The Plight of Ogyam Versus The Finger of God
Ogyam was the sixth born in a family of ten. His demeanor and general appearance differed greatly from his other siblings. He was the only one who bore a different surname though he was a true progeny of the Kyei family. Right from age five, he felt the heat of the financial fever that existed in his family. His co-equals had play kits like toy cars and dummies but he had none. His attempt to play with some of the play kits often met the abusive talks of the parents of the kids in their house whose common theme was "Let your parents buy some for you!" in a harsh and loud tone. Weeping, Ogyam would coy away and mold his own play kits from clay, a true likeness of those he found the children play with. The only difference was that theirs had life while his was corpses. Always rejected and avoided by his mates due to his family's poverty, he grew up as a cold, dull and an introvert teenager.
His father, Mr. Kyei, though warring with his deteriorated finances, was highly religious. He strived very hard to provide a spiritual haven for his family. The familiar saying on his lips was "Serve God whole-souled and success would be yours". Being an elder in one of the Pentecostal churches, he was very determined to raise his eight children in the mental regulation of God. He was fortunate to be blessed by the Almighty with a hard working wife called Mercy who is an exact replica of Sarah, the wife of Abraham. She was very generous and kind.
Despite the hard-pressed economic situation of her family, she extended help to the needy women, widows, and orphans in her vicinity. At her house, she attended to all the household chores with all seriousness. She even set in for the other lackadaisical women in the house whose business was to gossip and cook stories just to cause divisions and riots among the women tenants in the house. They always wanted to make trouble. No wonder they even tried fighting with the innocent and spotless Mercy! Very poised in applying the words recorded in Romans 12:17, she never replied them in their own coin. Though not very fortunate to have received a secular education like her husband, she proved to be a great helper to him as the word of God instructs all women to do. She engaged in petty trading to add up to the earnings of her husband in providing for the family. Ogyam counted himself very fortunate to have had her as a mother.
Out of their eight children, Ogyam was highly valued by Mr. Kyei due to his obedience and academic prowess. Ogyam partially discovered himself at the age of seven in class four at the Gospel Educational Centre. Since he was new in the class, Madam Vesta did not recognize him until the time of inspection. With the students arrayed like cars for sale, she inspected the clothes, fingers, and teeth of each of them. "Hey new student, why is your uniform so tattered?" she angrily asked Ogyam. Ogyam replied with a trembling and quaking voice "Please madam, my daddy promised to replace it for me at the end of the month when he receives his salary". Looking straight into his fear-stricken eyes, Madam Vesta asked him to sit down with no query. The entire class basked themselves in total surprise at her changed attitude, for she was noted as a hard nut.
Madam Vesta's guess about Ogyam's economic state became right when she conducted her first English dictation. Unfortunately for Ogyam, his pen refused to write. "What is wrong with you pal?" he asked the pen as if it were human. With the hearing of the third word to spell, he had no option than to scribble each word on the paper with the nib of the inkless pen. He submitted his book with the words drawn in it. After some time, Madam Vesta called out his name. "Yes, madam", he responded and walked toward her. She said "Is that you again, gentleman? You did not do the dictation. Why?" With his heart nearly dropping into his stomach, Ogyam answered, "Please madam, I did the work, but the ink in my pen was not flowing so I had to scribble the dictated words on the paper." Madam Vesta asked very surprisedly, "What?" Steadily gazing at the paper, she saw the scribbled words on it. She scored it and Ogyam had ten over ten. It was this day that she came to understand Ogyam's deplorable economic situation.
As a class teacher, she noticed that Ogyam was a versatile, talented and a God fearing student. This drew her closer to him. Ogyam even enjoyed several favours from her. She bought him a new set of school uniform and other stationery items. She also noted that during the break sessions, Ogyam remained in the class. On one of such occasions she curiously asked him, "Won't you go to break?" He answered "No madam. I ate in the house before coming to school." She further inquired "Does that mean you are not given any money to the school?" "Yes, madam. My daddy always makes sure that we are well fed before we leave for school and after school, I walk to the house" said Ogyam. Worried because of his condition, Madam Vesta assured him "Freely come to me whenever you are in need of anything." Ogyam was even not ready to voice out his problems to her since his parents had instructed him not to rely on humans who can fail to honor their promises.
