Dear Parents, We’re Not Happy

[The highlighted verses will reveal their words without taking you a step out of the blog.]

I was at a youth gathering when one of us suddenly stood up angrily to face one of our supervisors. Even if this lady had successfully stopped the tears in her glistening eyes from falling, we could still see the distress written clearly on her face.

Here’s what had happened:

Though she had already missed the initial five days of the training due to work, she still pushed to join us for that Saturday’s last practical session.

It was all going well until the evening when she received a call from her mum asking her to return home immediately as it was getting dark. Her mum had called this supervisor with this instruction since her phone’s battery was dead.

Our supervisor’s message was the spark that ignited the gasoline. Poor supervisor, she received the brunt of the explosion meant for the girl’s parents.

“Why won’t they leave me alone?! What wrong have I committed? At this age of mine, I still don’t know how to handle a camera and all because they won’t let me. They won’t give me space!”

“I just want to be here, kini mo se bayi. I mean, if I dressed to go to a prostitute stand, I’ll know why they’re worried, ahahan, see me na. Am I the only child with parents? Are these ones here not human beings?!”

Her last statement transferred the fuse to the rest of us because she had wrongly concluded that we, the twelve of us seated were doing so with the full support of our parents. Haha, she was so wrong.

That was a point of revelation. Everybody had something to say, no, I mean shout about but the summary of it all was that:

A girl’s parents didn’t know where she was currently.

One had called her father for some funds to support her decision and he never called back.

Another was taking the training course under the guise of delivering some goods to not add more evidence to the “missionary” they had started calling her at home.

I’ve seen girls lie outrightly to their parents to be able to attend a convention or Christian gathering which let’s straighten out now is wrong.

I’ve seen Christian youths afraid to go home because of the level of toxicity waiting for them there from their parents, wards or elders. Surprise, surprise, 95% of these elders are Christians too 🙂.

All because of what? They decided to pursue something more than the nominal Christianity of today. Because they believe there’s more in Christ and want to get it. Because they’ve been pressed in their spirit to work for God in any capacity different from what their parents want.

Dear parents let’s settle this beef now.

When did wanting to work or fellowship with Jesus deeply become a crime? Many of you ATTEND church, and you made us attend with you when we were little too.

You conduct devotions in the morning, talking about Jesus and praying for his protection. Yet, now you tell us not to “carry” Jesus on our heads? Please explain this, we’re getting confused.

“Will fellowship put food on your tables?” you ask us.

Some of you have made yourself the hurdle we must cross to get to what God wants from us. To the extent that Luke 14:26 has become a daily meditation point to draw strength to do God’s will.

Please parents note; God did not give you children for yourself. They are the heritage of God. You are only stewards.

Your children were not given to you as an assurance of your old age. Don’t raise your kids and put your hope in them. Your child is not your pension plan. Jeremiah 17:5 says woe is the man who puts his trust in man… Yes, that includes your children.

That’s one of the reasons you won’t let us fly. You’re wondering how being a missionary can help YOU when you’re old.

“Nigeria is bad, Nigeria is bad!”

We know! Believe us when we say we know! We see it every day on the news. That’s why we pray often, committing our ways to only Him that can keep a man (Psalm 121:4).

We know you love us and care about our wellbeing but what else would you have us do? If we could pursue YOUR dreams, we would but the vision we’ve got burns like fire in our veins. The glimpse we’ve had of the Lord draws us to go deeper.

Your Child is Not Your Pension Plan.

Please stop trying to squash our dreams and whatever looks “too churchy” according to your standards or society. Doctors, bankers, engineers and lawyers, that’s all you permit your children to be? How funny.

There are thousands of other youths consumed with money and lusts that they’ve turned to cyber fraud, ritual killings, ambitions, prostitution, gambling and other pursuits but we’re pressing into God. How is this a crime worth the hurtful words you dish at us regularly?

You tell us to get a life. You hurry us on. The pressure is almost killing. If you saw one of your children on the news for armed robbery, would you finally be at peace?

“Father of five lawyers,” that’s what you want to be called? Wow, you must feel so special. Then you leave your kids to suffer the pain of their misalignment all their lives. How wicked!

Please, parents, we were given to you to instruct us on behalf of God. To train us to be whatever Abba wants from us. God’s assurance does the rest. It should be your hope.

When you force your kids to follow your dreams, you leave them to suffer the pain of misalignment all their lives.

HE said if you do this, when we grow we won’t depart from this truth you’ve taught us. If you do this well, we won’t forget Mark 7:9-13 and 1 Timothy 5:8. That’s actually when the rest from your labours you want in your old age can actually be cemented.

We know you’ve seen people suffer. Some of your peers messed up, you’ve seen the nakedness of the church, but all these experiences does not nullify the purposes of God in us. We’re not even saying we know it all, how can we? We just want to hook our everything on Jesus’ chariot and ride with him to the end.

Please allow us to fly, we beg you! The world is scary enough, we don’t need the extra distress from home. Give us your support, so we know where to run when we face challenges.

Just be there for us. Pray for us.

We love you.

I so looove hearing from you. Please drop a comment💓