IN FRONT OF THE CONGREGATION

I grew up in the church, which meant I was always involved in church activities. Some of my life skills like videography, video editing, and photography I learned in the church, but all these learning processes sometimes were rigorous for an introvert trying to hide away from the world. During my first year in school, the church I attended then was more like a military training ground. Although we loved our pastor who was a youth pastor for always motivating us to be the best version of ourselves, we hated his correcting techniques. He could go to lengths to ensure you feel the pain of your mishaps just to prove a point.

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He was very clear about evangelism and inviting people to church, especially on Sundays. He would often give us (church workers) targets of souls we must bring, and trust me, you don't want to fall short of the target he gives you. I was always respected for the way I pulled crowds and met my targets at every point despite being an introvert. My pastor's training made me come out of my shell. One Sunday I was given a target of 10 souls, and only 6 came despite my efforts to invite them. My pastor was preaching and decided to ask me how many souls I brought to church in the middle of his message. The question was like a scary movie for me, the punishment however was a nightmare.

It wasn't enough that I was already embarrassed by the question in front of the whole church. He decided to punish me immediately. He told me to kneel down, raise my hands, and open my eyes on the altar. I couldn't raise my face up all through the punishment, the worst was that I would be there till the end of service and he still had a long way to go in his message. The 45 minutes I spent on my knees were one of the worst 45 minutes of my life. It was as if the ground should swallow me immediately but unfortunately, it didn't. This wasn't the only time I was embarrassed in church, as a matter of fact, I can't say which was more embarrassing.

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You know the issue the technical department always has with pastors, I've had my share of embarrassment from that. I was still a boy in SS1 when I started learning videography for fun. I became so good at it that in a big church, I was allowed to handle the master camera (the camera the entire church sees) that fateful day I was handling it and was Also on the media headset which was meant to reduce the noise the cameraman would hear and have him focus on his job. For me, I had become so used to the camera that I do not make mistakes even though I'm absent-minded. If I'm to be sincere when I'm handling a video camera, I'm always absent-minded and fully functional. Don't mind me, it's my own way of concentrating on the job.

But that fateful day being a major program my absent-mindedness was exposed as I didn't hear the general overseer say I should stop recording because of what he wanted to say. I was busy catching my cruise when he walked up to me and shouted “Stop recording now” The whole church looked at me like I was possessed, especially my dad who never stopped talking about it after service closed. I felt like running away to hide myself, just the realization that such a big program paused for like 20 seconds because I wasn't paying attention. My HOD took over from me, but never talked about it. I wished my dad also never talked about it but when my mum joined him I knew it was finished for me.

THIS IS MY RESPONSE TO HIVE NAIJA'S PROMPT FOR THE WEEK