If there’s anything I hope these series of posts will achieve, it is to have you become deliberate about pleasing God and leaving a strong legacy for your kids. There’s a lot of ‘do as I say ‘and not ‘do as I do’ attitude emanating from most parents. I’ve since discovered the best book any child gets to read is you – the parent reading this.

Dad was passionate about praying, he got up in the early hours to spend time in worship and praying. He was a deep student of the Bible and he never stopped writing the truths he discovered. It was his lifestyle and I saw him every day from childhood, communing with God. Our home was not exempted. Dad ensured he spent time with us as a family, every night in prayers and the study of the word. In the holidays, he woke us early to pray but I always did so grudgingly. I loved my sleep. Sometimes, we played a game of reciting verses from scriptures and we took turns. It spurred us to always want to learn new scriptures from the Bible, knowing my dad could start the game but how we loved it. Dad also made sure his kids were part of prayer meetings at Church and house fellowships. The prayers for missions on Monday evenings were my least favourite. What did I understand of what was going on in the nations or the missionaries’ needs. I did not even know many of them but praying I did. Of course I wanted to be like other kids and watch TV on Monday evenings but that was dad’s way of encouraging us to partake in the things of God. Suffice to say, I did sleep off many times but I look back now and I see how the experience built up my faith.

Missions, taking the gospel of the Kingdom to the nations of the world was what dad lived for. He invested his time and resource in this pursuit, sometimes to my displeasure and you can understand why. As a young teen, I wanted be cool too, have things boys my age would take pride in. My dad was just kingdom minded. Not that we always agreed (I was just too canal in my thinking, emphasis on the word ‘too’). Once I asked him to buy shares in some companies, his response, though stunning at the time, would tell you what kind of man he was. He quoted from Matthew 6: 19 -21:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

That’s not to say he didn’t invest in earthly things but he needed kingdom backing or reasons to invest in you or any project for that matter. Once I asked him to back me up financially for a business I wanted to embark on in my university days. It was a lot of money. I had an idea of buying tee-shirts and polos and then print on them emblems from an outreach we were organizing on campus. It was a failed project, thanks largely to brethren who promised to ‘pay later’ but did not. I thought he’d be furious but he wasn't. He would rather have me learn how not to do business in the future. He was just generous and selfless like that and I make bold to say his immediate family was not the only beneficiary of his good heart and generosity. Perhaps why I now believe he was a very rich man, not rich in terms of his bank account but in the riches of God’s grace towards him. He had all he needed, when he needed it. He didn't care much about his appearance too, not shoes or clothes but of course, we won’t let him have his way and ‘embarrass’ us. He would jokingly dismiss us by saying, these are worldly things but wait until mum kits him with new clothes and see the smile on his face when he tries them on.

I had to learn his way of thinking fast, to ‘beat’ him at it. My father wanted me to excel academically, so knowing I had mad love for TV, he refused to buy cable TV, which was the trend at the time in the early 90s. I sold the idea to him (I was the technology guru in the house) and he nicely turned it down with good reason, it will be a distraction he said. Then I had to think like him to get what I wanted. This, we had a good laugh about in my older years. One day after returning from work and he was trying to find some rest, I began a conversation with him, craftily though. “Dad”, I called out, “I’ve been thinking about how we can be more effective in interceding (praying) for the nations”. His face lit up, his son is showing a genuine interest in missions after all. I continued, “Do you realize how close we are to the end-times?” I began to share with him some of the horrible news I’d just learnt in world news and how we needed to pray. He must have been very proud. I added, “With CNN we will be better informed on world views, don’t you think?” That was it. He authorized the purchase (I’ve since asked forgiveness for my mischief)! Your guess is as good as mine who loved cable TV most in our home.