Francis making her confession at TB Joshua’s SCOAN
Francis who slept with up to six men daily in the major cities of Tanzania and Namibia said:
“I
was very angry with every kind of man, anyone that called himself a
man… It’s only that I could not manage to hunt and kill them but my
desire was to use any weapon to kill men – because one of them killed
me. Inside me, I said to myself, ‘I will never tell them my status.
Whoever comes to me, I will finish him. The way they infected me, I must
infect them also.’ I don’t know how many men I infected but they are
thousands.”
Francis who grew up in Tanzania started living a rebellious life at the age of 14 shares her story:
“When
we reached the city, I found a lot of girls who were older than me who
were in this business of prostitution,” Francis explained. “They
introduced me how to behave in order to seduce men and get clients.” Two
years down the line aged 16, the young girl was already pregnant for an
unknown father. Attempts to abort the child through native concoctions
all failed and she resolved to return home to have her child.
However,
the desire to prostitute continued even after giving birth. “I was even
prostituting when I was breastfeeding and eventually, my mum took the
child away from me.” Francis immediately returned to the city, linking
back up with her group. Four years later, Francis’ mum sent a message to
her that a family relative was willing to take her to Namibia to save
the family from shame and get her out of the ‘mess’. She eventually
agreed.
“When I reached Namibia, I felt I was imprisoned. I
couldn’t go to clubs, smoke, drink or meet men – which is what I wanted
to do.” Fighting her aunt daily, she eventually threw Francis out of her
home. “It was celebration for me that I can go back to the same
lifestyle. I already made a group of friends that were prostituting…
They introduced me to the area where I could hunt for men and sleep with
them.”
Living a lavish and promiscuous life on the streets of
Windhoek, Namibia, Francis had lost all touch with her family.
‘Business’ was booming due to the influx of foreign workers in the city
who would regularly patronise her and also introduced her to hard drugs.
However, the consequences of her actions were about to catch up on her.
“In
2006, I discovered that I was pregnant again. I didn’t know the father
because I was sleeping with five or six men a day – I just wanted money
to enjoy,” she recounted. Encouraged by a fellow prostitute not to
abort, Francis visited a hospital when the pregnancy reached six months
where they conducted several tests. “That is when I discovered I was
HIV/AIDs positive.” Shock. Bitterness. Rage. Emotions ran wild within
the heart of the young sex-worker. “There was this voice that said –
‘Now, it’s better you die!’ ”
Knowing that death was close, the
embittered prostitute resolved to take as many men as possible along
with her. “I cannot count how many men I have infected. If any man told
me we should use a condom, I would tell him, ‘Look at how I look? I
cannot have such a disease.’ So, the man would end up trusting me. They
are thousands.”
Francis expanded her ‘business’ horizons via the
internet, particularly using the dating social network ‘Eskimi’. It was
in 2013 that she encountered a Nigerian man while looking for a more
‘serious’ relationship. “The man became attracted to me and asked for my
contact details. He told me he wanted to come to Namibia and visit me.”
When the Nigerian arrived, the couple forged a relationship,
culminating in Francis falling pregnant. She did not divulge her health
status.
After giving birth, Francis had a bout of guilt and
visited a pastor at Christ Embassy Church to confess her sins. “After
confessing to the pastor, who is also a Nigerian, he met the father of
my child and asked if he really knew me. He told him, ‘This girl
confessed to me that she is HIV/AIDS Positive.’ ” Francis’ Nigerian
lover fainted upon hearing the news and was rushed to hospital.
After
recovering, he ‘ran away’ from her, moving to Angola. However, their
young baby was nearing the age of nine months. Francis was desperate.
Her finances were stagnant and she was tired of prostitution. After
pleading with the Nigerian, a settlement was eventually reached. “He
said the only thing he would do for me was to give me money to go to
Nigeria and drop the child with his parents.”
Some weeks earlier,
a friend had introduced Francis to a Christian television station which
was gaining increasing popularity in Namibia. It was Emmanuel TV, the
station of Nigerian Pastor T.B. Joshua. Seizing the opportunity to visit
Nigeria, Francis decided to visit the famous church in Lagos after she
had dropped off her son. “When I arrived in Lagos, they put me in a car
and took me straight to a state called Enugu. I only stayed one week
there. Then I had to search for The Synagogue.”
On Sunday 27
April 2014, Miss Francis sat gingerly in the huge auditorium of The
Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) in Lagos. It was the time of
prayer from the ‘wise men’ and she was nervous. “Before the wise man
came close, I felt like electricity dividing my body and I started
shivering. I don’t know what happened when he prayed for me.” Francis
received ‘deliverance’ from the ‘demon’ that pushed her to a life of
prostitution.
The following week, Sunday 4 th May 2014, Francis
publicly gave her confession in the crowded church. “I am here to kneel
down and ask the whole world, every man I encountered, to forgive me,”
she tearfully said, explaining that after her ‘deliverance’ she began
regretting her actions for the first time. She went further to send a
poignant message to her fellow sex-workers. “There is no benefit in
prostitution. The end of prostitution is bitterness and sorrow. I advise
youth – if you are in the same situation I was in, let me be an example
in your eyes. Drop that lifestyle immediately and seek the face of
God.”
Francis stayed another week in the Nigerian church after
which T.B. Joshua gave her the sum of $1,500 to restart her life in
Namibia. “I will never return to prostitution. I am so grateful to God,”
she concluded. (Laila)
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