In class six, Ogyam had the privilege of being part of the spelling machinery that represented his school in the district spelling 'B' contest. He diffused the scent of his voiceless school in all the nooks and crannies of the district by his sterling performance. He was the master tactician who helped his school knock down all the elephant schools that were picked as favourites in winning the contest.
During weekends, Ogyam would work to raise money to purchase his textbooks and other educational materials sparing his parents of the burden. At a point in his life, he became a shoeshine boy and an occasional caretaker in the homes of the affluent in his vicinity. Sunday mornings were his favourite moments in life owing to the fact that it gave him the grand opportunity of learning more about his maker. He had several elders in his church as his intimates. This good association reflected positively on his moral life, making the apostle Paul's inspired counsel penned at the Bible book of 1 Corinthians 15:33 true that "While bad association spoils good habits, good association heightens and shapes them."
On one occasion while attending to his duty as a cleaner in one of the affluent homes in his area, a daughter of Jezebel tried luring him into committing fornication, an act God strongly detests. She was the daughter of a certain famous, rich man called Kwabena Manu. The setting was like that pictured in the Genesis account about the young faithful servant of God called Joseph, who Potiphar's wife tried to seduce into committing adultery. Ogyam was busily dusting one of the room dividers in the sitting room of the house while singing his favourite Don Moen's gospel track. Unknown to him, this daughter of Eve was already there, lying on a student mattress behind the three- in -one chair situated at the extreme left hand side of the sitting room. Barely some few minutes after, his tempter drew his attention by tapping his shoulder. He nearly fainted when he turned. Why? He saw the nude figure of Adwoa standing right in front of him. He shouted "Get dressed up quickly and get off my sight!" Adwoa seductively replied "Why are you acting like a fool? Come and lie down with me please?" Heeding the Bible's admonishment to flee from fornication, Ogyam acted swiftly like Joseph in the Bible out of the house. Though it was raining cat and dog, he walked through the heavy rain pour into his house. He was happy to have taken this stand to please the Most High God.
God continued to bless Ogyam in all his endeavours. He grew up into a respected teenager in the Agric Junction community. He was the first in his community to have had aggregate six with ten 'ones'. The computer placement selection was released. Fortunately for Ogyam, he got an admission to the Prempeh College to read Science. Unfortunately for him, the admission fee was so high that it nearly caused a wreck in his house. His father had travelled to Nigeria to seek greener pastures and no relative was ready to support him. His father's remuneration had still not been paid. He and his mother took to the selling of iced Kenkey and bread to enable them raise the admission fee. When the amount was realized, the Prempeh College authorities had already closed admissions. Not deterred, Ogyam and his mother went to his second choice school and pleaded with the headmaster to admit him. Looking at his results, the headmaster happily assured them; "I strongly believe he will be a good student. Yes! I would be very much privileged to admit him. Anyway, what programme do you want to read my son?" "Visual Arts, Sir". With his surprised face, the headmaster said: "Why do you want to opt for Visual Art and not Business or may be General Arts?" "Please Sir, I have a God given talent for drawing and also the school does not offer Science that is why I want to read Visual Arts", Ogyam respectfully replied. Knowing that coaxing will not even make him change his mind, the headmaster asked them to pay the admission fee at the administrative block. Ogyam knew that the finger of God was at work. He recalled the words of the Psalmist that "though many are the calamities of the righteous one, God delivers him out of all of them."
With the various ups and downs, disappointments and trials, Ogyam completed his second cycle education. He was the first Visual Art student in the school to sail to the university. He graduated from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology with a first class honours. A year after completion, he pursued his Master of Arts degree. Upon completion, he gained an employment as a teacher in one of the Senior High Schools in the country by the Ghana Education Service. Aside teaching, the headmistress in his school appointed him as the school Chaplain and Counselor. His teaching and counseling sections were always pregnant with admonishments from God's word, the Bible. The advice his father gave him became his basic philosophy in life that is "Serve God with a complete heart and success will be yours". It was the last remarks in all his preaching and counseling sections. Owing to this, whenever a student or a colleague teacher meets him, they shout "Serve God" and he will confidently reply "Success". On the other hand, when they yell out "Success" he answered "Serve God".
