The Journey of A Nigerian Graduate

THE JOURNEY OF A NIGERIAN GRADUATE
MOYOSORE TENIOLA
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THE JOURNEY OF A NIGERIAN

GRADUATE
MOYOSORE TENIOLA
2
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be

edited, copied or reproduced into any form
without an authorized written permission from
the copyright owner. Plagiarizers, beware!!!
©New Birth Books

June, 2022
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, my greatest appreciation goes to
THE ALMIGHTY GOD, MY LORD and MY GOD, the
one who has deemed it fit to count me worthy to be a
vessel in HIS holy hands and to fulfill purpose. May
HIS name alone be exalted forever more.
I appreciate my dear husband for his constant

support and encouragement at all times. Ministry
wouldn’t have been this easy and my writing career
wouldn’t have been this interesting without you.
Typing wouldn’t have been this easy likewise. Thank
you for being there for me all the time… And my
darling children, thanks for understanding me too.
Most times, I keep on writing and typing for hours
that I couldn’t spend time with you the way you
want me to. Thank you for supporting this ministry
in your own little way. I appreciate you.
I appreciate my parents, Late ELDER P.N. BALOGUN

& my dear mother, MRS R.O. BALOGUN for bringing
me into this beautiful world and for their unrelenting
efforts over my life. I appreciate my dear mother for
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her endless prayers and words of advice. May the

Lord spare you ma and may you eat the fruits of
your labour.
I want to appreciate my siblings, Olamide, Kayode,
Ajibola and Abisoye for their kind words of advice
and support at all times. God bless you all real good.
You are the best family I can ever have.
I appreciate all the darling sisters of VIRTUOUS

WOMEN, JUST SINGLE SISTERS and ESTEEM
LADIES FOUNDATION. Thank you all for believing
in me and supporting me. Life with you has been so
wonderful. God bless you and all that is yours.
And finally, to all my wonderful readers, thank you

so much for reading my works. Thank you for the
motivation all the way. If you wouldn’t read, my
writing would have been in vain. Thank you so much.
May God bless you and yours. Amen.
I love you all.
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DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to God Almighty, the God of
my journey.
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INTRODUCTION
This book is not just a typed motivational speech. It
is a divine message meant for those who have been
held down by uncertainties of the future and the fear
of the unknown and hence had refused to launch
out into the domain where God really wants them to
operate.
God specifically laid it on my heart to tell this story

about how I was able to conquer fear, stepped into
God’s divine plan for my life and how I was able to
overcome the challenges I went through in the
process.
This is one of the shortest books I ever wrote! It is

very short, concise and straight to the point but the
message therein is loaded. I hope you find God,
purpose, encouragement and clarity through the
pages of this book!
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1
After I graduated years back, my search for a job
began just like almost every graduate would do. I
frantically searched for job but no job was
forthcoming. I had graduated with a very good result
but I later realized that in Nigeria my country, it is
not by your grade, not by power nor by might but by
'connection.' It's both funny and sad.
I later picked up a teaching job because firstly, I

loved to talk to teenagers, especially girls. Yes, that
was a mandate God gave me and I concluded that
the teaching job would at least keep me close to
these set of people. Secondly, I needed to keep my
body and soul together and also to support my
husband in taking care of the home expenses.
So, I prayed about my decision to teach and with the

support of my husband, I took up a teaching job in a
secondary school. It was stressful because the
school was a bit far from where we lived back then,
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coupled with the fact that I was nursing my

18months old daughter as at that time but I coped
anyways. All the schools in our neighbourhood then
were offering a very ridiculous remuneration!
Nothing to write home about! I can't even mention
that amount on social media. So, I had to look for a
school with a fairer pay and I found one far from
home. So, I took up the job...
Within a short time after my appointment, my

passion for the teaching profession grew... Yes, I was
paid what could be referred to as peanuts (20k) back
then but seriously, the joy I derived from talking to
those students and teaching them in class was
priceless! The teaching profession also helped me to
groom and grow my ministry as a ladies and
teenagers' coach. My world revolved around those
kids and I looked forward to seeing them every
morning.
Because of the nature of the teaching job, I didn't

have the time to fulfill my purpose in the area of
reaching out to girls in different secondary schools,
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except for the school where I taught. So, I just

pushed the idea of expanding my calling to the
background and continued to hustle for survival, at
least, we must survive. Smiles...
Then, it came to a time that expenses increased,
responsibilities began to skyrocket... I loved to teach,
I enjoyed being a teacher because it helped me to
connect to those young ones who are the core set of
people that I ministered to but then, the peanuts I
was receiving could no longer cater for my needs. I
couldn't just continue to depend solely on my
husband all the time for my personal needs, NO! A
virtuous woman shouldn't do that. I realized the fact
that the teaching job could not solve my financial
needs, especially in the part of the country where I
lived where you can hardly get a school that would
pay a graduate #40,000. Graduates in Nigeria have
suffered!
I took an inventory of my needs, both personal and

family needs and I compared it with the income I
was receiving, considering the level of inflation in the
country, whereby the prices of goods was sky
rocketing by the day and I came to a conclusion that
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I needed to add something to what I was doing, in

