The Most Rev’d Benjamin Kwashi Testimony: “I Have Bought My Coffin Prepared Order of Funeral Service. Then God Intervened.”
…….My Advice To Youngmen; Look For A Committed Christian Girl To Marry.
HIS GRACE GAVE THIS TESTIMONY DURING HIS SERMON AT THE PRESENTATION OF ARCHBISHOP HUMPHREY OLUMAKAIYE AT THE CATHEDRAL OF THE ADVENT ABUJA ON 7 NOVEMBER 2021. HERE, THE EXCERPTS.
“I thought the reading of Hezekiah, had something to do with me, but as God often does, this our text for the day has to do with healing, I shall not be doing well if I don’t share with you my testimony of healing. Your Grace our our Primate, publicly I want to thank you and your wife, because unknown to our Primate I had called my children both home and abroad and made up my mind I had decided to be with the Lord. 65years was good enough to be on this mother earth. My coffin was ready and it is still by the way, my service and the order of my funeral service was also ready with the letter which I had written to the the Primate, gave instruction that when I died they should give it to him and to plead with him to allow me to be buried 5 days after my transition. Only one man knows where my coffin is until today it is still there and only two people know about the program because it needs to be in a computer. I suddenly got a call from Canon Gorge and said “Baba we are on our way to Jos” and I said to do what and he said “the the Primate is coming”. Primate came we talked like old friends we were and he insisted and prayed with me and covenanted me with God and that made it difficult for me not to accept to go for treatment abroad. I had told everybody that any treatment I could not get in Nigeria please let me go home, give all the money to Gloria my wife she wants to save a thousand children in one year so give it to her let me go home. So we finally agreed after Primate came, five days down the road, all excuses were thrown off. I had my one day day Synod. My Chancellor and everybody was mad at me and they ferried me literary to United States of America to a friend of mine Lawrence . Mr Lawrence is as crazy as I am, he was going in for a hip surgery after my own surgery but he didn’t care, he allowed us come to his house were we stayed for eight and half months. The coordinating surgeon, fantastic Christian, they prayed and asked God to give me life and they were so sure that in eight weeks’ time I should be back in Nigeria, but when they opened me up, they found out what they never expected, not only my colon at stage four of cancer, my liver as well, so I ended up 6 hours
In the operating table and when I came out my surgeon was in tears and he said Ben, we don’t know what to do with this because after going through your liver, we are not so sure anymore, Church of Nigeria I want to thank you, it is your fault that I am alive.
A friend of mine went to my village in December and came back to us and was trying to locate were I was and he said to me, am coming to see you and I said why, he said it was in his village that he heard mother praying that death shouldn’t take archbishop Benjamin kwashi and I said you mean my prayers went as far as villages, but that was how much all of you prayed. So any trouble I made now be ready for it. You should have allowed me to go home because quite frankly I was so grateful to God for my life and ministry and I was ready to go home but God totally has a different calendar for him. The lord has brought me back alive, allow me to call Henry (primate) the way I normally call him ‘babake’ Henry Ndukuba and his wife Angela, I want to say thank you.
We have been through a lot with them, when they got married and they wanted to kill me and him, my house was burnt and his own house was burnt also, they lost everything… We have been through a lot with this two couple through the wilderness of northern Nigeria. I remember asking him to come and lead my clergy retreat, the night before he came, he was shot in the stomach, so I went to him and I said ‘babake’ this one you are going back home because your people will not allow you to stay here again. He got angry with me and said “it’s better for me to die here” and I told him it’s ok because the bandage might open, I told him am sorry nobody will come and take you back home just stay here, and he said to me if I die bury me here, that’s the Primate we have .
The second person I want to thank is my wife Gloria. Thank God she’s not here so I can say whatever I like. A shy little mixed fulani girl, in those days when I talked she would just hide, other times when I shouted she would just shed tears and all that, now am the one shedding tears, I never knew this was the woman I married until this sickness. Nine months she nursed me and prayed day and night, what a woman she is, I said to all young men please look for a committed Christian girl to marry, don’t worry about the problem they bring they are wonderful. Usually, what is best is that when you marry a committed Christian woman, your life is safe because this women they have one radar around their system that tells them about a bad man coming, you will say this one is my friend and they will say no this is not your friend, they have that gift. That is one dark, ebony woman that God has blessed me with.
The Primate, I must thank you for this opportunity which is both to share my testimony and also to thank you for the opportunity to speak at the presentation of Archbishop Humphrey Olumakaiye and his wife Prof Mrs Motunrayo. It is such an honor for me.”
