Finally, the paperback version of the must-have book by Pastor Taira, Destined to Live is out. Click here to order your Paperback copy.
Click here to get the e-book version.
Click here to read on the Kindle e-reader.
Here’s an excerpt from the book.
Chapter One – The Dream
The baby was beautiful.
A glorious baby. Soft brown skin, and lovely eyes.
He… I said ‘he’? Was the baby a ‘he’? I really don’t know but he sure was a happy baby. He had a gorgeous smile although he was only a new baby. I looked down at him as I held him. I didn’t know whose baby it was, he’d just been handed to me and I’d happily taken him. I smiled and cooed at him and then I looked up to see a number of people gathered around me.
However, something was wrong. The people looked troubled, sad, with their heads bowed down, and their eyes sorrowful. Some shook their heads.
Yes, there was definitely a problem!
I looked back at the baby. To my horror, I saw what the problem was.
How come I hadn’t noticed it all the while? A six-inch nail had been hammered into the baby’s skull. A single trickle of blood flowed down the baby’s forehead, from the point where the nail was lodged in the baby’s skull down to the forehead. Yet, the baby was still alive. Still unaware that it was doomed to die.
“Noooo!” I exclaimed in horror. “Nooo, this baby must not die. It must not die!!!”
I was desperate, and very determined. Somehow, I began to prise the nail free, praying fervently as I did; decreeing and declaring that the baby would not die, in Jesus’ name. Ever so gently, I pulled at it, being careful not to cause any more damage to the soft skull or the brain and any other tissue inside the baby’s head. As I pulled the long, thick nail free using my right hand, I immediately had the index finger of my other hand positioned to block the big, deep hole left by the nail. Miraculously, and with a triumphant shout of “Hallelujah!”, I did it. The hole was sealed. The baby started to gurgle happily, none the worse for the terrible trauma it had passed through.
Singing praises and glorifying God, I handed the baby back to… I know not whom!
But, I handed the baby over, feeling fulfilled and relieved. I knew I had just accomplished a great feat. But, suddenly, before I had time to celebrate further or leave the scene, I found I had been handed yet another baby. To my horror, this baby was in EXACTLY the same state as the other! A six-inch nail lodged three quarters its length way down into its skull!
Alas! Thank God for the experience I had from the first baby. Once again, praying while at it,
I was able to prise it free, block the hole the nail had created hence stopping the bleeding. Once again – the hole was sealed shut, leaving no evidence of any trauma whatsoever to the area. Yet again, I handed the baby back to whomever it belonged.
And then… I woke up!
I lay there, wondering what on earth this dream could mean? It had been so vivid, so real. What could it possibly mean? I knew. Just KNEW that it had to be something important.
But what? I thought about the role I had played in the dream but it did not seem to fit into my life.
I had come to realise years before that God had called me to minister to teenagers and youths. I felt no pull towards babies or children; I didn’t have anything whatsoever against them, I simply did not sense a call to serve in any area of ministry which pertained to them.
I soon tucked the dream away somewhere at the back of my mind. It was too strange, too unusual to forget, but in the absence of any other revelation, there was nothing else to do than put it all in God’s hands.
Copyright © 2017 Taira Afaha-Akpan
Published by Writers Treasure House (lekebee@gmail.com)
Click here to get your Paperback copy.
Click here to get the e-book version.
Click here to read on the Kindle e-reader.
About Pastor Taira
Taira Afaha-Akpan (nee King) was born in London, England to a Nigerian father and British mother. She attended the prestigious Queen’s College, Yaba, Lagos from where she proceeded to Northwestern College of Business, Portland, Oregon, USA and later, Sight and Sound College, London England. She has distinguished herself over the years as an excellent mentor, teacher, motivational speaker, writer, publisher, and CEO.
Taira Afaha-Akpan is the renowned publisher of Young Friend Magazine and Scripturemic Comic and the Founder of Young Friend Club, an educational support service provider. She has many years of experience as a pastor, teacher and counsellor in both teenage and youth ministries. She is presently a Pastor at the Mountain of Fire and Miracles (MFM) Ministries Headquarters Youth Church in Lagos, Nigeria.
Taira Afaha-Akpan has been married for over 40 years to Captain Afaha-Akpan Akpan. They are blessed with three sons, daughters (in law), and four glorious grandchildren.
