“Bye, Daddy! Bye, Mummy!”

“Goodbye, kids!” David and Sika waved to their children before driving out of the car park of St. Barnabas Primary School, where Matthew, Mark and Maria were students.

Another Monday had arrived, and as usual, David was the one at the wheel, making sure his beloved family arrived at their various destinations safely. Now that the children were in school, it was time to drop off his beloved Sika at her workplace, Zenith Wealth Management.

“David, let’s change the station and play some music, na the breakfast show this morning is just depressing,” Sika complained as they moved back onto the main road.

David shrugged. “Alright, no problem. It does get depressing constantly hearing the same old complaints and news reports. What do you wanna listen to?”

“What do you think we should play?”

David gave her the side eye. He knew what was coming up once that happened: a shooting down of literally every suggestion he’d raise.

“Whatever you want to listen to, please,” he responded.

Sika then put a finger to her lips. “Hmmmm. Do I wanna listen to Hillsong? Or Gateway Worship, I’ve not listened to them in ages… or wait, what about some Mercy Chinwo…”

Stopping at a traffic light, David let out a groan before taking his phone, grabbing his wife’s hand and placing it there. “Here! Open up my Spotify. Go through my playlists. Whatever song you feel like tapping, tap it. Okay?”

Sika grinned. “Have I ever told you I like it when you take control like that?”

David shook his head, a smirk playing on his lips. “Whatever, Mrs. Mensah-Jones. Whatever.”

***

Twenty minutes gone by, and Sika was at her workplace. As she shut the passenger seat door, she smirked at her husband. “Have I told you lately that I love you?”

David couldn’t stifle the laugh coming out of him. For whatever reason, she had been in a very teasing mood since waking up that morning. “Well, you have. Numerous times. And it’ll be nice if that can be translated into a late-night kickoff tonight.”

The smirk left Sika’s face. She shook her head. “You this man! Unless you don’t get the chance!”

Now he had the teasing grin. “Of course. You know my favourite love language, don’t you?”

She snickered. “Let’s see how the day goes. See you. I love you!”

“Love you too, honey!”

With that, David drove out of the parking lot and got back on the road, heading towards the church. He recounted to himself his itinerary for the day.

“So… prayer and the Word till about 11 o’clock, then I meet Mrs. Norteye about her husband’s issue. Hmmm, it’s so sad how irresponsible some men can be…”

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing. He checked the caller ID.

It was Ludwig.

He answered casually. “Hello, Ludwig.”

“Reverend, good morning! Please, you need to come to the church auditorium immediately! There’s been an incident!” the voice of the young man blurted out, crackled with distress.

A knot tightened in his stomach at the sound of this statement. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Reverend, it’s-it’s… it’s the auditorium. It’s been vandalized.”

David doubled over. “Whatt!”

“Sir, please, you need to see it for yourself. It’s bad.”

The knot having increased in size at the sound of this revelation, David swallowed hard and nodded. “Umm… alright, alright. I’m on my way. I’ll see you there.”

Ending the call, a sense of foreboding gripped his heart as he sped towards the church, the tires screeching against the asphalt. A host of possibilities revolved around his brain as he wondered what exactly had happened.

God, what’s happening? What’s happening?

***

“Sorry, Reverend. This will be tough to witness.”

With heavy sighs, Ludwig and another young man opened the doors to the auditorium.

David’s eyes were met with a scene that shook him to the core.

“Good Lord Almighty!” he gasped.

To say that the church auditorium lay in disarray would be an understatement. The once pristine hall now resembled the aftermath of a battleground, with overturned, broken chairs, shattered glass, and broken musical instruments strewn across the floor. The LED screen lay on the floor, smashed to bits.

David’s breath caught in his throat as he surveyed the wreckage. His hands trembled with a mix of anger and sorrow.

The special white chairs he and Sika sat on had been smashed beyond recognition.

“From the look of things, whoever did this came in after midnight. They broke the padlocks and kicked the door down,” Ludwig explained. “And it looks like they wanted to be as thorough as possible. Rev, not a single chair was spared. They broke every single one of them.”