other words, I should have another source of income;
a side hustle. So, there arose a strong conflict within
me as to whether to remain a teacher and fulfill my
passion/purpose or get a better job and forget about
purpose... I was at a crossroad.
My school later increased my salary and so I

continued working there. I was fulfilled working with
the kids but I lacked a lot of personal things,
therefore I had a great void within me.
I started to think about other things I could start

doing to add to my income. "As I dey so, I no get one
single skill like this wey I sabi do (as I am, I don't
have a single skill or handiwork that I know how to
do.)" I had told myself. Smiles… I disliked the fact
that I didn't learn any handiwork or craft that could
fetch me money.
"How would I continue living this way? When would

one at least get the basic things one needs in life
with this little stipend that finishes even before it
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arrives?" I had lamented to myself one day... "If I

would start a business, I would need some capital.
Where would I even get that from? From the peanuts?
Definitely not!" In fact, it got to a point that I started
regretting that I should have even gone to learn a
handiwork instead of going to school. Smiles... I had
really felt bad.
Then one day, I remembered the scripture that says

"A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him
before great men." - Proverbs 18 vs 36 (NKJV)
I pondered on the scripture and I was wondering if I

have any gift or talent that could give me money and
relevance. I thought about it for a long time and I
was like, "Moyo, you don't just have any talent inside
of you... Skill you no get, talent you no get (you have
neither a skill nor a talent). Is your life making sense
like this?" Hahahaha!
As at that time, I never thought that writing was a

talent I could groom to the extent of becoming an
author of many books or influencing lives. I just felt I
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had no talent at all. I didn't consider my writing gift

as anything important. I just thought it's one of
those natural things that people do everyday, just
like cooking. I mean, who calls cooking a gift or a
talent? Hahaha!
Seriously, it is very possible that you have a talent or

even more than one talent and you wouldn't even
know it. I tell you, I have been there.
Okay, let me continue my story... One day, I came

across some faith-based novels and after reading
them, I suddenly remembered something and I told
myself, "Moyo, you know how to write. Is that not a
talent one can make money from?" I decided to
explore my writing potential, I wanted to 'test the
waters to know how deep it was.'
My ignorance about my writing talent was actually

sponsored by the fact that, firstly I wasn't a
Literature student at secondary school, Yea... I was
in Commercial class then and I picked up History as
an alternative to Literature. You can imagine that!
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Who History help? (Laughs). We just made our

choices back then based on what friends told us, we
weren't lucky to have a professional counselor to
guide us. As a matter of fact, I would have done
better if I had been in Art class but they said Art
class was meant for the 'olodos' (the dullards). Chai!
The danger of a single story!
Another factor that butchered the possibility of

grooming my writing talent was the fact that I had
studied Business Administration and Management,
so I would tell myself,
"Professional writers are writing, you also want to

write? You want to compete with people that spent
four years or even more, depending on ASUU strike,
(we are in Nigeria) and studied English Language,
Literature or other related courses. You better don't
make a show of yourself. You can’t compare yourself
with them." Sighs… The inferiority complex was that
much for me, it graduated into the fear of the
unknown until the very day I had an encounter with
God that turned my life around.
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NO ONE IS BORN WITHOUT A POTENTIAL INSIDE

OF HIM OR HER. IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO
SILENCE THE VOICE OF FEAR THAT HAS HELD
YOU DOWN AND LAUNCH OUT. YOU CAN DO IT!
YES YOU CAN!!!
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The encounter I had was in a revelation that God
showed me. Remember I said I was very sure that I
knew how to write but the fear of starting held me
down. I also had a very strong inferiority complex. I
kept struggling with how to start and how to even go
about it.
So one day, I had a dream... I saw myself strolling

around a very big hospital; it looked like a
government hospital with many departments in it. I
got to a particular building, climbed the stairs to the
uppermost part of the building and started strolling
around the corridor of the wards and rooms that
were there... Then I got to a certain room, it was
labelled "Theatre." Cold chills ran down my spine
because I knew what a theatre meant and what
doctors do in a theatre; surgery! I spoke to my legs
as I quickly increased my strides. While I scurried
away, I was looking through the window of that very
room and I could see some medical doctors in there.
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Suddenly, one of them sighted me as I was trying to

escape.
"Hey she's here!" He announced gladly to his

colleagues. All eyes immediately turned in my
direction and I was wondering if I was truly the one
being referred to. Before I knew it, about four or five
of them came out of the theatre. The lady among
them grabbed my arm gently,
"We have been waiting for you to come and do the

surgery." She opined.
"Surg... what?!" I was alarmed. "Excuse me, there

must have been a mix up. I'm not the one, I don't
work here! I'm just strolling around the hospital
premises... In fact, I am not even a medical
personnel, I studied Business Administration and
Management... I'm not a doctor!!!" I protested on and
on but it seemed those doctors were either deaf or
they were resolute to carry out their mission
regardless of my protests because before I knew it,
they already slipped a medical coat into my arms
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and one of them pushed the surgical gloves into my

palms.
Fear gripped me! "I'm not a doctor, I'm not a

surgeon!" I screamed for the umpteenth time.
"No you are. We know you very well." They replied

