THE TRAIN: The Journey of Faith
I finally got to watch The Train, the true life story of Mike Abayomi Bamiloye, president and founder of The Mount Zion Drama Ministry. As it is with most great men and women, their path is almost and always lined with adversities which to a reasonable degree help in shaping their future to what many people will like to emulate. Most people will like to have the glory but not the story behind it. That story is what we shall do a little exploration of.
As presented in the movie, the scene opens with the protagonist's mother on her death bed. She makes a profound statement about the future of her son which she was certain was going to be glorious. She passes on after giving the instruction to Mike's older and only sister to take care of her younger brother.
Mike is taken to live with Iya Eleni after his sister gains admission to a higher institution. Iya eleni tries in her bid to instill the right virtues into the mischievous, wayward and pilfering little boy. So bad is his case that he began stealing money and entering into people's homes to help himself with whatever he could find in the pot of soup. Iya eleni dies after a brief illness and so little Mike is taken to live with another christian family.
While in an evening service, he learns for the first time that God, whom he was later going to serve knows his name. That revelation, I suppose frightens him to know that there is actually somebody who knows all the bad things he has been doing. We would have expected that he breakdown and ask pardon for his sins. Well, that was not to be until much later when he goes to live with his sister. At this time, he is a dandy young man full of life but uncertain of what the future holds for him.
His encounter with Christ finally happened in an evening service. It brought him to tears and he repented of his sins. His salvation is however short lived because as soon as the euphoria of being saved washes off him as a result of sin, he went back to his vomit. The visit of two brethren to check on his welfare after a very long time of not seeing him in the fellowship, did little to turn him back to God until he receives a chastening from the Lord.
Bed-fast with wounds of fire burns to his face and arm, a chastening from the Lord. He return to the Lord whom he abandoned in his carelessness. Refreshed and renewed back into fellowship with the Lord, he begins scripting drama, a childhood dream he has been nurturing. He gains admission into Adeyemi College of Education but he switches to Oyo State College of Education under the instruction of the lord. It wasn't a pleasant decision to take but for the fact that he is to live for the Master and not for himself, he embraces the latter.
His disappointment might have informed his initial refusal to join any unit in the school's fellowship to which he is a member. But at the advice of two fellowship brothers he later accepts and became the head of the fellowship's drama unit throughout the duration of his programme and after. Prior to his meeting Alaba Sola Obembe, later, Gloria Bamiloye, his wife, a word of prophecy has gone ahead that he will marry a certain young lady named Sola from Ilesa. After many failed attempts to find a suitable partner, he finally settles for Sola Obembe who he renames Gloria after Gloria Copeland.
His decision to work in the Lord's vineyard as a drama minister is met with stiff opposition because drama, according to the church elders is a craft belonging to the world and thus, bore no affinity with sound christian doctrine. His doggedness and unwavering determination wins to him the reluctant support of the church. Similarly, his intention to marry Obembe also faces some challenges. This time, however, it is his elder sister, Adepeju who insists that her brother look for a better job that being a drama minister. Her fear is that Mike will not be able to take of his family as expected. The same sentiment is shared by Obembe's elder brothers who are also concerned about the welfare of their sister.
After much prayers and persuasion, the young lovers receive their family's blessings to marry. Another test was waiting for the young couple. First it was an invitation to minister for a month in Kano for which the members of the group are to resign their jobs and serve in the ministry full time or nothing else. This didn't go down well with some. However, those who felt it was a call to full time service of God went with him to Kano while the pregnant wives stayed behind to pray for their husbands. The second is a ministration in a certain church where the pastor discountenance the group whom he viewed as jobless enthusiasts. He allows them only fifteen minutes out of the two hour run time of the stage drama, The Unprofitable Servant . The pastor later changes his mind at the instruction of the Lord and announces that nobody leaves the church until the end of the play. He announces to Mike and his group after the play that the ministry committed into their hands is a global brand demonstrating this with the world map which he says is their constituency.
His desire to sanitize the airwaves births the first Mount Zion movie Agbara Nla (The Ultimate Power) which became an instant success not only for its popularity but also for the conviction it brought to the lives of millions of people. This was followed by many other movies which carried with it the power of the Holy ghost.
The rise to fame is a path with different strokes of thorns that only the truly determined can endure. It takes only a determined person to pursue their God given dreams to the energy sapping hill of success. Discouraging words and circumstances will arise to test the strength of your resolve whether it is firm or feeble. If Mike Bamiloye had given up on his dream at the ridicule of those who knew no better, Mount Zion Drama Ministry would have been a figment of imagination without any concrete foothold to it.
Who a man or woman marries will determine to a large extent how far in life they would go. Many great dreams have been buried in the graves of wrong choice of marriage If Gloria had refused to marry Mike, well, she certainly would have married another man but she would never be able to share in the glory that was to follow. Most times, great gifts don't come in attractive packages but given the right nourishment and nurture, the seemingly unattractive gift becomes a sought after as is the case with Mount Zion Movies.
I have given you a lengthy piece to read and enjoy for the weekend. Let me know your thought in the comment section. Till we meet again.
I am
Yours Truly,
Julius Topohozin
