HOW I FOUND MYSELF IN THE NIGHT CLUB.

HOW I FOUND MYSELF IN THE NIGHT CLUB.

It was in the month of May, and I was staying with a friend of mine who is now a brother. I found a book by T.L. Osborn in his library titled The Purpose of Pentecost, and I decided to read it.

I began reading the book every single day. I was completely hooked because the light (revelation) I received from it was enormous. I wished I never had to finish reading it. To keep enjoying the revelations I was receiving, I devised a formula called RBB (Reading Bite-by-Bite). To be honest, I really didn’t wanted to finish reading the book.

One day, I told my friend, Eli (the owner of the book), about the profound revelations I had received from it. He smiled, shook his head, and said, “That book, eh!” We briefly discussed The Purpose of Pentecost and came to the conclusion that the primary purpose of Pentecost is evangelism.

The anchor Scripture for the book was Acts 1:8:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

So, in addition to speaking in tongues, the core purpose of Pentecost is evangelism.

Permit me to share two striking things I learned from this book. The second one is powerful.

T.L. Osborn once came to Nigeria for an evangelistic movement. While there, he met two women and asked them, “If your child become sick, where would you take him?”

They replied, “To our juju priest, because our juju answers quickly.”

He then asked, “Why don’t you take your child to the church?”

They answered, “If we take the child to the pastor, he will say it is the will of God or that God is punishing us for our sins.”

T.L. Osborn was shocked because there was a church very close to where they lived — so close that he pointed directly at it.

Bishop David I. Oyedepo often says, “We don’t write books to make money; we write books as we are inspired by God.”

T.L. Osborn’s book was not even up to 200 pages, yet you could not deny the hovering presence of the Spirit of God on every page. It wasn’t about the number of pages; it was about the breath of the Spirit upon them. Believe me, friends.

As I continued reading this powerful book, I came to a chapter where T.L. Osborn asked me a question. Although I never met him in person, I met him through his book — no protocol, no appointment.

His question was:

“Have you seen the purpose of Pentecost?”

I paused for a moment and answered with a capital NO!

God is indeed wise because, for everyone whose answer is “No,” He has a way of orchestrating events that will help you clearly see the purpose of Pentecost.

Finally, I finished reading the book on the 30th of May. I cannot forget the date because my local church had a night vigil that evening, and I had also found an answer to T.L. Osborn’s question.

Earlier that day, my friend Eli told me he had received a massive order to supply popcorn for an event. He asked if I would join him.

I quickly replied, “Why not?”

He was surprised because he knew I would never miss a church service, let alone a night vigil.

Later, he arrived at the house with a full bag of corn. It was my first time seeing a whole bag of corn. He also brought the other ingredients, and by a little after 7:00 p.m., we began popping the corn.

I was packaging the popcorn into paper cups while Eli and Paul operated two different machines. Eli knew his business so well that he could estimate how many cups each batch would produce.

After packaging almost one hundred cups, we loaded them into Ghana-Must-Go bags. We were already running late.

Interestingly, Eli didn’t even know the venue or the kind of event we were supplying. We simply hired motorcycles (thank God for okada riders — they practically have master’s degrees in finding any location) just mentioned the venue. Paul and I went first, while Eli followed.

When we arrived, to my surprise, it was a nightclub!

I was shocked because I never imagined a club existed in that environment.

Young men and women patiently waited outside the gate for the event to begin so their tickets could be checked before entering. Others bought tickets right there at the entrance.

We encountered a little problem because the lady who had given Eli the contract was nowhere to be found. Without her, we couldn’t gain access, and to make matters worse, she wasn’t answering her calls.

Eventually, we got inside and set up our stand. Some of the event organizers advised us to move to a more visible location so customers could easily find us.

Eli and Paul got the machines running. One machine was excellent for calling men, while the other was perfect for popping it. I had never understood the difference until that night.

I was deeply shocked because it was my first time in a nightclub. The same was true for Eli and Paul.

You should have seen Paul’s facial expression. He wore a long face — not because he wasn’t ready to sell, but because the environment made him uncomfortable. He even put on an earpiece, hoping to replace the atmosphere around him with what he was listening to. Sadly, the loud music drowned everything else.

I was also surprised by the number of young women in the club. Many of them sat in rows, almost like sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

At one point, Eli looked at us and asked, “Are you guys comfortable? Should we leave?”

I replied, “No. Let’s stay.”

He immediately assigned our roles. I became the banker, receiving all cash payments and providing the account details for customers who preferred bank transfers.

Then Eli added one of his secret ingredients, and almost instantly, the atmosphere around our stand changed. That ingredient had the ability to draw people. Soon, a young lady approached and asked how much a cup of popcorn cost.

By then, the party was in full swing. Loud music filled the room, and young people danced as though their lives depended on it.

Yet, in the middle of all the dancing, drinking, and smoking, God gave us compassion for souls.

I noticed a young lady sitting quietly in one corner. She looked innocent and completely out of place. I pointed her out to Eli, and he admitted he had noticed her too.

We immediately began discussing how we could evangelize to her.

Evangelism in a nightclub?

YES!

Eli went over to speak with her and returned a short while later. She wasn’t born again, but a seed had been planted.

Interestingly, it was also her first time in a nightclub. She was just as surprised as we were. Her friends had brought her there.

Suddenly, the question T.L. Osborn had asked me earlier came alive:

“Have you seen the purpose of Pentecost?”

Wow!

Now I could see it clearly.

I could see souls.

That night, I also learned some valuable business lessons:

• If you are selling to the right audience, you will make tremendous sales.
• You can practice price discrimination only when about 60–80% of your audience has the purchasing power. We applied it successfully.
• Our product had no close substitute. It became the perfect snack to satisfy cravings. There was hardly any water available in the club, so many people bought popcorn to keep their mouths busy.

I don’t know what category of business that falls under in economics, but I strongly believe it was the Romans 8:28 market.

Back to the club — the gates were locked throughout the event for security reasons, preventing people from leaving. Ironically, that also worked in our favor.

We stayed until dawn, and a little after 5:00 a.m., one of the bouncers helped take me home with one of the popcorn machines. Eli and Paul followed shortly afterward.

Indeed, the ways of the Lord are not our ways, and His thoughts are far above ours.

Stay woke…