In the deanery of Urua Inyang in Ikot Ekpene Diocese
in Nigeria, two outstations demanded to have the status of a parish. The bishop
did not know what to do as these two outstations were neighbours. So the bishop
said that the first outstation to be finished would be the first to be made a
parish. This decision did not actually come from the bishop, but was a rumour
that some fellows who claimed to have had a meeting with the Bishop told the
people from the two villages. Whether the information was right or not, the news
made the people of Nto Udo Enwan very happy and sure to have their request
granted. The people of Ikot Udom, on the other hand, argued that they have a
priest and seminarians that the former did not have.

    After a general inspection of the resources of both
villages, the bishop decided each should build a parish house to see if the
people would be capable of maintaining a parish. Here Ikot Udom had an edge over
Nto Udo Enwan. It consisted of 90% Catholics and most of the wealthy and
prominent politicians. In no time the parish house of the people of Ikot Udom
was completed and the church renovated and expanded. The people of the other
village kept struggling but after a year started the foundation and soon were at
the roofing. More than relying on their own capability they relied on God and
constantly organised prayer sessions to pray for the success of their project.
Just when they thought they had found favour with God, disaster stuck. The nails
for the roofing were nowhere to be found. People started saying that they saw a
member of the church council the evening before with some strangers carrying the
nails from the store where they were kept. The accused, however, denied having
anything to do with the nails.

    Having no hope of getting money to buy new nails, the
people of Nto Udo Enwan turned to God in prayer and fasting. Almost all the
members of the outstation met to beseech God from dawn to dusk. When I went to
the Morning Service the following day as usual I was greeted by a huge carton of
nails at the entrance of the church. That day the words of the psalmist "The
Lord hears the cry of the poor" flowed ceaselessly from my heart. Each time that
I’m home on holiday and enter Nto Udo Enwan Parish, I always remember that wet
Thursday morning.