Tuesday, 5 January 2016

Pastor's wife delivers twins after being married for 16 years

                          The joyful parents:  Pastor Yemi Asegun, Dupe Helen Awosemusi and their twin girls
Wife of Pastor Yemi Asegun of Wayfarer Ministries, MrsDupe Helen Awosemusi reportedly welcomed a set of twins on November 1 2016.
According to reports, she and her husband have been trying to conceive for 16 years.
The 48-year-old new mom of twin girls shared her story, joy and challenges with Nigerian Tribune.
Keeping the Faith
“There were times I missed my period and went for pregnancy test, only for the result to be negative. Naturally, one would feel bad, but we kept praying and believing that God would answer us one day. "
Sarah
”Shortly before we got married, my husband and I went to visit someone. The first thing the person said to welcome me was ‘Sarah’. At that time, I was not spiritually mature so I did not attach any meaning to it. I was naïve and did not get the spiritual message behind that name. I thought the person mistook the name for mine or just wanted to call me by that name.
“It was later I got the spiritual nudge to reject the name. Apparently, my father-in-law saw more than I did in being called that name and he was the one who opened my eyes to the spiritual connotation of that name when I casually told him about the name I was called."
Giving up
“I remember that sometime in 2001, someone came to us in our café, called me aside and said God told him that He was going to answer our prayers. We actually thought it would happen that year, but year after year, nothing was forthcoming.
“We kept hoping, though at a stage we got discouraged. I personally lost faith in becoming a mother. About three years ago, I called my husband and said that with or without children, I wanted to serve God.
“At that level, I had closed the chapter of becoming a mother in my consciousness. I told myself that children would not be a criterion for me to have a place in the kingdom of God and inheriting a crown after this life."
Verbal abuse
“A lot of people said a lot of things about me. Someone even went to the extent of saying that I was a principality; that I had donated my womb at our coven. There were lots of bickerings, issues. There were thunder and windstorms but I was not carried away by them in the journey of 16 years. I also had a lot of encouragements and prayers from people who felt concerned about us. My father-in-law is indeed a father in a million.
“Sometimes, we heard some nasty things being said about us by some people during outings. For example, we went out one day and I reprimanded a little boy who misbehaved.
“The next thing his mother said in parable was that I could not realise the worth of what I didn’t have. She said I didn’t know how it felt to carry a pregnancy and give birth to a child. Instead of allowing the statement to weigh me down, it became my prayer point, as I told God to let me know how it feels to become a mother."
“Sometimes when my husband went out and met with such nasty statements, I would read it on my husband. Though he would not tell me at that moment when I asked him, the issue would come up later and he would tell me what transpired that led to the change in his mood. I know my husband loves me, but in addition to this was God’s grace that made him stick to me through our period of waiting. Sixteen years was no joke."
Husband's support
“Usually, when our marriage was eight years old, I stopped monitoring my monthly cycle. My husband and I agreed that he would be the one to monitor it because of anxiety. I had programmed my mind to forget anything about dates in my monthly cycle once I finished my period in a particular month. If you asked me a week after, I would not remember. At a stage, my husband also got tired of monitoring the cycle.
Breakthrough
“On March 30, this year, I just remembered that my period had yet to come, so I went for pregnancy test. I did not remember my last menstrual period (LMP). I usually bought packs of sanitary towels. After the test, the laboratory technician asked whether he should seal the envelope and I said no.
“As I left him, I partially opened the envelope when I got back inside the car. I peeped and saw something that looked like a plus (+) symbol, which signified positive. I quickly closed the paper and pushed it back inside the envelope. I opened it again, peeped and closed it the second time.
“When I got to my office, I locked my door, and opened the envelope very well and saw the positive symbol. I was so overwhelmed that I put the result in my bag, locked my office window and door, and went back home. It was around 11 a.m.
“It was like a dream, and I could not tell my husband immediately. I thought: Could this be true? Thereafter, I was expecting my belly to just shoot out. Many times, I went in front of my dressing mirror to look at my tummy. This was because I did not experience early morning sickness, vomiting or tiredness.
“Eventually, the lower part of my abdomen started bulging. My bump became noticeable. Then I thanked God and thought: ‘Now, I know how one feels as an expectant mother.’ The journey started like that and I was strong throughout. I think it was just God because I had strength throughout. I would climb the stairs to the last floor of the Ministry of Justice where my office was. God renewed my age. I was almost 48 years old. I was delivered of my twin babies at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan on November 1, 2015.”

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