I Was a Pastor's Wife for Seven Years. I Left After I Caught Him with a Minor.

I was 23 when I married him. He was 38, the assistant pastor of a big church in Benin City. My family was so proud. My mother cried at the wedding. Everybody said God had answered our prayers. The first year was fine. He was kind, prayed with me every morning, laid hands on me when I was sick. But by the second year, things started to shift. He would come home late, say he was counseling someone. I believed him. I was a good wife, I didn't ask questions. Then I found the phone. He had left it in the bathroom. I saw messages from a girl , she was 16. He was telling her God had revealed she was his next wife. That God had shown him she would bear his seed. I felt my stomach drop. This was not the first time. I remembered the whispers from church members I had ignored. The way he looked at the younger girls during service. I confronted him. He quoted scripture at me. Said I was being used by Satan to test his ministry. Said if I left, I would be cursed. For three months I stayed, praying, fasting, hoping I was wrong. But I found more evidence. Another girl. Another set of promises from God. One night I packed my things and left. My family disowned me. The church called me a rebellious wife. But I know what I saw. I know what I escaped. What I learned? The collar does not make the man. And God does not need you to stay in a place that is killing your spirit. If I had stayed, I would have lost my soul trying to save his reputation.