CHAPTER 1 – “CORDELIA”

©️ Opeyemi Akintunde
As Inspired by the DEEP ONE

You see WHEN THE POWER BUG BITES, many lose their sense of reasoning….

From the diary of Mabel, daughter of Grace, eavesdropper of destinies A.k.A Mummy G.O’s P.A. I am sure you remember me from “BATTLE OF THE BRETHREN”… Well, I am here with another gist. It’s about a girl called “CORDELIA”

You see this Cordelia girl ehn?

Soft-spoken. Gentle. Always quoting scriptures like she grew up on Apostle Paul’s WhatsApp status. In fact, Mummy G.O says, “That girl carries God on her head.”

Me too, I agreed.

Until she started carrying power on her head instead. When people begin to seek too much power, you need to ask them why? What exactly do they need it for? Is it for social media validation, is it for people to begin to call them Mama and Papa…What exactly do they need it for? Asking for power is not bad, but do they have an understanding of it and why they need it…

At first, it was innocent. Cordelia just wanted “more fire,” as she would always say. More knowledge. More encounters. I get it…we all want to go deeper. But there’s a difference between depth and drowning. Cordelia didn’t know that.

I’ve learned not to question people’s hunger for power at face value. Sometimes it’s not ambition. Sometimes it’s trauma… or pride… or a deeply seated need for affirmation. But other times, it’s more dangerous…

It started with one “prophetic” YouTube channel. You know the type…background worship music playing, preacher not blinking, and every prophecy sounding like it was specially made for you.

“Your mother is a prayer warrior.” “You’ve been crying at night.” “You have a calling…”

Well, who no get prayer warrior mother in Africa? Who no dey cry? Who no want calling?

Cordelia soaked it in. Then she moved to online vigils hosted by the prophetic church called Kairos Christian Household. Very coded. Very aesthetic. The name alone sounded like they sold prophecy in sachets.

At first, I thought she was just exploring. She was my Spiritual daughter …Not that I made her that, She gave me the title herself, so I tried to live up to it. Checking on her while in school, Praying for and with her whenever I had the leading, because even me I still needed prayers…

She had returned from school just two weeks earlier, after finishing her final papers, and barely spent two full Sundays in church before this announcement. I had missed her terribly while she was away in school. Cordelia was one of my “church daughters”, born from years of shared service, retreats, and occasional jollof rice at my house. So this sudden U-turn felt personal.

One day, she looked me dead in the eye and said:

“Holy & Fire Altar Assembly is foundational… but Kairos is dimensional.”

I almost dropped my Pure Bliss biscuit.

“Dimensional?” I asked, thinking maybe she meant something else.

“Yes. They don’t preach motivational nonsense. They dissect destinies.”

Dissect destinies? I blinked slowly. Was it frog we were doing biology practical on?”

“You dey run from Holy & Fire Altar Assembly go Kairos?”

She laughed, but it was the type of laugh people use to shut down your concern. You know that plastic one that doesn’t touch their eyes?

“I’ve grown, Sis Mabel,” she said, looking me straight in the eye. “There are deeper waters. Higher realms. Dimensions beyond what we do here.”

Higher realms?

I looked at her closely. Her eyes were sharp, and her tongue sharper.

“Cordelia” I said slowly, “what exactly are you looking for? Have you prayed and tested the spirit behind that ministry?”

“I have followed them online for over a year,” she said, proudly. “And no, it’s not emotional. The teachings are raw. Unfiltered. They strip you.”

“They strip you?” I raised my brows. “Like, metaphorically or literally?”

She frowned. “Don’t be sarcastic, Aunty Mabel.”

I sighed. There it was…that edge. The slight irritation in her voice. The barely concealed impatience. I knew it too well. I had once spoken like that to my Mummy G.O when I thought I had ‘arrived’ spiritually. I saw it in others too….how pride wore the robe of ‘hunger’ and disguised itself as ‘discernment’.

That was when I knew something was happening.

She started dressing differently. Not bad per se…just… off. Her scarf was always tied like she was about to prophesy, even at choir rehearsal. Her greetings turned from “Good evening” to “Fireful evening of divine encounters.” Her eyes? Always looking into the distance like she was seeing visions of people’s tomorrow.

The final straw was during Bible study. Pastor Dan asked us to open Romans 8:1. As he explained the scripture, Cordelia raised her hand and said, “Sorry sir, but the Kairos perspective on that verse is deeper.”

Even Pastor Dan froze for a second.

I didn’t say anything that day. I just watched her like a hawk. Something was off. Cordelia was no longer rooted…she was floating. And I know from experience: people who float without covering usually land in pits.

A week later, she stopped coming to church altogether.

“I’m taking time apart to seek divine direction,” she texted me.

What she didn’t know was…I had already started praying for her.

Because when someone says divine direction and they can’t say who’s holding the map, chances are they’re already lost.

That’s when the real story began.

To be continued… We celebrate you out readers, thank you for joining us on another journey, feel free to share to enlighten others. God bless you. Follow Us:
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