Onyeka Dibian: How I learnt the truth [Nigerian Voices]

My name is Dibian. What you are about to read is a brief account on how I learnt the truth about God and His true worshippers.

Initially, though young, I had many questions like “what really is Christianity?” Who is God? Why was I created and why was there so much injustice and suffering in the world? I also wondered if Christianity was just a weekly routine which comprises: praying to a nameless God, doing good things to others, paying tithes and regularly going to Church. From birth till now that I am an adult, I have attended three different churches, yet, there was no satisfying and accurate answers to my many but important questions. So, I concluded life was just like a circle; you keep going round and round until you tire-out and die. Little did I know that the answers to my questions could be found.

I got tired of churches and their different doctrines: tie a scarf to church; don’t tie, wear trouser; don’t wear. Don’t wear jewelries, don’t wear, Jesus is God, no God is this. God is that. “Speak in tongues, no don’t speak…” In fact, I stopped going to church. The thing that pissed me off the most was the lack of LOVE and co-operation in church. If truly they were Christ-like, why would a pastor’s wife be partial in her dealings? And why would a pastor encourage his brother in his late forties to date a teenager?

I remember we had a singing competition at our head-quarters. As choristers, Virginia, Onyinye, Loran, Mac-Joe, and I were so excited about the competition that we attended all the evening rehearsals, but due to school lesson and house chores we missed the last rehearsal which was fixed on a week day.

Guess what happen? Our pastor’s wife excluded us from those entitled to a uniform for the competition, because we weren’t pastor children! All the children of the pastor and other important members of the church got uniforms to participate while we were denied all that because our parent were not members of the branch and we weren’t tithe payers yet! We were only permitted to attend the competition. The most annoying part was that some of those that got uniforms didn’t attend all the rehearsal too. In fact, Modupe; the pastor’s favorite daughter attended only thrice! On several occasions we were denied some privileges.

So I decided to stay away from church for a while “who knows maybe I’ll find a better church” I thought.

One special Sunday I didn’t go to church a young man and a boy came knocking on my window. Before then Chiwendu and I were busy doing our assignment. We permitted them speak to us through the window.  He spoke to us about God and the Bible, and he promised to come back.

That young man kept coming but with different partners; some old and some very young!

He told me his name- Emeka and that he is one of Jehovah’s witnesses.

My neighbours and some of my relatives objected the study, but I was persistent and determined to continue the study because I had started experiencing some of the qualities a true Christian should possess. LOVE, was one of them. Bro Emeka took so much personal interest in me (Chiwendu stopped studying) that some of my neighbors took for Romantic interest. They warned me “Be careful before that man ruins your life” But I was convinced bro Emeka’s interest in me was pure and genuine.

He would ask me about school, my friends, family, and so many other questions my pastor never had the humility to ask.

I remember one Saturday he came, he bought oranges for Chiwendu and I because we told him it was our favorite. Also he met me solving difficult assignment in math, he didn’t asked me to suspend my assignment for a bible study, but he helped me solve my math.(He is a genius) I was so happy that I became sad when the study ended, I wanted him to continue but he said he had more people to visit. I learnt a lot from the Bible. I learnt true Christians must preach to others, I also learnt about the condition of the dead in Ecc. 9:5 where the bible says that the dead are conscious of nothing; the very opposite of what my pastors taught me, that the dead either go to heaven or hell depending on their way of life. This diary won’t contain all I learn from the bible.

Yet, I had a problem; I found it difficult to attend Jehovah’s witnesses meetings, because of the things I heard people say. My friends said ‘they lack freedom”, my neighbors said “They are hypocrites” while my mother said “they would make me be like them” and people would hate me just like them, I didn’t want people to hate me.

On my way home from church one Sunday, I met brother Mike (he had visited me with bro Emeka on several occasions) He persuaded me to give the meeting a try. (read out for what I encountered before I first attended meeting ×in my next article entitled DREAMS).

Since my legs were “shaking” (not stable) in church I decided to give the meetings a try… you needed to have been there, to see how I was welcomed and appreciated at the meeting! “Hope you enjoyed the meeting? We hope to see you next Sunday some people asked” I noticed how tidy and quiet the whole place was during the meeting.

When I got home, I said to myself “this is what I have been searching for! Since then I never missed meeting. In fact, I would lie to my mother and beg Onyinye not to tell that I was attending meetings at the Kingdom hall instead of church. Unknown to them, I was diverting to the road that leads to life “the Kingdom hall”.

I had more problems. The devil tried to stop my meeting attendance. First, by introducing another church to my mother- (CCR). My mother so loved this church that she made it compulsory that I attend too. This made my attendance at the meetings very poor. Second, Satan tried to discourage me about the meetings; he made me feel the meetings were boring, because I didn’t understand all that was said at the meetings.

Jehovah didn’t leave me without help; something happened in that church that discouraged my mom from attending; the pastor was too demanding! And he made life for the poor miserable! He would say things like “God is not blessing you because you don’t give God” how can you give what you don’t have? I wondered.

Additionally, brother Emeka encouraged me. He said if I kept attending meetings regularly I would get to understand all that is said by the speakers and I would know what my pastors never knew. I listened to him and today Nov 10th 2010, I am a baptized and dedicated servant of Jehovah! I got baptized four days ago.

It wasn’t as easy as it seem, the two and half years I spent in learning about God, I mean Jehovah, came with a lot of trials and temptations. But Jehovah proved true to His words recorded in Isaiah; “Do not be afraid I am with you”, I pray.

Jehovah continues to sustain me and supply me with enough strength, faith, and love to do His will now and for times indefinite.


This entry was submitted as part of the Nigerian Voices competition organized by YNaija.com.

We publish, un-edited, Nigerians telling the stories of their everyday lives. Read all the narratives daily on the Nigerian Voices vertical. You can also contribute your own story titled ‘Nigerian Voices’ to [email protected].

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