Lagos — Bizarre and unimaginable! Yet that was what happened last Friday when Mrs. Helen Oluwatoyin gave birth to a bouncing baby girl after eight years of pregnancy.

When the community heard about the news of her delivery, it went agog, as everyone trooped to the church---Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), at Kolawole Asabe in Ishaga-Iju where she has been taking refuge awaiting a miracle from God concerning her situation to have a glance at the baby.

Many, including family members, had thought that she had fibroid; many others attributed other interpretations to her condition. A woman particularly caught our correspondent's attention when she rolled uncontrollably on the bare floor of the church, shedding tears of joy and glorifying God on seeing the baby. Surprisingly, after all these years, she delivered like the Hebrew woman in the Bible.

Narrating how it started, Oluwatoyin, who hails from Benue State, went memory lane saying it all started in 2000 having lost previous pregnancies after three months.

"So, when I took in, I thought I would also lose it through bleeding like the previous ones, but when that did not happen, I was happy. After the fourth month, however, I bled a little but I still had the nauseating feelings associated with pregnancy. Months afterward, my tummy kept growing and when I went for various scans, all the results indicated the heartbeat of the baby but did not see anything in my womb. My husband then gave me money to flush it out but a friend took me to a church where I was told not to tamper with the foetus, otherwise I will not survive it. Besides, nothing was in my womb. Then I became afraid and I was really getting very sick not knowing what to do having sought spiritual help from various churches. At a point, my husband drove me out of his house," she recalled.

Early 2005, she had gone visiting a friend when suddenly she came across a small church with the CAC signpost and was attracted to it immediately. When asked on the reason for that decision, she told our correspondent that she had earlier worshipped at one CAC church and that she knew that members of CAC were quite prayerful, saying even at that she did not yield immediately as she kept postponing going there.

"I was reluctant to go there but then in my dream, the picture of the church kept coming back to me, that was how I came to the church in 2005. I told the pastor, Evang. Michael Oloye Ogunleye, and he took me in. He even told me that a prophecy concerning a pregnant woman had earlier come to the church and since then I have been here believing God for a miracle. I used to sleep on the bare floor because I discovered that each time I slept on the bed in my parents' house before they went back to the village, having retired from service, I got attacks," she said, adding that "God that heals and knows all things visited me and restored me after all these years".

"On April 28, 2008, during the church monthly revival service, suddenly I felt a movement within me and then I felt a life in my womb but I did not know what was happening to me. Later, I told my pastor. In May 2008, he said I should undergo a scan, and for the first time, it revealed the foetus at 15 weeks. My Catholic nun sister and I were speechless. I gave the scan to my pastor who then addressed the envelop to God Almighty and asked the church to pray concerning its context and that at the due time the Lord would reveal it. Subsequent scans showed that the foetus was developing," she recalled, adding:

"Today, I am carrying my baby after eight years. God is a miracle worker, and I thank God for revealing Himself. Now, I know that nothing is impossible. I thank my pastor, his wife and the church," she stated.

When Daily Independent contacted Pastor Ogunleye, he had this to say:

"Problems come as a result of different strokes. They vary, but one thing I know is that God's reaction to them is the same because the only answer to problems is Jesus. Irrespective of all problems, the only antidote is Jesus. Problems are questions and Jesus is the answer to all. That is the name we use here. We pray into water and then we use anointing oil; that is our doctrine.

"Those facing one problem or the other should come to the Church of Christ, where the name of Jesus is being used. Not necessarily our church alone; God has done it many times here; it is just that this one is so conspicuous.

"There have been many witnesses some of whom advised her to remove whatever that might be there, but we kept on believing in God, who said that we should not carry out any operation on her and that we should give indefinite time, as the prophecy came two months before her arrival here in the church. Jesus said 'Come unto me all ye that are heavily laden and I will give you rest, and in Luke 1 37: He says 'All things are possible', so with faith in God everything is possible."

Some of the people in the community reacted thus:

"I have seen her with the pregnancy for the past four years. Initially, I thought she would soon deliver. It is miraculous and wonderful," said Atta Abubakar, an engineer and Muslim, who hails from Kogi State.

"I hardly believe things unless I see proofs, I saw this one and I thought it was fibroid. God is great and His works are marvelous in my eyes," said Ogunbunminiyi Olufemi, a landlord in the area.

"I thank God for this baby, God is a miracle worker," exclaimed Roseline Toyin.

"We are speechless and we thank God for this," said Mr. and Mrs. Adekunle Olawole.

"I thank God for this great work in our midst," Deborah Shobowale said.

"I have been seeing the woman since 2005 with the pregnancy and thank God that today she has delivered," stated Mrs. Jaladi Raji.