Continued:...
With meagre or no resources to pay for driving tutorials, Paul took a mining job in the Amalgamated Tin Mines of Nigeria (ATMN). While working there he enrolled in the driving school and not only learned driving but also automobile mechanics, skills which were invaluable assets to him later on. He got his driving certificate in 1951. As a motor mechanic/driver, it was not difficult for him to get a job. He worked for big organizations such as the National Institute of Trypanosomiasis at Vom, a few kilometres southwest of Jos, and later the Tin Mining Association, a tin mining camp southwest of Jos with headquarters in Barikin Ladi.
Paul Gindiri was a good mixer; he soon got involved with non-Christians, especially Hausa/Fulani Muslim youths. His association with these Hausa youths helped him to improve his Hausa, which he spoke more fluently than his mother tongue. He probably became a Muslim himself, though probably only a nominal one because he also became a heavy drinker. Paul also had problems with womanizing, smoking, and occult practices.
In 1960, Paul decided to marry Lami, his fiancée, whom he had courted for six months. He brought Lami to Jos. Lami had been raised in a strong Christian home, so as soon as she realised that her husband was not a Christian, she started to pray for him intensely. Paul Gindiri did not attend church, but Lami began to attend the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA), the first ECWA church in Jos called “Bishara 1” (in Hausa) which was close to their home.
Eventually Lami was baptized in the church and became very active in the women’s fellowship. Every fellowship period, Lami would ask the other women to support her in prayer for her husband.
The turning point in Paul Gindiri’s life occurred when he was working with British Engineering West African Company (BEWAC) as a driver and a salesman. He had gone to Minna, one of the major towns in northwestern Nigeria. The first night in a hotel in Minna, Paul Gindiri, under the influence of alcohol, almost killed a rival over a prostitute by smashing his head with a bottle. Luckily, the man did not die otherwise Paul might have spent the rest of his life in jail.
When he returned to Jos, Paul Gindiri vowed not to drink. The resolution was perhaps strengthened by a dream he had one night. In the dream he saw Jesus who told him:...
"Listen. I am Jesus. I had earlier appeared to you and called you to become mine. Now I am appearing to you for the second time. I was the one who brought to life the man you hit to unconsciousness in order to give you a chance to repent. From today onward, you should never again drink alcohol beverages. All the sins you have been committing must be stopped forthwith. Failure to repent will make me appear a third time and I will take your life and cast you into hell fire."
Paul Gindiri took the message of this dream very seriously, and his life never was the same after that.
To be continued.....
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