladies. I felt very comfortable after I had sat down for a few minutes.