The day I found the widow's offering in the church treasurer's car

I was still a youth pastor then, maybe five years ago. Harmattan season in Enugu. One of my church mothers, Mama Chidi, a widow selling akara at Ogbete market, came to me crying. She said she had not eaten properly for two weeks because she gave her last ₦5,000 as tithe and needed it back for her son's school fees. She begged me to speak to the pastor.

I went to the church office to check the records. I saw her name, the date, the amount. Everything was there. But when I asked the treasurer, Brother Ifeanyi, he said the money had been forwarded to headquarters. Something did not sit right with me.

That evening I saw Brother Ifeanyi's car parked at a restaurant in New Haven. A brand new Toyota Camry. I greeted him and he looked uncomfortable. When I looked inside the car, I saw a receipt on the dashboard. It was from a boutique. ₦45,000 for a woman's dress. The date matched the day Mama Chidi's tithe was collected.

I confronted him the next day. He laughed at first. Then he threatened me. He said I was a small boy and the church elders would never believe me over him. He was right. When I took the matter to the board, they told me to keep quiet. They said Brother Ifeanyi was a founding member and I should not cause division.

I resigned from that church three months later. I did not expose him publicly. I did not fight. I just left. Some people called me a troublemaker. But Mama Chidi still calls me every Christmas. She says I was the only pastor who saw her.

E get why our people say the goat that eats yam does not know the sweat of the farmer. But God sees. That is the only comfort I have.