me confidently. They were unperturbed about how I
felt. All they wanted was for me to help them out at
the surgical theatre because to them, it seemed I
was the best personnel in the team to do the job... I
wondered if I had a look alike among their colleagues
that they mistakenly assumed I was just the one.
They pushed me gently to where the nearly lifeless
body was laid; I shivered and shut my eyes.
"I can't do it... Please let me go, I'm not a doctor!" I

screamed again in fear, tears streaming down my
face. Then I woke up.
It was a dream! "What a strange dream!" I had

wondered.
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I pushed the dream aside and I went about my daily

activities for the day but the scenes of the dream
kept flashing back to my mind all through the day...
It was so vivid and real. I discussed it with my
husband when after many days, I kept on having a
flash back about it. So we started to pray concerning
the revelation. I didn't have an idea of the meaning
of that dream at all. It didn't make sense to a human
mind. How could one suddenly be called a medical
personnel, without him or her studying or practising
medicine?
Don't forget that all those while, I was still struggling

with the fear of launching out as a writer and author.
Months passed before I later summoned courage. I
started writing short articles that contained
messages to young girls and ladies of marriageable
age... I would post them on my Facebook wall back
then. I started anyhow... I knew reaching out to
ladies was my main mandate; my exact calling. But
then, I struggled with writing. At times, I would write
an article and later cancel it, write it again and
cancel it... The process would go on and on until I
would close the book and go to sleep.
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I continued my teaching job, at least I was getting

some fulfillment therein too.. I knew I would do well
as a writer. I had received the assurance from God,
especially after praying about that revelation but
unfortunately, I struggled with my inner critic that
kept telling me that my write ups weren't good
enough but I managed to struggle along.
Worst of all was that after posting most of my write-

ups, I would get just one or two 'likes' from my
online audience. "Chai!" That thing can be very
painful. After putting your whole energy into writing
something you thought was meaningful and
expedient for people out there to read and benefit
from and at the end of the day, the maximum
number of likes you had was 4 or 5! Not even a
single comment at all! I have been there! Hahahaha!
Listen my dear reader, in the journey of purpose

fulfillment, as you try to aim at your goals, there is a
voice that would always speak to you to discourage
you. That voice would always tell you stuff like: "You
can't do it... You should just let go and try
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something else... People will laugh at you... You will

fail! People won't give you attention" and so on and
so forth. That is what the voice would keep telling
you; the voice of the vision killer. The voice of the
Devil. Don't listen to it!
Of course, when you set out to achieve a particular

vision, it would initially look like things aren't
actually working the way you expected, that doesn't
mean that you are actually on the wrong path.
Remember that the children of Israel didn't get to the
promise land within a day or a year. A lot of them
said all manner of things to Moses in the wilderness
whenever things went wrong but Moses would go
back to God and God would give him a solution to
their challenges and this was a constant
reassurance that God was with them in their journey.
Whenever you are in your wilderness, in the journey

to your promise land, learn to go back to God to
draw encouragement. People around you would talk
down your vision. Some would tell you it won't fly... I
knew people who told me that being a Christian
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writer/author is a nice ambition but it won't fly,

people don't read faith-based books, you can't make
money from it, it will waste your time, etc... To God
be the glory, today I make money from it. I may not
be earning millions yet, but at least, I get financial
rewards. Yes I do! That is the reward of consistency.
BUT! I won't deceive you here, at a point in that

journey, I was totally discouraged... Why because I
stopped listening to the voice of God and I focused
on listening to the voices of people around me. The
voices of facts, realities and feasibility, which
projected uncertainties and fear. This a lot of times
is the reason why many people finally relent in
becoming who they are actually meant to become.
God doesn't work with facts! You need faith to work

with Him because His ways are past finding. If you
want to follow God, you must be deaf to people! Did
you hear that???
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WHEN YOU STOP HEARING GOD AND YOU

CHOOSE TO HEAR PEOPLE, YOU WILL MISS
YOUR PORTION IN DESTINY.
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3
I will like to continue my story on how I was able to
conquer fear and launched out. I'm telling every bit
of it to you in this short, super book because I know
there is someone out there who simply needs to take
that very single bold step that would transform his
or her life for good.
I continued life as a teacher... Like I said earlier on, I

loved the teaching profession because I love to
impact knowledge and I am so passionate for
teenagers. Secondly because I was led by God to go
and take up a teaching job when I got convinced
over and over again about it.
Though, each time I looked at the peanuts teachers

were being paid, compared with what other jobs pay,
I usually felt this anger surge in me... Like, "why are
teachers being cheated? They are earning a meagre
salary that doesn't commensurate with their efforts
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at all, especially the private school teachers." I would

protest angrily.
As at the time I took up the teaching job, I was

convinced that God wanted me to go that way. So, I
stopped trying to look for jobs in other places. One of
the factors that formed the basis of my conviction
which I would also like to share with you was a
particular experience I have always had right from
my teenage years, through my early twenties...
Though at first, I never took it serious but over the
years, I started taking cognisance of it. It was such a
mysterious thing that it really looked strange to me.
I noticed that anytime I walked through a street,

