From Randal Dick
Superintendent of Missions
Nigerian elder
freed from prison
The lives of real people in real situations have been captured by God for us. We call it the Bible. On rare occasions, we see Scripture lived out in real time. I must share one of those moments with you.
This is the story of one of our elders in Nigeria. Two years ago we requested prayers for David Adelana, who was imprisoned for nearly two years. Here are excerpts of his incredible story. One cannot help but glorify God as this story unfolds:
It was Jan. 15, 1997 when a gentleman called at my office to see me.
The pleasantries were short. The visitor informed me that his boss would like to speak with me at the state police headquarters. Everyone knew that an invitation for a chat with a police boss could signal the beginning of detention for an indefinite period.
Of course, I did not meet any boss. He merely handed me over to an officer who handed me over to another officer who took me down to a police station and handed me over to the officer in charge of the station.
I was ordered to remove my shoes, wristwatch and glasses and ushered into the VIP cell--a room about 18 feet long and 10 feet wide containing several bags of moldy grains serving as a cockroach breeding ground.
Windows opened to a gutter containing stagnant olive green water, the result of chemical and biological reactions between the elements and a mixture of rotten food, urine, feces, dirty water and general waste.
Whenever the wind blew our way a sweet-sour odor wafted in to complement the dense sweaty odor of between 50 and 60 men and 20 or 50 bags or more cramped into 180 square feet of space. This was to be my home for the next four days, before I was transported to the notorious detention center at Alagbon, a suburb of Lagos.
At Alagbon I found another 10 people slated for arrest. Two of us were Christians, and the others Muslim. By the end of our ordeal, only the two Christians were to complete 23 months of incarceration. All others were released at various times ranging from same day to several months.
In my case it was 23 months of imprisonment without fair trial, during which I was interrogated for only six days. For the rest I was simply abandoned and ignored by my jailers.
Why do such things happen to Christians? Why me? What have I done? What exactly is my offense? Why does Christ allow such points to be made with impunity over and over again? How can one carry this burden?
How were my five children--ranging in age from 6 years to 20 years to continue praying for their father's release day and night, apparently without success?
Now, with the ordeal over, I can answer these questions with a little more assurance. I can understand at a much deeper level the usual scriptures on this matter of Christian suffering--Rom. 5:3-5; Heb. 12:5-11; 1 Pet. 1:6-7; James 1:2-4, 12.
The outcome is that I am today a much better person than I could ever have been had I not gone through those harrowing 23 months of dehumanizing existence.
I hope I am a more patient person, more accommodating of other people's foibles and idiosyncrasies, much more ready to accept whatever situation I am in, therein to be content.
And then the bonus: my marriage. Marital problems began to be addressed during the imprisonment. My experience provided perspectives about what is truly important in life.
Come to think of it, I had been praying for help for all the 25 years of my marriage. Well, those members who have been praying for God to heal their marriages, and for whom excellent sermons have not done the trick had better watch out. Stronger methods may be on their way if they continue praying!
My incarceration took place when the transformation within the church had just gathered steam. Many members went their own ways, some of which were unusual indeed. I was spared most of the turmoil, my own re-orientation taking a different direction.
When I got to Alagbon I found to my surprise that a vibrant fellowship was already in place. The group met three times a day, morning and evening for worship service and prayer, and afternoon for Bible study. But for the new understanding of our place within the family of believers I would not have attended.
I would have kept my Saturdays holy all by myself, and what a miserable 23 months I would have had, not to talk of the many missed opportunities for learning!
This fellowship, run primarily by Pentecostals, included all the shades of Christianity that exist in Nigeria today--Catholics, Protestants of different lines, the whole gamut. It was an interesting group, faced with a common problem.
I soon learned that it was OK to be joyous and exuberant before the Lord if indeed the feeling is genuine.
Although I never spoke in tongues I soon came to learn that some tongues-speaking can be sincere. I still believe that far too many are fake, meant simply for status or for self-aggrandizement.
One thing I never got used to was the congregational prayer in which everyone was practically yelling at God, shaking their fists and their heads at him, literally commanding him on one thing or another.
Soon after I joined them, I began to share with our prison church the special strengths of the Worldwide Church of God, such as careful and diligent study of the Bible, readiness to believe what the Bible says and to reject all and any authority that is contrary to the word of God, and respect for the word of God, therefore taking care not to bend it to one's own will and ideas.
This attitude is attractive to all honest God-seekers. Before long, people started to flock to me for biblical answers to several of life's questions, and questions concerning who and what God is and other such issues.
By popular choice I came to lead the Tuesday evening service, which was devoted to questions and answers, despite opposition from some quarters. I learned how to defuse such opposition by sticking to the word of God, admitting where I was wrong (and I was proved wrong, in quite a few instances), and listening attentively to objections.
Soon I was appointed assistant pastor, and I eventually became the pastor before my release came. This gave me the opportunity to teach the way we are and the way we do things in the WCG. And in turn I learned how to add ebullience, spontaneity and joy of worship to our services.
David, thank you for sharing your spiritual journey with us. We rejoice in your deliverance from this trial, and pray that God will make the value of your suffering be multiplied many times over in the lives of all of us who are encouraged, corrected and inspired by your experience.
David & Aina Adelana
Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 1999