Akuuwa - An Igbo Play, Act Two

(In the house of prayer. Adamma is reading the Bible. An apostle is arranging the house of prayer, lighting candles and setting out the cross and holy water. He also lights incense and its smoke fills the whole place; the supplicants start to come in one by one; as each enters, he removes his shoes at the door. Everyone wears a long white garment. As each person enters, he kneels down and prays before he takes a seat.)

Apostle: Hallelu u u!

Congregation: Hallelujah.

Apostle: Hallelu u u!

Congregation: Hallelujah.

Apostle: Ho o o!

Congregation: Hosanna.

Apostle: Ho o o!

Congregation: Hosanna.

Apostle: Praise the Lord!

Congregation: Amen.

Apostle: Praise the Lord!

Congregation: Amen.

Apostle: (Starts a hymn. The gong and drum sound. Some people are clapping.)

    It will please me
    To be a friend of Jesus
    To be a friend of Jesus
    To be His friend, Oh yes.
    It will please me
    To be a friend of Jesus . . .

(When they finish singing this, they sing another one; while they are singing the last one, Akuuwa, the prophet, enters.)

Akuuwa: Hallelu u u!

Congregation: Hallelujah.

Akuuwa: Hallelu u u!

Congregation: Hallelujah.

Akuuwa: Let us pray to God. In the name of Jesus!

Congregation: A-a-men.

Akuuwa: In the name of Je-e-sus!

Congregation: A-a-men.

Akuuwa: In the name of Je-e-sus!

Congregation: A-a-men.

Akuuwa: God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; God of Daniel, David and Dorcas; God of Moses, Miriam and Aaron. God of the children of Israel, a fearsome mountain to climb, a great rock who
saves, who is completely omniscient, He answers when He is called. What do You lack? Owner of heaven and earth. All the ancients begged You, and you satisfied them. When our time comes, will you fail to satisfy us?

Congregation: Jesus no-o!

Akuuwa: Please come and fulfill us in everything we ask for.

Congregation: A-a-men.

Akuuwa: Give us long life, give us wealth, it is You who placed us in this
world, and told us to care for everything in it. Master, give us storied houses, cars, money, a wealth of people; permit our leaders to have cars like the leaders of the Catholic church, the C.M.S., Methodist and other churches; so that cars will be everywhere in the compound when Your children come to pray to You as in other churches; so we will not then be called the "church of the hungry." A person who has nothing, let him have a bicycle; let the prophet drive a car, the apostles, motorcycles; allow all the prominent people who live in Ekeoji to come, kneel down to You in this church so that we may get money to build a great church for You, larger than any building in Ekeoji. In the name of Jesus!

Congregation: A-a-men.

Akuuwa: Take from us all kinds of temptations, and give us strength to
overcome our enemies, in the name of Jesus!

Congregation: A-a-men.

Akuuwa: Is there anyone who has seen any visions?

Ukandu: In the name of Jesus!

Congregation: A-a-men.

Ukandu: Before God and man, what I am going to say is what I saw. During the prayer, I saw a person with his face covered; I didn't know who it was. He came and tore apart this white garment, took one half of it and ran off.

Apostle: God! Snatch away the devil's power!

Congregation: A-a-amen.

Apostle: Devil, fall into the ocean!

Congregation: A-a-men.

Apostle: God! Snatch away the devil's power!

Congregation: A-a-men.

Sera: In the name of Jesus!

Congregation: A-a-men.

Sera: Before God and man, this thing I am going to say is what I saw. I saw Adamma wandering around people's farms, picking any fruit she wanted, regardless of the owners of the farms; she went from one person's farm to another. Adamma, whoever's farm you are on now, I see a great big pit in front of you. Stand! Adamma stand! Do not set your foot down again, because if you do, you will fall into a terrible big pit. In the name of Jesus!

Congregation: A-a-amen.

Sera: Adamma will fast for seven days. She will bring seven candles, to be used in praying for her until the end of those seven days.

Akuuwa: Hallelu u!

Congregation: Hallelujah.

Akuuwa: Hallelu u u!

Congregation: Hallelujah.

Akuuwa: Hallelu u u!

Congregation: Hallelujah.

Akuuwa: Before God and man, what I am going to say is what I saw. I saw the country of Nigeria being molded, sand was mixed in, mixed in, clay and dirt molded it. It was very heavy but also small. One huge person then came out, lifted it and threw it to the ground; it broke like chalk. I counted nineteen pieces, and then it went out of my sight. In the name of Jesus!

Congregation: A-a-amen.

Akuuwa: Another thing I saw resembled the face of Brother Jude. I saw him lying on his ragged mat, spread on the ground; he was frowning. A man came out and lifted him up, carried him to a huge, well-built and decorated chair and put him down on it. Now it is our responsibility that Brother Jude should pray fervently so that this vision should become a good one. In the name of Jesus!

Congregation: A-a-amen.

Akuuwa: Hallelu-u-u!

Congregation: Hallelujah.

Akuuwa: All those who have been seen in visions come out so we can pray for them. It is also something for which to praise God that my wife, Sera, began to see visions today. (All these people go before the altar and kneel down.) Hallelu-u-u!

Congregation: Halleluja-ah.

Akuuwa: God of Abraham and Isaac, God of Jacob and David. The head of the stream that washes the heart, one who answers when he is called, the omniscient one who knows all, one who cares for the poor, please, oh come and hear our voices. Our master, we have heard the revelations you have made known to us through Ukandu. We beg You to take Your grace and keep the devil from entering the congregation of Your children. Take Your power and strike out the power of the devil.

Congregation: A-a-men.

Akuuwa: Use Your power to strike out the power of the devil.

Congregation: A-a-amen.

Akuuwa: Use your power to strike out the power of the devil.

Congregation: A-a-men.

Akuuwa: Our master, meeting the needs of the holy spirit is important, as it is to You, but meeting the needs of the flesh is man's responsibility. If an itch irritates a wild animal he will go to a tree trunk, but if it irritates a man, his fellow man will scratch it for him. Adamma is a woman of created by the work of your hand, so do not allow her to fall into the pit that my wife dug ... er ... saw before her. Show her the way she must follow to hide from her enemies, in the name of Jesus.

Congregation: A-a-amen.

Akuuwa: Our master, my wife Sera just started today to see visions; it is something to praise You for that you opened her eyes concerning the person of Adamma; then she saw a vision. Praise be to You!

Congregation: A-a-amen.

Akuuwa: Our master, may Your will be done concerning this great country of Nigeria. In the name of Jesus!

Congregation: A-a-amen.

Akuuwa: Hallelu-u-u!

Congregation: Hallelujah.

Akuuwa: Ho-o-o!

Congregation: Hosanna. (The supplicants go back to their benches.)

Akuuwa: The Lord be with you all.

Congregation: May He be also with your spirit.

The lights go out.