where pupils or students were passing through, the
students would greet me specially. We might be
many passing through that street at that moment
but I would be the only person those children would
greet. At first, I thought it was a sheer coincidence, I
used to think I probably resembled one of their
teachers because they would greet me with so much
reverence like they would do to their teachers, you
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know, that kind of special greeting... But later on, I

observed that this thing kept happening at different
places and at different times. It happened to me
anytime I was away at school and also whenever I
returned to my home during the semester break.
So, one day, during one of the semester breaks we

had at school, I asked my mum if she knew any
teacher in the neighborhood schools around our
house then that looked so much like me. She was
surprised at my question and was curious to know
why I had such a thought. She replied that she
didn't know of any. She pestered me further to know
the reason why I asked that question and I explained
to her what I have observed about pupils and
students whenever they saw me... I mean, it couldn't
have been that I had resembled a teacher at the
town where I schooled and another teacher at the
city where my parents lived. That would be a rare
coincidence! My mum waived it and said it was
probably because of the way I dressed back then.
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"What is so special in my dressing that made it look

peculiar to that of teachers?" I had wondered.
Towards my final year at school, I decided to be
more observant concerning this matter and I
discovered that it was just exactly what has been
happening. In fact, it became more obvious that I
started paying more attention to it and wondering
why it was so. I marvelled each time the children
passed by and they would say, "aunty good
afternoon ma."
"Hehehe! Which kind wahala be this?" I thought to

myself countless times. It was indeed strange!
After I got married, the same thing happened to me

again and again despite the fact that my husband
and I had settled in a new and different environment
that I have never lived before. Pupils and students
would pass by adults on the street but once they get
to me, they would greet me in a special manner. This
was one of the main reasons why I finally took up
the teaching job in prayers and I was led to take it
up. I surmised in my heart that for that very strange
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reaction to keep showing up wherever I got to,

certainly there was something God was actually
pointing out and trying to call my attention to.
Yes! Our God is not an author of confusion. Indeed,

He has all our stories written on His palms. It was
during my life as a teacher that I wrote the very first
book that announced me and got my name
published on the social media street. The title of the
book was “THE HONEYMOON.” Though it wasn’t my
first book but it was the first book I wrote as a
teacher. I had written the book right inside the staff
room of the school where I worked then. I would
write it in between classes or during lunch break,
whenever I was less busy. I released the story which
was a fiction in episodes. It had thirteen episodes in
all...
I never knew I could write such an interesting fiction.

It was indeed the Holy Spirit that inspired me! Day
after day, I got calls and messages via WhatsApp
from unknown people who saw my phone number at
the end of each episode of the story. They called to
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share their experiences about how the story had

touched them and ministered to their lives. I was
elated! More than elated! In fact, being elated was
actually an understatement! You know that
wonderful feeling you would have when actually you
were testing something and it yielded more than the
result you were expecting.
Remember that I mentioned that before that time, I

nearly gave up because of fear of criticism and also
inferiority complex. Worst of all, I have posted
articles online that went unacknowledged for days,
so I developed a cold feet along the line but at the
release of THE HONEYMOON and the feedback I got
constantly thereafter, I was fired up again! I guessed
God already knew I was getting discouraged,
especially because I was listening to the voice of
advice around me who didn't actually believe in what
I was doing, so God decided to send encouragement
to me.
After I released THE HONEYMOON, I wrote THE

PUZZLE and then, OMOSHALEWA which was
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another blockbuster! Oh! I look back today at what

God has done through me and I marvel. I am so
humbled and I admit the fact that of a truth, God
chooses the foolish things of this world to confound
the wise. I mean, who am I? I don’t even know how
God did it! Presently, I have written 16 books to the
glory of God and I will like to mention them one after
the other in sequential order because I want to
count my blessings and teach you to do same in
future, so you would know what the Lord has done
for you. To the glory of the Most High God, that lady
who once thought she had no gift or talent released
these books, both fiction and non-fiction in the
following order:
1. THE AGONY OF BEAUTY

(A Story on the Sexual Abuse of the Girl child)
2. THE HONEYMOON
3. THE PUZZLE
4. OMOSHALEWA
5. MY LIFE PARTNER
6. HUSBAND'S HOUSE
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7. WHISPERING HOPE
8. EHIMWENMA (Beauty for Ashes)
9. THE DIARY OF A SINGLE SISTER
10. PRECIOUS THAN GOLD
11. THE FIRST PERSON YOU MUST FALL IN LOVE
WITH
12. THE CHILDREN CHURCH (PART 1)
13. THE CHILDREN CHURCH (PART 2)
14. DEAR LADY CRY NO MORE
15. PASTOR MRS ALBERT
16. THE JOURNEY OF A NIGERIAN GRADUATE
All these books have blessed lives beyond my

imagination. Till today, my inbox on almost all my
social media handles are always filled with
testimonies, day after day from people who read my
books and shared their experiences about that
which God did in their lives through my books. The
Lord has indeed been faithful! Oh! He has been
faithful! Just like Moses and Gideon hesitated when
they were being called by God. I had hesitated too
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because I wasn't sure of what the future would hold