As an ending note in a speech directed to the graduating class, Mr. Ogyam said:
"No plight of the righteous will ever overtake him because of the strong backing of the Almighty. No calamity can have an everlasting stink on a loyal servant of God due to the superiority of God's power. I am a true life testimony of this. It seemed my plight never had a doctor. It seemed all doors of redemption were shut. Unknown to me was the far more reaching loving kindness of God that has brought me this far and has made me who I am. Please my brethren, serve God whole-souled and ultimate success will be yours." The loudness of the claps and the cheers that followed his speech woke up the dead and silenced the deep storm. It ascended to the offices of the Most High God and sent a message of defeat into the e-mail of the devil. Yes! Several souls were touched and drawn into the courtyard of the merciful God.
His father, Mr. Kyei, though warring with his deteriorated finances, was highly religious. He strived very hard to provide a spiritual haven for his family. The familiar saying on his lips was "Serve God whole-souled and success would be yours". Being an elder in one of the Pentecostal churches, he was very determined to raise his eight children in the mental regulation of God. He was fortunate to be blessed by the Almighty with a hard working wife called Mercy who is an exact replica of Sarah, the wife of Abraham. She was very generous and kind.
Despite the hard-pressed economic situation of her family, she extended help to the needy women, widows, and orphans in her vicinity. At her house, she attended to all the household chores with all seriousness. She even set in for the other lackadaisical women in the house whose business was to gossip and cook stories just to cause divisions and riots among the women tenants in the house. They always wanted to make trouble. No wonder they even tried fighting with the innocent and spotless Mercy! Very poised in applying the words recorded in Romans 12:17, she never replied them in their own coin. Though not very fortunate to have received a secular education like her husband, she proved to be a great helper to him as the word of God instructs all women to do. She engaged in petty trading to add up to the earnings of her husband in providing for the family. Ogyam counted himself very fortunate to have had her as a mother.
Out of their eight children, Ogyam was highly valued by Mr. Kyei due to his obedience and academic prowess. Ogyam partially discovered himself at the age of seven in class four at the Gospel Educational Centre. Since he was new in the class, Madam Vesta did not recognize him until the time of inspection. With the students arrayed like cars for sale, she inspected the clothes, fingers, and teeth of each of them. "Hey new student, why is your uniform so tattered?" she angrily asked Ogyam. Ogyam replied with a trembling and quaking voice "Please madam, my daddy promised to replace it for me at the end of the month when he receives his salary". Looking straight into his fear-stricken eyes, Madam Vesta asked him to sit down with no query. The entire class basked themselves in total surprise at her changed attitude, for she was noted as a hard nut.
Madam Vesta's guess about Ogyam's economic state became right when she conducted her first English dictation. Unfortunately for Ogyam, his pen refused to write. "What is wrong with you pal?" he asked the pen as if it were human. With the hearing of the third word to spell, he had no option than to scribble each word on the paper with the nib of the inkless pen. He submitted his book with the words drawn in it. After some time, Madam Vesta called out his name. "Yes, madam", he responded and walked toward her. She said "Is that you again, gentleman? You did not do the dictation. Why?" With his heart nearly dropping into his stomach, Ogyam answered, "Please madam, I did the work, but the ink in my pen was not flowing so I had to scribble the dictated words on the paper." Madam Vesta asked very surprisedly, "What?" Steadily gazing at the paper, she saw the scribbled words on it. She scored it and Ogyam had ten over ten. It was this day that she came to understand Ogyam's deplorable economic situation.
As a class teacher, she noticed that Ogyam was a versatile, talented and a God fearing student. This drew her closer to him. Ogyam even enjoyed several favours from her. She bought him a new set of school uniform and other stationery items. She also noted that during the break sessions, Ogyam remained in the class. On one of such occasions she curiously asked him, "Won't you go to break?" He answered "No madam. I ate in the house before coming to school." She further inquired "Does that mean you are not given any money to the school?" "Yes, madam. My daddy always makes sure that we are well fed before we leave for school and after school, I walk to the house" said Ogyam. Worried because of his condition, Madam Vesta assured him "Freely come to me whenever you are in need of anything." Ogyam was even not ready to voice out his problems to her since his parents had instructed him not to rely on humans who can fail to honor their promises.
In class six, Ogyam had the privilege of being part of the spelling machinery that represented his school in the district spelling 'B' contest. He diffused the scent of his voiceless school in all the nooks and crannies of the district by his sterling performance. He was the master tactician who helped his school knock down all the elephant schools that were picked as favourites in winning the contest.
