Shalom

Chapter Ten

Shalom shot Faith a dangerous stare. Something had transpired between them.

She had had a good cry on Faith's shoulder after she ended her brother's sad and unexpected call.

As the tears continued to pour like a dam, she had a reflection of how she lived her life in the past. She was a good Christian. She loved the Lord. She was a faithful worker in her dad's church and she was a useful vessel in the evangelism unit who had brought people into the fold through her salvation story.

But unfortunately, something happened. Distraction set in. Her eyes and ears were blind and deaf. She couldn't deny the fact that she had received several warnings from the Holy Spirit but they fell on deaf ears.

Faith saw that she wasn't ready to put a stop to her flowing tears, so she decided to give her time while she muttered her one-syllable tongues. Plus, she was almost done with her hectic assignment.

After a while, when Faith saw that her roommate had had a good cry, she decided to break her good news to her.

Shalom raised her head from her shoulder, wiped off her tears with her hands, and looked into her eyes.

"Thank you so much for being a shoulder to lean on," she sniffed.

Faith looked at her. Her shoulder was a mess but she didn't bother. A small smile played out on her lips.

"I feel so much better," Shalom added.

"You are welcome. And I can see that you feel so much better now. I am at your beck and call anytime any day," Faith said which made Shalom crack up.

"Thank you once again."

"My pleasure," Faith replied.

"Shalom, lest I forget, I have been wanting to tell you something."

On hearing that, Shalom adjusted herself on the bed and focused her attention fully on her.

"Okay? Something like what?" Her curiosity was piqued.

"It's good news," Faith laughed to ease the tension hanging in the air.

"Alright," Shalom couldn't help to laugh too.

"Yeah. So, I have accepted the life that was provided by the gospel of Jesus Christ," Faith gleed.

Shalom's countenance dropped. Bewilderment set in.

"I don't get you. What do you mean?"

Faith was slightly disappointed but she concealed it.

"What I mean is that Jesus has saved me. I am now a new creature. I have given my life to Jesus Christ," she explained in simpler terms.

Shalom shot her a surprise look.

"What is it? Are you not happy for me? This is a piece of good news you know?"

Shalom wasn't interested. "I know it is a good news. But you can keep it to yourself," she snapped.

Faith was stunned.

"Shalom," she put a hand on her shoulder and sighed.

"You don't have to dwell too much on what you are going through now. Come to Jesus, and He will save you. Don't feed on the devil's falsehoods."

She reached for her Bible, opened it, and flipped through its pages to a particular chapter.

"The Bible says in the book of John chapter 3 verse 16 that 'For God so loved the world and He gave His only Begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life'" she read out.

But Shalom did the unthinkable. She snatched the Bible from Faith's hand and flung it on the floor.

"Jesus!" Faith exclaimed. Her eyes were almost teary.

"Yes! That serves you right!" She blurted out in a rage.

She rose on her feet and in an uncontrollable anger, she voiced out, "You don't have the right to preach to me. The new life you claimed you have received, I had been in it. Of course, I knew where you were going. Rubbish! If you open your mouth and mention Jesus to me again, I swear to God, I will kill you with my bare hands. Idiot! Bunch of hypocrites."

With that, she stormed out of the room. She met Samantha and a slender-figured lady beside her. Samantha greeted her but she hissed and slammed the door.

Samantha and Rhoda filed in. They met Faith in hot tears.

Samantha threw her tote bag on the floor and sat beside Faith.

"Faith, what happened? What happened to Shalom?" Shock and horror mixed with confusion.

"Shalom said she would kill me if I ever mentioned Jesus to her again," Faith replied in tears.

Shalom? That name clicked in Rhoda's brain.

"You mean Shalom Jesujuwonlo?" Rhoda chipped in.

Faith and Samantha stared back at her in awe.

"You know her?" They asked in sync.

Rhoda was slightly embarrassed.

"Wait. You guys, I don't know her in the flesh.  The Holy Spirit told me her name."

"The Holy Spirit?" It was getting complicated for Faith and Samantha.

"Yes," Rhoda replied. She noticed that they didn't understand what she said so she took her time to explain who the Holy Spirit was.

"Wait! Who are you?" Faith asked Rhoda after her explanation.

Rhoda let out a small smile. "My name is Rhoda Adeosun. I am a 400-level Med and Surg student. It was today I got to know that Samantha was my coursemate. So I decided to follow her home and you know do some things together." She said.

"Wow! Well done. That's beautiful to hear." Faith smiled. Her tears had dried up.

"Thank you," Rhoda returned the smile.

"Now back to Shalom," She said in a more serious tone. "She needs God's help. She is seriously in the dark and she needs God's light. God has laid the impression in my heart to get close to her so that she may see help."

"Wow!" Faith opened her mouth in surprise. Meeting Rhoda in person for the first time was not some kind of joke. In her words, she had a track record with God. She carried fire.

Samantha too wasn't lost in the conversation. She had surrendered her life to Christ but decided to hide it from her friends because of fear.

Much to their surprise, Rhoda stood up with her tote bag hanging on her shoulder.

"Thank you for having me you guys, I need to get going now. I need to look for Shalom," She said.

"This night?"

"Yes, it's urgent. I need to go now. Goodbye, guys."

She left the room into the night.

Faith and Samantha watched her go in awe mixed with confusion.

To be continued.