for me. Most especially, when the urge became so
strong for me to resign from my teaching job. Oh yes!
I finally resigned from my teaching job at the
fullness of time and that was after I released my
book THE CHILDREN CHURCH in late 2021.
God had impressed it strongly upon my heart that it

was time to quit. I struggled with this for a long time
because I felt I would be stranded if I quit my job. I
was paid 30k then. As little as the money was, it was
catering for little expenses in the home front, so the
teaching job was my comfort zone but God wanted
more from me. He had a better plan. I struggled with
this instruction for over a period of six months!
Seriously, it's not easy to quit a job that you know

quite alright that it has no future, yet it's putting
food on your table at least. Am I speaking your mind?
Hahahaha! Seriously! No matter how little your
income is; it is advisable that you work in Nigeria of
today, so God telling me that it was time to quit my
job wasn't making sense to me at all. Most of God’s
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instruction doesn’t actually make sense to we

humans.
Quit? How do I survive? How do I go back to

depending totally on my husband for every of my
little expenses because then, I wasn't making money
from my books yet, I wasn't even led to sell them yet,
I yielded to God's instructions per time, so I wasn't
making money from the books. "How would I leave
the burden of catering for two children plus all the
home expenses to my husband alone?" I asked
myself that question and many more... I decided to
delay in executing what God told me about quitting
my job. I kept postponing it. I was consoling myself
with the fact that at least, I was ministering to the
lives of the teenagers at that school, God should see
that I was still busy for Him after all. Hmmm...
Proverbs chapter 3 vs 7 says: "Do not be wise in

your own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil."
Listen to this, obedience saves you from destruction.

Whenever God gives you an instruction to leave a
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particular domain, that very period in time is the

time of your expiration in that place. Any attempt to
stay there further would lead to losses and regrets.
I'm speaking from experience. That time of your
stubbornness and refusal, the divine covering over
your head has been removed already and except if
one receives mercy, one may get into serious danger
or may not even get it right in life again.
So, I refused to quit my job. I was busy calculating

how I would survive, forgetting the fact that "He who
promised is always faithful." I was dragging my feet
until something happened at my place of work that
almost indicted me and nearly destroyed all the
reputation I had built over the years! But I received
God's mercy. I had to resign without further delay
because the Holy Spirit ministered to me specifically
that if I wanted to prove wise or stubborn thereafter,
I would incur far greater losses. I quit my job that
very month. I didn't even wait till month end to
receive my salary. Delay could be dangerous!
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After I quit my job, I waited on God for further

instructions concerning my purpose, ministerial
assignment and also my career as a writer. I started
the year 2022 with a fresher vision, goals and
aspirations. I had more time for my school
outreaches for teenagers and I reached out to more
souls in different schools.
As for finance and the quest for survival which was

my utmost fear before quitting my job, God really
proved himself as God. I started receiving donations
to my ministry as a faith-based writer from my fans
both in Nigeria and other African countries like
Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Gambia,
Ghana, etc. The kind of donations I had never
received for my books when I was still working as a
teacher. In fact, I didn't receive a single donation
back then as a teacher, despite the number of books
I wrote. The more reason why I was reluctant to
leave because teaching then was my main source of
income. The only time I made money from my
writing was when one of my stories was produced
into a movie. I will discuss this in details in the fifth
chapter of this book.
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When the donations started coming in, I was awed

that of a truth, our God doesn't forget the person He
called and would never leave him or her to be
stranded. Beloved, what is it that God has called you
to do? Just obey. You can never be stranded! Yes. I
have trusted, tested and tried Him and he has
proved so faithful; too faithful to fail!
God also gave me the go ahead to start selling my

books after I left my job. My period of sowing was
over and it was my time of harvest so I started
selling my books right away. I placed my books on
an online bookstore and I referred people to the link
where they can purchase them. People started
buying in trickles. Once again, I was encouraged…
I would wake up on different mornings to see credit

alerts on my phone from people who purchased my
books online. I also started a Writing Academy
wherein I organized Virtual Training Classes for
upcoming Christian Writers/Authors at a highly
subsidized rate because I was driven by the passion
to see others grow also; and of course, I made money
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from it. In the space of five months after I quit my

job, I had released three powerful books which were
divinely inspired. In addition to that, I received
donations also from some schools whenever I went
in outreaches and this I never even expected.
Donations and patronage came from different places

and people to cover up my financial nakedness to
the extent that I didn't even feel the impact of my job
resignation at all! In a nutshell, since I resigned from
my teaching job, I had never been stranded. Isn't our
God good? He is more than good!
37
4
In this chapter, I will like to share with you, some of
the challenges I encountered in my journey as a
writer and author. As a matter of fact, this book
would not be complete if I share only my success
stories without sharing my challenges and obstacles
on the journey. I believe people gain more insight,
get stronger and draw encouragement when they
hear stories of the life challenges of others. Of course,
it strengthens them...
Before I go ahead, I will like to mention the fact that

if God called you to a particular task or assignment,
be prepared to face some challenges along the line.
Yes you will! David faced his own period of
challenges while in the wilderness. Joseph did too at
the time of his slavery in the land of Egypt. Daniel,
Abraham, Isaac, Job and many others who are our
heroes of faith today passed through their own
periods of challenges.
38
God called Father Abraham when he was 75 years of

