Wounded Pilgrim 22

ABOUT THE VISITOR

The church service was finally ending and church members were living the church hall via the various doors to the hall. The song leader was still singing “Till we meet at Jesus’ feet” and the musician were doing their very best with the instruments. Bartholomew was still but undecided on what to do next. He was torn between scampering from the church compound to avoid whatever compliments awaited him outside. He knew the sort of comments that awaited him the moment he walked out whether alone or with Anastacia. Most of them would be congratulatory ones for taking a long-awaited step or maybe questions of when he was going to have his engagement announced.

"The pastor would like to see you with visitor", someone tapped him on his shoulder gently. It was Deacon Musa. He nodded in agreement.

"I believe she is the one next to you" Deacon Musa added before disappearing to the door on the left of the pulpit that lead to the pastor's office.

Bartholomew was clueless on the reason he was being asked to see the pastor with the visitor. "We have been asked to go see the pastor" he said quickly turning slightly towards her. He stood up and walked towards the door since there was an outside door to the pastor's office. Anastacia was right behind him like a kid in the city behind his parent and not willing to get lost.

"I believe you now know each other" the pastor said after the greetings.

"For me not much since she only called yesterday and we met this morning to get her to church" Bartholomew could not help complain.

"Ha ha ha off course I know that" pastor chuckled a bit like the way old men do. "All I meant was if you know each other's names ha ha ha."

It was then that Bartholomew learnt that pastor was the one who sent gave her his number when she called for the directions. Anastacia was given the contacts right from home of the pastors so that she would not struggle to locate the church here in the city and probably land into some noisy denomination church elsewhere where they preach weird doctrines.

"You did a good job in bringing her to church Bartholomew lots of blessings are on your way brother" Deacon Musa spoke after being silent all that time.

"By the way I got a wife out of bringing a sister to church just like you did" the pastor said before him and Deacon Musa bursting into a short laughter. Bartholomew and Anastacia only smiled and looked away in opposite directions. Obviously, Bartholomew didn't like the joke and Anastacia was horrified by it. "Come on don't you take me serious. It was on a light note."

As usual old people like pastor would talk into past and reveal how much they know someone's family background, "I knew Anastacia’s parents before they started courting and even I remember she was born, held the tiny kid with arms, now she is grown up huge and tall ready for something else he he he" Anastacia continued to get amused as Bartholomew pretending to be enjoying the talks. "Am sorry today we didn't have visitor’s tea we could give you a better welcome than this."

"Sister Anastacia you are welcome to our beloved church" Deacon Musa added.

A few church members most of them youths and the others the old, kids and married ones were still outside the church hall. Bartholomew greeted a few and moved away swiftly carefully avoiding those who were trying to start endless conversation. Along the road some walked in groups of threes or even fives and others on their own.

“Did you forget that I asked you not to leave me behind?” Anastacia said when she caught up with him when he stopped to talk to a few youths just a few meters by the roadside.

“Am sorry I forgot about you. Just thinking about getting to my house as soon as possible” He apologized.

“Never mind his mannerisms, he still single and he thinks about himself even when accompanied by a sister”, someone said from the group he was talking and everyone burst out into laugher.

“But it’s okay for him to be single when he still single so that when he gets married he will be married” another elderly youth said as everyone turned to look at him in bewilderment. “Maybe you have forgotten what we were told in the previous youth convention.”

“Yeah I remember Pastor Teo saying how marriages collapse people are bringing single-hood into marriages” Bartholomew added with whatever he could remember. At least the topic of discussion was getting swayed in his favor somehow.

“I was there too and he also said its because when such people were single they behaved like they were married” Anastacia put in too and she chuckled a bit.

She then took Bartholomew aside and began to narrate to him some of her nightmares that she felt she needed his help. Off course money was not among them for obvious reasons but what he feared most was the commitment that she was sucking out of him. To him she was still a total stranger and he didn’t see how he was going to move around the city estate and help her find a good house that she could move into just before she settled at her job.

To his astonishment she was actually going to work in the same firm with him but different offices. She was the replacement of one of their colleagues who had died recently in a grisly road accident. Only God knew what lay ahead for him and he didn’t like what he his thought were looping through.