Bawa: Origin Story - Part 3
THE GATHERING
Mayowa Ojo
6/10/20267 min read
PART 3
For another month after that, Bawa avoided the hospital like a plague. It wasn’t from fear but sheer disappointment in whoever was in charge of the hospital. Although he never said a word about it to anyone, he was deeply pained.
His mother noticed the quietness and tried to talk to him about the issue but little Bawa shrugged it off as though he was not bothered. His mother knew him enough to know that he was but, if she was being honest, she was glad that he was banned. Those trips to the hospital had started to bother her for someone his age and the only reason she stomached it that long was because he still played, acted, thought and spoke like a child for the most part. He did not have nightmares or seem bothered at all by the sights at the hospital.
One day on his way home from school, as he passed in front of the hospital, he stopped to look at the building. It was the first time he’d done so in over a month. His siblings paused to watch him and what he would do for a few minutes.
Bawa stood there transfixed but he could not tell why. He neither felt anybody’s pain nor saw any visions as he stood there. After a while, he turned to face his siblings, shrugged and moved on.
“How was school today?” his mother asked him later that day.
“Fine. We learnt the five and six times table,” Bawa responded absentmindedly, engrossed in his dinner.
“And the hospital? Why did you stop there?” she asked after a few minutes of silence.
Bawa shrugged and continued eating his dinner.
Two weeks after that, while Bawa was out playing soccer with his siblings, he missed a kick, slipped and fell on his hip. He immediately felt the pain which quickly spread to his left leg. He grabbed onto the leg, wailing for help. His siblings stopped playing and immediately ran toward him. In seconds, the pain ceased and Bawa stopped crying suddenly.
“What happened?” his older brother, Bala, asked.
“I don’t know. I think someone at the hospital needs help.”
The response was so random that it first took them all, Bawa inclusive, by surprise and then the uncertainty of how to act on the information followed.
“What do you want to do?” Bala asked.
“I don’t know. Let’s keep playing ball,” Bawa said as he got up and dusted himself.
Like robots, they all continued where they left off like nothing happened.
When everyone went to bed that night, Bawa stayed up thinking about the pain he felt in the front yard earlier that evening and he began to cry. He felt helpless against the ban on his hospital visits but he knew there was someone in there in dire need of help.
For the next week, Bawa went to the hospital everyday after school, hoping to gain access but each time he was denied access. He found himself praying but really it was him crying to God, wondering what else he could do if he would not be granted access.
6:50 am Tuesday morning, the following week. Bawa and his siblings were preparing to go to school when they heard a loud bang on the front door. It felt as though the house would be pulled down by whoever it was.
Everyone in his family rushed to the front door at varying levels of preparedness for the day and they halted as his father, Mr. Gyang, reached for the door ready to chop off the head of whoever the obstructor of peace was.
Once the door was open, standing across from him was the village DPO, a few other officers and Dr. Kelly, owner of the Gerrard Hospital, one of the finer hospitals in town.
“Where is your son, Bawa?” the DPO bellowed menacingly.
The confusion in the Gyang household was palpable, as they wondered what Bawa could have done to warrant such a visit.
“What do you want with my six year old?” Mr. Gyang shot back.
“That tiny wizard you call a son is trespassing on my property and has continued to do so for the last week…” Dr. Kelly was saying.
“And so you want to arrest him?” Mr. Gyang asked but it seemed like a threat.
Thankfully Mr. Gyang’s tall, bulky frame was menacing enough to give anyone second thoughts about a physical assault.
Mr. Gyang’s question made them pause for a split second, realizing that there really wasn’t much that they could have done to a 6 year old boy.
“Look, tell your son to stay away from the hospital. That’s all I ask?” Dr. Kelly said a bit softly.
“What’s the crime in coming in to pray for a few people?” asked Mrs. Gyang.
“I’m trying to run a business and he’s interefering with my business.”
“I thought you swore an oath to take care of people…”
“And your son is getting in the way with methods that are far from medical…”
“But…”
“Look, the next time your son is reportedly seen on that property, I will come here and arrest you personally,” the DPO interrupted, addressing Mr. Gyang.