age to leave his father's house to a land he would
show him. He promised He would give him a son and
the promise was fulfilled after 25 good years! What a
period to wait on God! Presently, I am still waiting on
God too because I know what He told me concerning
my ministerial calling. We all must wait on God at
one time or the other in our lives. So, just know this
and know peace!
First of all, one of the challenges I faced as a writer

was the fact that my writings weren't given the
attention I had so much desired. It's just like
someone starting a business and after six months to
one year, he was having an extremely low patronage.
You know that feeling? That was how I felt. At a
point, I felt very discouraged and I thought of
quitting. I guessed people were right after all. No one
wants to read faith-based articles. But with the help
and support of the Holy Spirit, I continued posting
my write-ups, (mostly for ladies) on my Facebook
wall.
39
In October 2017, before I took up my teaching job, I

released my first novel titled THE AGONY OF
BEAUTY. It was a story centred on the sexual abuse
of the girl child. Some people read it. I got few
comments and feedbacks. I wasn't really pleased but
with God's help, I encouraged myself in the Lord
again.
After I started teaching, I released THE

HONEYMOON and like I mentioned earlier on, I got
so many feedbacks this time around. The feeling was
overwhelming. It was more than gold! But along the
line, I started encountering issues with plagiarizers.
Chai! I suffered in the hands of plagiarism! People
stole the story online, removed my name and
attached theirs. No, except you are a writer, you can
never fathom the depth of such a pain! You can
never understand the agony of you waking up every
night to perfect a story, while someone steals your
labour and takes credits for your works in the end.
We have a lot of failed systems in this country. It's
disheartening!
40
I was in a particular WhatsApp group where my

story, THE HONEYMOON was shared with the name
of a particular guy as the author and he had
changed all the characters' names but the title was
left unchanged. Someone innocently shared the
story as she received it from another group. I wept in
my heart that evening and I vowed never to write
again if things would go on that way.
A friend advised me to publish my works in order to

get protected from piracy but I couldn't afford the
cost at that time. I was totally discouraged but I
drew strength from God again. I decided that in the
long run, I would work towards compiling my stories
in a PDF document and share them as eBooks.
After I released OMOSHALEWA in the middle of

2018, I was shattered again when one of my
gradually increasing online followers called my
attention to a story she saw on a blog titled
OMOBONIKE which was exactly the same storyline
with OMOSHALEWA. The characters and settings
were the same, just that the culprit only removed
41
OMOSHALEWA and replaced the name with

OMOBONIKE all through the story while he put his
name as the author... I screamed! I mean, I wrote
that very story when I was heavily pregnant with my
second child. I knew the stress I went through!
I traced the blog and tracked down the number of

the author. I confronted him and threatened to sue
him if he refused to pull down the story on his blog.
He quickly apologized and he pulled the story down.
I wasn't pacified though. Only God knows how many
people would have read and even copied that story
from his blog. Some people are just emissaries of the
devil, strategically positioned at various points of
your life to discourage you.
Well, the Holy Spirit helped me again. I moved on...

If not for the help of the Holy Spirit, trust me, I
would have given up and if I had given up, I wouldn't
have birthed all those life transforming novels
through the help of God. The vision would have died
like that and the devil would have achieved his
42
mission. But glory be to God who didn't allow Satan

to win.
In late 2019, just as the pandemic began, someone

stole my story again and this time around, God
stepped in Himself to fight the battle. It was a great
shocker!
43
5
Yes, someone stole one of my stories again! I guess
the devil was really angry that I answered God's call,
so he was all out to fight me so I would drop my
purpose which was a threat to his kingdom.
A man took credit for my story by appending his

name and phone number at the end of the story. He
didn't even tamper with the title, characters or the
storyline. Unfortunately, someone who was a Faith-
based film maker and director based in the U.K (I
would call him Mr U.K) saw the story and contacted
the man who stole my story. Mr U.K told him he was
much interested in producing that movie as he had
fallen in love with the narrative. They struck a deal
over the story and they entered into an agreement
together over the amount to sell the story to Mr U.K.
A story someone else wrote! A story I wrote! People
are wicked!
44
Well, we serve a living God who doesn't sleep nor

slumber. I didn't know something of such magnitude
was going on behind me but God knew!
Fast forward to April 2020, during the heat of the

pandemic, I posted one of my articles as usual on
my Facebook timeline and someone commented
under it and I quote, "madam, please check your
inbox, I have been trying to reach you for the past
two weeks!"
"Really???" I thought, wondering what the woman

actually was trying to reach out to me about.
I was using one small 3G Android phone at that time

which couldn't really multitask without shutting
down so I limited my online activities to just
Facebook and WhatsApp. I didn't install a Facebook
messenger App because of low storage, so I didn't
have access to messages in my inbox. Smiles...
45
I immediately logged on to Facebook through the

