I was awakened by a barrage of strange voices in the middle of the night. I lifted my head off the pillow, ears straining to decipher what was happening, but I couldn't parse out any clear words in the midst of the different voices simultaneously talking, weeping, and groaning over each other. But the rapid footsteps made clear that all was not well. I tracked the footsteps going first to the church compound, then to the parsonage, where whoever was out there banged on the door. "Sir Peterson, open the door," the voices cried out to me. I remained inside the church, peeking out through one of the glass windows to see what was happening. Surely, none of them knew that I had been sleeping in the church. If they had been kidnappers, I could have escaped them. One bishop I knew of had been aroused by a crowd of people claiming a member was critically sick, but as the man of God came out to pray, he was abducted. For this reason, I never let anyone know where I slept at night. I thought perhaps these fellows had come in disguise to kill or kidnap me. My mind whispered, Go and know the mission of their coming. Before I could open a door leading to the backyard, I heard a voice sob, "Why must Levi die just like that, without leaving a word?"
When Levi was mentioned, I realized that my brother might have told them to call me to pray for Levi; he had called me earlier in the day. He knew Levi before I did. Levi had helped him repair his car on many occasions. I didn't want to go unless Levi's children would come to call me for the prayers. I expected them to come, but I did not see them.
I walked through the backyard, toward the veranda. As they heard the door swing open, the intruders yelled, "Somebody is inside."
I finally reached the frontage, and they knelt down when they saw me. This was what I hated: for one to kneel down before me, begging.
"Get up! You must only kneel down before God, and not to a mortal man like me," I said.
They stood up, their grief-distorted faces illuminated by the moonlight, and wept. "Did anybody die in this community?" I asked. "Man of God, you are in the spirit!" they exclaimed.
Though I understood them, I needed them to open up and tell me what had really happened.
A fellow said, "Man of God, we want you to come and pray for Levi, for now he is lifeless. With your fervent prayers, he may live again."
I did not know this man called Levi, but I made up my mind to go with them. I asked them to leave, telling them I would meet them there as soon as possible.
After they left my quarters, I contacted my two prophetesses, Ann and Lilian, to pray for Levi. Before going, we went into the church and consulted God. We received power from him, then left for Levi's house. A young boy, who I thought must be Levi's son, opened the room where his body was lying stiffly, and we entered. We began to sing songs of praise, deliverance, and healing. We sang for more than one hour, then started to pray. We prayed until Levi began to shiver like an asthmatic patient.
At first, I thought it was a convulsion, but then I received a vision that said what Levi was suffering from was not only a mere sickness, but also an evil attack. We began to rebuke every power of darkness in the sky, seas, shrines, and, earth. By this time, people were crying. Some seemed to believe in our prayers, while others had concluded that nothing would bring Levi back to life unless God himself came down. As we rendered every power of evil attack powerless, Levi screamed, "Dad, don't flog me. I'm going back home!"
We all realized that Levi was having an encounter with his late father in the spiritual realm. Without warning, Levi took a deep, shuddering breath that convulsed his entire body. His life had been restored to him by God.
People marveled at this miracle; it was then that people began to believe in me as the servant of God. I was told that Levi had gotten drunk in the shop of a Calabar woman, and since then, he hadn't awakened for two days without eating anything. They thought that he was poisoned. Levi's people wanted to make war against the woman. They did not know that Levi was spiritually attacked and remained in a coma for two days.
As Levi was raised up to life by God's grace, I asked his wife to bathe him and give him food to eat. I knew that he would also need a medical check-up to ascertain the state of his health.
"This man ought to be taken to a medical center for proper treatments," I said.
Thereafter, I returned to the church with Ann and Lilian, and we thanked God for answering our prayers. It was later that the two ladies told me that Levi was a non-active elder of the church.
Two days later, I returned home after the last Sunday service of the year to see my parents and siblings. I stayed with them for some hours before going back to my station for the cross-over -night.