That sounded very possible and it left the Gyang family in a cloud of silence as they watched the uninvited party exit their compound.
Later that evening, Mr. Gyang sat Bawa down and gave him an honest talking to that sufficiently put some fear in the young boy while still acknowledging that his intentions were noble.
For the next two weeks, Bawa steered clear of the hospital until one day when, on his way back from school, along his new route, he happened upon an accident that had just occurred. He saw a lady being brought up out of a mangled car that was flashy up until the accident. In her pain, her eyes seemed to search the fast gathering crowd of on-lookers for Bawa, pleading for help. Bawa blinked because he could not believe what he thought he saw. Once he blinked he saw that the woman did not look alive and so could not have been looking at him but within him, he knew what the vision meant.
Ignoring the urge to go to the hospital, Bawa continued on his way home but he did not have rest about it. For the first time, he opened up voluntarily to his mother about it, asking her if helping people get healing from Jesus was a problem.
“I’m sure that if God wants that lady and every one else in that hospital healed, he will make a way,” Mrs. Gyang tried to encourage her six year old son.
“But he wants all people healed!” Bawa said, banging the table in front of him in frustration.
His mother was shocked. It was the first time she’d ever seen such an outburst from her son and no sooner did he say that than he started to cry. She reached for him and he collapsed in her arms, crying for several minutes till he fell asleep.
She prayed a prayer that night with her son in her arms: God, I won’t question who you give certain gifts. That’s your decision but can we agree that he is just a boy? If you know that you want to use him, make a way for him and end this pain of helplessness he feels. If not, take the gift away from him please. I can’t do this anymore.
By the third day, Bawa could not hold it any longer. After school he wouldn’t eat much or play at all. His every thought was consumed by the vision of the woman. It was as though he could hear her thoughts pleading to be helped and he felt helpless about it.
Once his brothers were immersed in their football, Bawa snuck from the compound and made a beeline for the hospital. The closer he got to the hospital, the more his heart beat like it would rip out of his chest. He thought about the words his father spoke to him daily about avoiding that hospital and the consequences of his presence there, still he moved forward.
When he got to the hospital, he tried to sneak in through a back door but a nurse identified him and told him off. He walked around the huge building, looking through windows and hoping to either find the woman or find an open window. A security guard soon found him but he ran as fast as he could before the man could lay a hand on him. Away from the premises, Bawa looked like he was going to cry.
“God, help me,” he cried with tears running down his face.
From where he stood, he could tell that the security man was not only looking out for him but had alerted another guard to do the same. Bawa remained in hiding but watching closely and hoping for an opportunity, anything that would get him into the building. For several minutes there was nothing his 6 year old mind could concoct that could help his cause.
After about an hour of lying in wait, his heart occasionally beating faster than usual, he saw the security guard leave the entrance and go into the building. Without missing a step, Bawa ran toward the building unsure what his plan was but he was determined to pray for the woman.
As he approached the building, he saw the front door crack open and the boot of the security guard’s left leg caught his eye so, he took a sharp turn left to the side of the building where he knew the other security guard wasn’t patrolling. Once there, he crouched with his back against the wall of the building; his body ached from head to toe but he did not care. Bawa tried to steady his beating heart and then tried to think of his next line of action. His father’s words came back to haunt him and as soon as they were gone, an idea hit him. He thought it was foolish but then again, he was desperate and he was a child so he had no fears trying it out.
With tears running down his face and his heart beating real loud, Bawa touched the building with both hands and prayed a simple prayer: Heavenly father, go into this hospital and heal everyone that needs healing in Jesus name.
He held on to the building for dear life after his short prayer, waiting for something, anything…nothing.
When he heard the second security guard call out to him, he opened his eyes and started the run home. He could not explain it but he was filled with a sense of peace that was not there before. As he ran he smiled as though the world was at peace. He suddenly felt light and it delighted him.
There was no way he would ever have known that everyone in the hospital got their healing as he requested in prayer because he dared to believe that, by touching the building, he was touching everyone inside it… everyone including Dr. Kelly who was previously managing lung cancer.
That night Bawa slept soundly, better than he had in months.
And that was the last of his divine visitations until he turned 17…