Chrome browser on my phone so I could access the
message from the woman, since I didn't have a
Facebook messenger app. I opened the message and
saw that the woman only requested for my phone
number. I dropped my digits and she responded
almost immediately that her boss who resided in the
U.K would call me soon.
Through to her words, her boss called me some

minutes later and he narrated how someone who
had taken credit for one of the stories I wrote was
about to sell it to him when God just used one of the
men who worked for him to prompt him to make a
further research in order to be sure of the real owner
of the story because anyone could take credit for a
story online. That was how they typed the title on
Google and it displayed my name. They tracked my
Facebook profile through Google and they have been
trying to reach me since then.
Mr U.K mentioned the name of the impostor and

funnily, he was one of my followers back then. I
46
knew the name quite well. I was shocked beyond

words and also humbled and awed at the way God
showed me mercy. In fact, Mr U.K confessed that
indeed, I was serving a living God who didn't allow
my rewards to go to someone else because he almost
paid the guy already as he was eager to shoot the
movie before one of his crew prevailed in him to do a
background research. I confronted the man later on
and he was just pleading for mercy. Hmmmm…
Well, I struck a deal with Mr U.K and the he paid me

the amount we agreed on. My husband and I were so
happy because the pandemic was already attacking
our finances back then. God is indeed faithful! I
judge Him faithful! We serve a God that would not
allow His children to be put to shame.
Despite all these challenges, my testimony is that I

came out more refined, unbroken and unshaken. To
the glory of God, the movie which was produced
from that story was premiered in different cinemas
in Nigeria in February 2021. That was my second
story produced into a movie. The other one was also
47
bought by a Faith-based movie producer based in

Ghana.
These are the testimonies that God gave me after

passing through these challenges and many others
that I may not be able to mention here. Is it about
days that there wouldn't be food at home and yet, I
would be writing stories for my audience to read? Or
other days that I wouldn't afford money to buy data
to upload my stories and I would have to buy data
on credit just because I didn't want to disappoint my
fans who were following my stories? Many challenges
but God saw me through them all.
Today by God's grace, I haven't reached my

destination yet but I trust God for the process. To
the glory of God, I have over 4,000 followers on my
Official Facebook Page as at the time of the release of
this book. And by God's grace, I have sold a good
number of my books such that I didn't even feel the
impact of quitting my job. My talent literally became
my source of income that put food on my table, gave
me fulfillment of purpose, blessed lots of lives and
48
gave satisfaction to my soul. I don't know what

would have happened if I didn't follow God and obey
His will in my life journey. What if I had gone ahead
to pursue a bank job, military work or any other one
outside God's will, how would I have fulfilled what
God called me into? I am still a teacher by God's
grace. I still go to both primary and secondary
schools to talk to students about the love of God and
their purpose on earth. I still teach at church and I
still teach through my books. And oh! Of course,
students still greet me ‘specially’ whenever they saw
me. Smiles…
I thank God for the grace of purpose discovery and

purpose fulfillment. I also thank God for the
husband God blessed me with as my Helpmeet. God
has divinely arranged everything in His plans. You
can get my book, DEAR LADY CRY NO MORE to
read more about how I met my husband and the role
God helped him to play in my ministerial assignment.
To God alone be all the glory forever more!
49
LESSONS YOU CAN DRAW FROM THIS STORY

1. We serve an intentional God. That situation you
are passing through might look so ugly and
unpleasant but God actually wants to bring
something beautiful out of it. He has a way of
bringing beauty out of our ashes.
2. Know what God really wants for you. The road he

wants you to tread in life. It's not always about what
you studied at school. Allow God to guide you to
your destination. You won't regret it.
3. When God sends you on an errand, he would

definitely back you up, regardless of the challenges
you face. Several times as a teacher in a private
school, I was discouraged because of the stipend I
was earning, yet I kept giving out my books to people
for free because I was following a divine instruction.
Today by God's grace, I don't have any regrets. God
doesn't forsake His own.
50
4. God is mindful of you and always thinking about

those who are in His will; those who obey Him totally.
The way God diverted my reward back to me from
Mr U.K showed that God would never allow you to
suffer defeat when you obey Him.
5. God sometimes allows the devil to position some

enemies in your life to promote you. You might think
they are harming you but God has a way of turning
that harm around to favour you.
6. Are you in the waiting room, expecting God to

answer you over a particular issue in your life, be it
finance, marital, career, purpose, etc and it seemed
you are not getting that blessing as fast as you
desire it? Can you just calm down and hold on to
God? He is too faithful to fail His own.
7. If you have been led by God to make some

sacrifices or deny yourself of some things, please do.
You would never regret it. God rewards sacrifices
bountifully. There were days, I mean several days
that I wouldn't have a single kobo in my account and
51
yet I released my books for free. I would still go to

school and talk to teenagers. I was doing with joy in
my heart and sincerely, God has rewarded me.
8. Don’t keep yourself in the bondage of fear. Don’t

delay. Everything you ever wanted to become is on
the other side of fear. If you can picture yourself
doing it, then you can achieve it. Fear not!
TRULY, NO MATTER HOW TOUGH OR ROUGH THE

SITUATION IS, GOD WILL DEFINITELY COME
THROUGH FOR HIS OWN CHILDREN. HE WILL
COME THROUGH FOR YOU ALSO. IF YOU BELIEVE
IT, SAY A BIG AMEN !
52
Dear reader, I hope you have been blessed and

encouraged by this book. I just want to remind you
that a life outside of God is filled with sorrows and
agony. A life without Christ is full of miseries and
woes. Why not accept Jesus today so that He can
give your life a meaning and a beautiful beginning.
JESUS LOVES YOU AND HE'S WAITING FOR YOU.

