Stories of Faith: A Girl’s Walk With Her Lord (3)

Heb 11: 1 KJV 

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  

Heb 11: 1 AMP 

Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. 

Heb 11: 1 EASY 

This is what it means to trust God: We will be sure about the things that we hope for. We will be sure in our minds about things that we cannot even see.

First Semester

First semester classes resumed, and I learned that my $20,000 scholarship would be distributed $5,000 per semester, not $10,000 as I thought. By the time I added the raised funds and my money to the $5,000 scholarship, I still had about $10,000 to go for the first semester. I continued to apply for other scholarships as I took part in school activities.

During the semester, I had some challenges with my living arrangements, and it began to take a toll on me, affecting my academics. It was in that moment that I made a decision. Remember that the Lord had talked about future scholarships, right? I had created an ideas document for it, and I flirted with the idea of doing several partial scholarships so it could reach more people. But when I saw how the toll from my living arrangements had slipped into my academics, I knew that whoever was going to receive a scholarship from me had to receive something full with some extra benefits to ensure that external factors did not affect academic performance. 

After moving into a new place, it was a few weeks until the exams. I had two classes that were not in my area of strength - Microeconomics and Statistics. I pulled out all the stops to study and make up for missed tests and assignments - long personal study hours, tutorials, past questions review, mock exams, and asking the Holy Spirit for study direction (this worked). My goal was not to get an A but to pass sufficiently to not have to fail or repeat the classes. At the end of the semester, I had 3 Bs and 1 A, my worst performance ever, but I narrowly scaled the minimum GPA required for me to retain my scholarship. It was a miracle to me that I had a 3.1 because it was after the fact that I realised the minimum GPA to retain my scholarship was 3.0. This was the last time that happened to me because subsequently, it was either all As or 3As 1B in one semester like that.

By semester’s end, the scholarship I was expecting, which was $10,000, fell through. It was my last hope, and I remember feeling defeated, crying, and asking God, “What am I supposed to do?” I heard, “Rejoice”. I honestly paused in shock because I was surprised and needed to be sure I was hearing well, lol. So, I asked, “Like this?” and the Lord said, “Yes, rejoice”. I got up, put on my praise playlist, and danced even with tears on my face.

Out of the blue in December, a staff member of Bridges International, an international student Christian community I was part of, reached out to ask if I’d love to MC their annual year-end Conference for international students across the country. She was not sure if it was something I had the skillset for, but when she had prayed, God had highlighted me for it. I smiled and agreed to do it because there is no way she could have known it was one of my abilities if not for God. They covered my participation for the Vision Conference, and I remember I took it to God and He said, with all I had gone through, I deserved a vacation, lol. I didn’t know at the time, but this was how God ensured that throughout my education, a trip was curated for me regularly because He needed to keep refreshing me and gifting me new experiences.

Here’s what one day at the Vision Conference 2021 looked like. It hosted over 1000 international students from 70 countries, and we had several activities and site visits in DC curated for Christians, muslims, and seekers. If you’re an international student in the US, I definitely recommend getting involved with Bridges International and planning to attend the Vision Conference. Another reason I’m mentioning Bridges and this conference is because a kind compliment and feedback I gave in December 2021 to the prayer team was a seed God used to help me in January 2022.

At Vision Conference 2021

After returning home from the conference, I was confronted with preparing for my second semester. I started the process of pulling together more funds. A member of the prayer team heard about it. She had received a refund from one of her medical bills, and the Lord asked her to send it to me. By now, I had developed a real fear of worst-case scenarios, and God needed to break that fear because for what was ahead, I needed to be fearless. The deadline came and passed. I woke up after that final deadline, and fear was broken.  Do you remember the lyrics of a poem we sang when we were younger, “he that is down, needs fear no fall”, that was me. I have no other explanation for this. Fear of uncertainty just broke off. A series of events happened after that, and I was just tackling them head-on and speaking up because I was now emboldened.

The Detour

I experienced a detour and could not be in school that semester. A detour, according to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, is a deviation from a direct course or the usual procedure, a roundabout way temporarily replacing part of a route.  However, when I really assessed my life in that moment, I couldn’t be sad or even complain because everything that actually mattered, God had made provision and covered it. Every single detail was accounted for. So I braced up and accepted the detour. I didn’t always have all I wanted or preferred based on my own desires and timeline, but God ensured that I received all the support I actually needed from my family and friends. I had a friend who put me on a monthly allowance. I had another who was steadily checking in to ensure that I was good. I had another friend whom I could call to request anything, and it would be provided. Many were praying.

Despite this detour, which had its hard elements, in January, I was selected as part of 100 women from the Tony Elumelu Foundation Alumni for the Women Entrepreneurship for Africa (WE4A) accelerator who would receive $10,000 for their business. In March, my brother paid a huge chunk of my tuition. In April, I was selected for the pioneer edition of the NYU Banuelos Family Changemaker Award to implement a community project in Africa. I was awarded $10,000 for it. The research insights from this study were published in the NYU Wagner Review. In May, we held the sixth edition of the annual School Safety Summit, and we launched The Adventures of Muna game app, an adaptation from my child safety storybook series. 

In May, I had the opportunity to volunteer in a faith-based nonprofit, HOPE International. Through HOPE International, God gifted me with more travel and new experiences because again, this girl had gone through a lot, and the Lord had to refresh her. I was able to join HOPE International in Lancaster for the annual convening, which featured trips to Sight and Sound and the Museum of the Bible in DC. In June, I travelled to the Dominican Republic to see in real time how a faith-based organisation was inspiring economic outcomes for entrepreneurs. I wrote a blog post about the trip. God-funded enjoyment is the absolute best.

By this time, I could see on hindsight why the detour happened. I was now fearless in the face of uncertainty, and my faith had been solidified in the fact that I could never plan more than God, so I had to relax and follow His leading because He had the best plans, and so far, I hadn’t drowned yet. Why was this important? I was a planner and always had to be sure things would go a certain way before stepping out, but I could not do certain things God had earmarked for my life with that inhibition. It had to be cleared out. God started working on this through smaller things like leaving my job at the airline in 2019. Each time I grew in that capacity, He brought something bigger; the NYU journey was the biggest yet.

To be continued.

Key Lessons

1. Your first response in the face of adversity or bad news should be praise. It seems counterintuitive, but in it lies your deliverance. Praise, rejoice. It is what you do that your feelings will eventually align with. 

2. Many people wait to be clear before taking action, but clarity comes in the course of doing. Be on your way. As you go, things will get clearer. As you go, you will get more insight, and you can refine the plan. Be on your way, stop stalling and second-guessing yourself.

3. Be kind. Sow good seeds. You have no idea where your help will come from.

4. Your perspective on any situation you find yourself in will determine how well that situation will work in your favour. If you think the world is against you or is for you, you are right.

5. Could it be that the "good" trait you are holding on to too tightly is preventing you from evolving into who you should become for your God ordained destiny? As a Christian, it's great to plan, but you must be malleable with God. He knows the future, you don’t.

6. God is my source. He should be yours, too. He organises the best treats.