by Irvine Syazyombo
Whatever happens under the sun does so because the God in
heaven has allowed it to occur. Nothing happens without will of the Almighty.
Even deaths that happen daily, it is because God in heaven
allows those souls to rest. It is because God has allowed the fulfilment of his
word to Adam and Eve that people are mortal.
However, if Gods says
no to the loss of life, the individual continues to live .Evil forces may crave
to curtail a life but instead, more
years result if God Himself wills. If His will is longer life for the
individual, the person will not be killed by any danger that faces him. It does
not matter how helpless a person’s fate seems.
This is what happened to a young man ,Ashers Masempela of
Lusaka in Zambia.In October 2006,he had just had his lunch in
Syacitema Chiefdom of Kalomo District of Southern Zambia when a man
visited.
Masempela told a Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA) camped congregation in Masaiti district
of Copperbelt province recently that the person had bad news to break to the
family.
“He told us that a boy named Smart whom I had chatted with
that morning passed away later,”
Masempela narrated to the emotional attentive hundreds of faces in a makeshift
shelter.
He said the informant also told the family that SDA church elders had requested Masempela and
his fellow twelve-man church singing
group members to perform at the house of
moaning that evening.
Masempela said he and his fellow church singers soon started
off towards late Smart’s home in the
same chiefdom.
He said the group of
youths found a man who could not walk due to disability lying on the ground at
a road junction.
Masempela said the disabled man called him and asked a lot of
questions after the young man had stopped
with one of his fellow singers as the rest proceeded. Masempela said the disabled
man advised him to avoid spending most
of his time singing as that could lead
to his death.
Masempela said he just smiled at the man before the two walked on. He said about 60 meters away, he looked
over his shoulders.He said and his eyes
and those of the disabled man met and that the cripple repeated his advice to
which Masempela just responded with a smile.
He said they soon met
two elderly men one of whom wondered if Masemplela was human or a ghost, believing that the schoolboy had
died two years earlier.
Masempela explained
that the elderly man repeatedly touched on the body and arms to prove that he was a human
and not a ghost.
“Then the man also said I would die if I spent most of my
time singing,” Masempela added to the quiet audience.
Masempela said he and his friend looked at each other with surprise because of the words that had been echoed by
the doubtful man. Masempela said when he
looked over his shoulder shortly after resuming
the walk , his eyes met those of the elderly man who stressed his advice to Masempela
to reduce music engagements.
Masempela further said he replied that the man himself would instead die as result of walking long
distances .
He said about sixty meters on the youths met three young
women one of whom also marveled at seeing Masempela, saying she believed he had
died years back.
Masempela said from the repeated disturbing comment,his
friend also became doubtful of whether
Masempela was human or a ghost and
almost returned. Masempela further said he persuaded the fellow singer to
resume the walk.
Masempela recalled
that soon after turning and parting with the young ladies between 14 and 15 hours ,he lost
consciousness until ‘waking up’ to the squeaking
bumps of being wheeled away.
“It felt like waking up. I wondered where I was being
wheeled to because I thought I had fallen asleep at the house of moaning.I tried
to move but my arms were bound. I wondered who among my friends had jokingly been
wheeling me at the house of moaning. The individual kept on pushing until
I
asked where he was taking me,” Masempela
narrated emotionally.
The young man said suddenly the person screamed and stopped moving him before a crowd gathered
shouting that he had come back to life. He said his father,mother, siblings and
two friends were deeply tearful.
“My father asked me if I could recognize him.I wondered why because I had lived with him for years as his
son,” Masempela said softly ;eyes half closed and visibly struggling to tame
his emotions as the congregation tearfully
paid attention.
Masempela further said two doctors and a nurse soon took him
to some room where to his amasement they undressed ,bathed and dressed
him in new clothes.
He said the medical staff soon took him to his parents where
they explained that he had been struck by lightning and was brought to Choma
General Hospital around seventeen hours the previous day.
Masempela added that the professionals said they had
struggled to immediately resuscitate him
,saying retrying around
23 hours also failed before certifying him dead.
The young man said the doctors explained that the mortuary had then closed, so Masempela and eight dead bodies were kept in some room till morning.
Masempela further said
the medical experts narrated that in the morning a worker wheeled him on a
trolley until near the mortuary when he coughed, saying he was very lucky.
Meanwhile Masempela narrated that according to eyewitnesses,
when lightning suddenly struck , he was also violently lifted and dumped in the way of an oncoming vehicle which miraculously
swerved before dropping some passengers and rushing him to hospital.
He said medical staff apologized to his parents who replied
that it was not doctors who gave life but God. Masempela further said from that
incident he dedicated his life to sing for God as that was his talent .
Then he sang two deeply emotional songs about his mysterious
experience .The music further stirred up emotions of the tearful congregation.
The man has composed many songs which have made so many people across Zambia repent of their sins and embrace God.
Indeed God is merciful. God is love. He demonstrated that by
sustaining Masempela’s life which could have instantly been lost in one lightning
strike. God can also work such a miracle in your life if you believe in him. He
demonstrated through Masempela’s life that he is Almighty God.