“Hmmm. It’s shocking,” the other young man added. “As for the musical instruments, they literally flattened them. I can’t understand.”

“Me too. Looking at how it was carried out, I don’t think it was done by professionals. I’m sure some hooligans just came to cause trouble.”

David, who had been silent throughout, simply shook his head, his hands clenching into fists as he surveyed the devastation.

The sanctity of this church had been violated. The chairs that seated the faithful flock, the instruments that once lifted the spirits of the congregation in praises and worship, now lay broken and silent.

All because of the selfishness of one man.

Yes, as David continued to look at all that had been done, he knew exactly who was behind this. He may not have known who the hooligans that did the dirty work were, but he knew who sent them on this evil assignment.

None other than Roger Wakefield.

This is what you do as payback for me rejecting your bribe money? Really?

***

In the comfort of his home office, Roger let out a deep belly laugh as he watched the video Lallo had sent him.

“Herrrhhhh! These boys did the job ankasa! Whattttt! See proper demolition!” he guffawed, playing it back one more time. The devastation was jaw-dropping; it was like Reverence Ministries had suffered a Hiroshima or Nagasaki bombing moment. The boys had inflicted real damage on the church, just as he had wanted.

Closing the video, he returned to the chat and played back Lallo’s voice note.

“Boss man, we do am finish. We scatter the place kraaa. One chair sef, we no spare am. He giddup go there aa, he go see ein morda for there kraaa!”

Laughing at Lallo’s words, he clapped to himself and skipped to the kitchen to get a bottle of vodka. This was going to be an evening of celebration. “He sure got that right!” he sniggered. “Let’s see you try to talk rubbish again after this, Mr. I-Think-I-Know-Everything! Naniama! Now you go learn sense!”

***

“I can’t believe this! Is this how low he’s stooping? Trashing the sanctuary of the Most High God? Unbelievable!”

Evening had arrived, and the Mensah-Jones family was home. David had told Sika about what had transpired at Reverence Ministries, and she was also quick to guess who was behind this senseless act.

Sitting on the bed with her, David simply shook his head. “It’s disgusting, Sika. He’s decided to play dirty because of my rejection. This is just sick. Tearing apart the house of God? Really?”

“And those thugs he hired, didn’t they think before going ahead with this? Do they know what seeds they’re sowing into their future by doing that?”

David shook his head. “I don’t think they’re concerned about that. As long as he gave them some nice-looking cedi notes, they were good to go.”

Sika sighed and rubbed her face. “God have mercy, God have mercy. What are we going to do?”

“Well, we filed a report at the police station right after we observed the damage done, so hopefully they can track the vandals who did this. As for Roger… I wanted to call him and really let him have it. Tell him what is awaiting him for daring to lay a finger on God’s house. But… it’s like God is holding my tongue…”

“Then don’t do it,” Sika stressed, placing her hands on his shoulders. “Once God has put a roadblock in front of you, don’t force it. He knows what He’s doing. Just let Him do His thing.”

David rubbed his face. “I know, honey, I know. It’s just… I’m so upset, and I’m so furious. This is the lowest form of low. It’s pathetic. It’s cowardly. It’s every negative word you can think of using. Roughing up a place that’s dedicated to worship and the Word. Ugh, God!”

“Honey, I know you’re livid. And believe me, so am I,” Sika reiterated, now rubbing her husband’s back. “He fills me with so much disgust right now, with this filthy level of pettiness. But once God says halt, just halt. If we’re this furious over this, how much more Him? He knows what He’s gonna do. So let’s just let it go and focus on the strategy we need to get Reverence back in shape.”

David looked up at Sika and nodded. “You’re right. You’re right. Let’s focus on what we can do, and let God do what He wants to do.”

“Good. And remember, this Roger man can do all he wants, but as long as he’s fighting the church, he’s lost already.”

“Of course. Nobody fights Elohim and wins. Nobody.”

“Absolutely nobody.”

Seriously, Roger? You sent them to destroy God’s house? Yeah, David and Sika are right; this man’s made it personal for God. This won’t go down easy…