During weekends, Ogyam would work to raise money to purchase his textbooks and other educational materials sparing his parents of the burden. At a point in his life, he became a shoeshine boy and an occasional caretaker in the homes of the affluent in his vicinity. Sunday mornings were his favourite moments in life owing to the fact that it gave him the grand opportunity of learning more about his maker. He had several elders in his church as his intimates. This good association reflected positively on his moral life, making the apostle Paul's inspired counsel penned at the Bible book of 1 Corinthians 15:33 true that "While bad association spoils good habits, good association heightens and shapes them."
On one occasion while attending to his duty as a cleaner in one of the affluent homes in his area, a daughter of Jezebel tried luring him into committing fornication, an act God strongly detests. She was the daughter of a certain famous, rich man called Kwabena Manu. The setting was like that pictured in the Genesis account about the young faithful servant of God called Joseph, who Potiphar's wife tried to seduce into committing adultery. Ogyam was busily dusting one of the room dividers in the sitting room of the house while singing his favourite Don Moen's gospel track. Unknown to him, this daughter of Eve was already there, lying on a student mattress behind the three- in -one chair situated at the extreme left hand side of the sitting room. Barely some few minutes after, his tempter drew his attention by tapping his shoulder. He nearly fainted when he turned. Why? He saw the nude figure of Adwoa standing right in front of him. He shouted "Get dressed up quickly and get off my sight!" Adwoa seductively replied "Why are you acting like a fool? Come and lie down with me please?" Heeding the Bible's admonishment to flee from fornication, Ogyam acted swiftly like Joseph in the Bible out of the house. Though it was raining cat and dog, he walked through the heavy rain pour into his house. He was happy to have taken this stand to please the Most High God.
God continued to bless Ogyam in all his endeavours. He grew up into a respected teenager in the Agric Junction community. He was the first in his community to have had aggregate six with ten 'ones'. The computer placement selection was released. Fortunately for Ogyam, he got an admission to the Prempeh College to read Science. Unfortunately for him, the admission fee was so high that it nearly caused a wreck in his house. His father had travelled to Nigeria to seek greener pastures and no relative was ready to support him. His father's remuneration had still not been paid. He and his mother took to the selling of iced Kenkey and bread to enable them raise the admission fee. When the amount was realized, the Prempeh College authorities had already closed admissions. Not deterred, Ogyam and his mother went to his second choice school and pleaded with the headmaster to admit him. Looking at his results, the headmaster happily assured them; "I strongly believe he will be a good student. Yes! I would be very much privileged to admit him. Anyway, what programme do you want to read my son?" "Visual Arts, Sir". With his surprised face, the headmaster said: "Why do you want to opt for Visual Art and not Business or may be General Arts?" "Please Sir, I have a God given talent for drawing and also the school does not offer Science that is why I want to read Visual Arts", Ogyam respectfully replied. Knowing that coaxing will not even make him change his mind, the headmaster asked them to pay the admission fee at the administrative block. Ogyam knew that the finger of God was at work. He recalled the words of the Psalmist that "though many are the calamities of the righteous one, God delivers him out of all of them."
With the various ups and downs, disappointments and trials, Ogyam completed his second cycle education. He was the first Visual Art student in the school to sail to the university. He graduated from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology with a first class honours. A year after completion, he pursued his Master of Arts degree. Upon completion, he gained an employment as a teacher in one of the Senior High Schools in the country by the Ghana Education Service. Aside teaching, the headmistress in his school appointed him as the school Chaplain and Counselor. His teaching and counseling sections were always pregnant with admonishments from God's word, the Bible. The advice his father gave him became his basic philosophy in life that is "Serve God with a complete heart and success will be yours". It was the last remarks in all his preaching and counseling sections. Owing to this, whenever a student or a colleague teacher meets him, they shout "Serve God" and he will confidently reply "Success". On the other hand, when they yell out "Success" he answered "Serve God".
As an ending note in a speech directed to the graduating class, Mr. Ogyam said:
"No plight of the righteous will ever overtake him because of the strong backing of the Almighty. No calamity can have an everlasting stink on a loyal servant of God due to the superiority of God's power. I am a true life testimony of this. It seemed my plight never had a doctor. It seemed all doors of redemption were shut. Unknown to me was the far more reaching loving kindness of God that has brought me this far and has made me who I am. Please my brethren, serve God whole-souled and ultimate success will be yours." The loudness of the claps and the cheers that followed his speech woke up the dead and silenced the deep storm. It ascended to the offices of the Most High God and sent a message of defeat into the e-mail of the devil. Yes! Several souls were touched and drawn into the courtyard of the merciful God.
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