Shalom

Chapter One

A man in his late sixties lay sick on his bed, which could contain three people conveniently. The bedroom was painted white and that was because the man loved it that way.

White was his favorite.

The man's name was Frederick Jesujuwonlo. He was a pastor and the General Overseer of Jesus, the Light Gospel Mission somewhere in Lagos. He was fondly called PFed by his church members and people outside the church. He had a wife and two grown-up children-Shalom and Samuel.

As he lay on his bed, with his eyes tightly shut, he thought of his past. He thought of when he was still young and vibrant for the Lord, He remembered how he met his wife and couldn't help but to steal glances at her at the shopping mall. They started a serious relationship from there and six months later after their courtship, they got married.

The memories of when Shalom was brought to the world kept on coming to his head. He remembered how he couldn't contain his joy and kept on thanking God for the safe delivery of his wife and the peaceful coming of the newborn Their house kept on receiving gifts from the church and even from the unbelievers. To say the least, one could tell that, that day was the happiest day for the pastor and Mrs. Jesujuwonlo.

But now, the memory of that brought tears to PFed eyes. He whimpered as the memory of what Shalom turned out to be kept on flooding his mind. The door to his room opened and a woman who was average tall and happened to be his wife and other co-pastors filed in.

The woman's name was Eunice and she was in her early fifties. She went to PFed's bed and an expression of shock mixed with confusion was plastered on her face.

"My love." She called softly and sat down on her husband's bed. "You're crying?" She added with concern.

PFed opened his tear-filled eyes and looked at his wife and let out a small smile.

"Sweetheart!" His voice croaked.

"Yes, dear." Eunice responded, "The pastors are here."

"Okay, thank you very much." He sat on the bed with the aid of his wife. "You can let them in."

"They are in the room with you," Eunice said.

The co-pastors, about five of them, were in the room.

"Good morning, sir." One of the pastor's voices came up.

PFed sighted him. "Good morning, Pastor Jude."

"How was your night, sir?"

"It was fine. Thank you." PFed responded. He turned to his wife.

"You can go now, dear. I want to discuss something with them." He said.

"Okay, sweetheart. Make sure you don't stress yourself. If you need anything, just call me, alright." She said and stood up.

"Okay, dear." He let out a small smile.

Eunice left the room.

PFed turned to the pastors.

"You can have your seat."

"Thank you, sir." They obeyed.

"I have called you all here because of my daughter."

To be continued!