If you are ready to accept HIM, say this prayer:
Lord Jesus, I come to you with my loads of sins and
guilt,
I accept the fact that without you my life lacks
meaning,
I confess from all my sins and I repent from them all,
I forsake all my past and I choose to follow you,
Please wipe all my past errors with your blood at
Calvary,
In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
53
To read more inspiring stories by the author,

kindly follow her on her Official Facebook Page @
Moyosore Teniola - New Birth Novels.
For questions and counseling, contact the author

via any of the following:
Mobile: +234-8062087777
Facebook@Moyosore Balogun Teniola
Instagram@moyosorenewbirthnovels
WhatsApp: +234-8062087777
Email: moyosoreteniola87@gmail.com
54
NOVELS AUTHORED BY MOYOSORE TENIOLA

*HUSBAND’S HOUSE
*MY LIFE PARTNER
*THE PUZZLE
*THE AGONY OF BEAUTY
*THE HONEYMOON
*OMOSHALEWA
*PRECIOUS THAN GOLD
*EHIMWENMA
*WHISPERING HOPE
*THE DIARY OF A SINGLE SISTER
*THE CHILDREN CHURCH PART 1
*THE CHILDREN CHURCH PART 2
*THE FIRST PERSON YOU MUST FALL IN LOVE WITH
*PASTOR MRS ALBERT
INSPIRATIONAL BOOKS AUTHORED BY

MOYOSORE TENIOLA
*DEAR LADY CRY NO MORE

*THE JOURNEY OF A NIGERIAN GRADUATE
55
This book is written through the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit to bless lives. Feel free to share
with your friends but do not edit, copy or tamper
with any part of the storyline. Do not reproduce
this story into any form without an express
written permission from the copyright owner.
Plagiarizers, BEWARE!!!
If you are led to donate money to help this

ministry, we would appreciate your gift of love.
Kindly send your gift through the account details
below:
BALOGUN ELIZABETH MOYO

2020424658
POLARIS BANK.
God bless you and enlarge your coast. Amen.
56
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THE JOURNEY OF A NIGERIAN GRADUATE

THE JOURNEY OF A NIGERIAN GRADUATE

THE JOURNEY OF A NIGERIAN

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be

©New Birth Books

I appreciate my dear husband for his constant

I appreciate my parents, Late ELDER P.N. BALOGUN

her endless prayers and words of advice. May the

I appreciate all the darling sisters of VIRTUOUS

And finally, to all my wonderful readers, thank you

I love you all.

God specifically laid it on my heart to tell this story

This is one of the shortest books I ever wrote! It is

I later picked up a teaching job because firstly, I

So, I prayed about my decision to teach and with the

coupled with the fact that I was nursing my

Within a short time after my appointment, my

Because of the nature of the teaching job, I didn't

except for the school where I taught. So, I just

I took an inventory of my needs, both personal and

I needed to add something to what I was doing, in

My school later increased my salary and so I

I started to think about other things I could start

"How would I continue living this way? When would

arrives?" I had lamented to myself one day... "If I

Then one day, I remembered the scripture that says

I pondered on the scripture and I was wondering if I

As at that time, I never thought that writing was a

had no talent at all. I didn't consider my writing gift

Seriously, it is very possible that you have a talent or

Okay, let me continue my story... One day, I came

My ignorance about my writing talent was actually

Who History help? (Laughs). We just made our

Another factor that butchered the possibility of

"Professional writers are writing, you also want to

NO ONE IS BORN WITHOUT A POTENTIAL INSIDE

So one day, I had a dream... I saw myself strolling

Suddenly, one of them sighted me as I was trying to

"Hey she's here!" He announced gladly to his

"We have been waiting for you to come and do the

"Surg... what?!" I was alarmed. "Excuse me, there

and one of them pushed the surgical gloves into my

Fear gripped me! "I'm not a doctor, I'm not a

"No you are. We know you very well." They replied

"I can't do it... Please let me go, I'm not a doctor!" I

It was a dream! "What a strange dream!" I had

I pushed the dream aside and I went about my daily

Don't forget that all those while, I was still struggling

I continued my teaching job, at least I was getting

Worst of all was that after posting most of my write-

Listen my dear reader, in the journey of purpose

something else... People will laugh at you... You will

Of course, when you set out to achieve a particular

Whenever you are in your wilderness, in the journey

writer/author is a nice ambition but it won't fly,

BUT! I won't deceive you here, at a point in that

God doesn't work with facts! You need faith to work

WHEN YOU STOP HEARING GOD AND YOU

I continued life as a teacher... Like I said earlier on, I

Though, each time I looked at the peanuts teachers

at all, especially the private school teachers." I would

As at the time I took up the teaching job, I was

I noticed that anytime I walked through a street,