Just as my friend usually tells me "I want to run through your mind", I've been trying to do same with Ese Walter. Trying to get into her mind: get an idea of the kind of person she is, try to understand her psyche, feel her emotions, just get into her world. I read her blog on Thursday for the first time, a reader sent me the link immediately after she posted the story of her affair with the COZA pastor. I checked out her social media accounts too. These are a few things I found out about her.
1. She's not an attention seeker: Opposed to popular belief, Ese Walter keeps a low profile. She's not very active on social media. In fact, she recently took a break from social media, what she calls a 'social media fast'.
3. She is an activist: She is an activist whose focus is on abuse against women. She is passionate about women who have suffered any form of abuse, and helps them in the little way she can. She encourages them to speak up and get help.
4. She is a victim of abuse: She was in series of abusive relationships with guys. He abused her physically and verbally. Beat her, spat on her, even threatened to kill her at some point.
5. She's an addiction survivor: She has survived an alcohol addiction. An addiction she says was as a result of the abusive relationships. She has passed that chapter in her life. She is a survivor.
One thing I have noticed about Ese Walter is that she is disturbed. She has been through a lot in life that has had a negative effect on her psyche. She may need rehab. (we usually take these things likely till it gets out of hand).
Prior to the Pastor Biodun post, other posts she had on her blog where "Should fallen pastors be retored to leadership?", "What i have come to know as my abuse", "My failed life", "Signs and patterns of abuse", and many more. You see what i mean? Take time to read this open letter she wrote to God titled Dear Jesus.
Dear Jesus, I think I have erred this long because instead of getting to
know you, I chose to pretend I already knew you. Perhaps it was because
everyone acted the same and I didn’t want to feel left out. Maybe I had heard
about you too long to say I didn’t know you. The truth however is, I really
didn’t know you. It was impossible to fathom your love or why you would give it
to a stubborn like me. Everywhere I went to find comfort and a way to relate to
you, I was deceived. The people, the church, the pastors, the messengers of
peace….
Dear Jesus,
All were out for their own selfish gains. After trying to understand
what it meant to hear someone say “Jesus saved me,’ I finally gave up. After
moving from gatherings to gatherings I started to realize most of the words
that proceeded from the mouth of the saints were mere words with no meaning. It
was a damn religious circle and I was done with it.
Then there were the ‘mantles’ in form of handkerchiefs,
anointing oils, gimmicks, dead works, pride in men who claimed to work for you
and are generally referred to as ‘men of God.’ Reverence that bothered on fear
for human beings, blind following of the pew, sexual immorality amongst pastors
and their members, greed, politics in the affairs of the church and the list
goes on and on. I really was sick of it all Lord. So, I gave up. I didn’t mean
to quit but something in me had seen enough and I didn’t want to be a part of
the whole charade. In an attempt to keep my sanity, I ran. Further and further
from your people and also from You.
I ran right back to the mud you brought me from. I ran back
to the familiar. I ran back to a system that was real and thriving and even
though it didn’t fill the void I felt on the inside of me, it numbed the pain.
It was good to be with people who didn’t pretend to believe what they didn’t
understand. It felt safe to know that I wasn’t ever going to need to say “Jesus
saved me” without fully understanding what that meant. I found peace with
people who were real enough to say, ‘I want to live my life as I please and not
have to account for nothing.’ It was easier to stay home on Sunday mornings
than gather with a set of people who couldn’t understand why I didn’t fit in or
who looked down their noses at me when I wore something they considered
‘unholy’ to the ‘house of God.’
In all, it was great I was pushed out. It was great I stayed
away from all the drama, stories, lies, greed, judgment and what not that
pervaded ‘your house.’ Above it all, it was great I started to feel empty
again. This emptiness drove me to a deeper search for meaning. It drove me to
me. It drove me to search the scriptures for myself, perhaps for the first
time. And most excitedly, it drove me to You.
As I grow in knowing you Jesus, I realize that more and more
of my authentic self begins to emerge. I realize that it’s not so hard
forgiving those who have hurt me. I realize that I don’t have to be like
everyone else or judge people. All I need to do is accept your love, your gift
of salvation and rest in it. I have no intention of ‘spiricoco-ing’ up neither
do I point fingers at the way people choose to live but I have made up my own
mind to embrace the light you bring and by my living, show others just how
simple it is. Because of my experiences and the way I keep surviving, I am
gentler with others and myself. I don’t fully understand my process yet, but I
am learning to see me the way your word says you see me. I am attracting into
my space, people, circumstances and events that are putting me right on the
path I want to travel.
Today I say thank you. Thank you for staying with me like
you said you would. Thank you for your Spirit that leads and guides me into all
truth and continues to lead me even when I insist on holding on to a lie. Thank
you for not allowing me die before my time. Thank you for the hope and
assurance in my heart. Thank you for helping me develop a stronger sense of
purpose. Thank you for the tender heart I have. Thank you for my LA187 family,
they have helped me in more ways than they could ever imagine. Thank you for my
biological family who aren’t perfect but are just right for me. Thank you for
peace, joy, love, understanding and the ability to empathize. Thank you for
health, for soundness of mind and complete functioning body parts. Thank you
for your blood that speaks better things than the blood of bulls or goats (my
mind is still trying to comprehend what all that slaughtering was about back
then though) lol.
I am coming back to the heart of worship Jesus and it’s
always been about you. As I continue on my path, please continue to keep me.
For the most part, I don’t know what I am doing but I intend to stay true to
the ‘knowing’ in my heart. At the end of my time here, let me say “I fought the
good fight, I finished the course, I kept the faith.”
Yours in service,
Ese Walter
Hmmm, very heartfelt. I pray she gets the help she needs and answer to her prayers.
Hmmm, very heartfelt. I pray she gets the help she needs and answer to her prayers.
I do hope she gets the help she needs and I pray she gets the healing she needs - emotional, spiritual, psychological and all. Having said that we need to know that there are many "Ese Walters" out there. As a matter of fact the African woman has suffered and continues to suffer untold abuse even from the people she trusts the most and the people she loves the most. We need to open a continental conversation about this and deal with it.
ReplyDeleteI feel her pain. She's someone who has gone through a lot. She's had her unique encounters in life and she's got a unique perspective to things. I pray strength and healing for her.
ReplyDeleteLol she said the spirit guides her. I don't think the spirit will guide anyone to drag a pastor to the pit. I don't feel pity for her. It wasn't an abuse. This story is an offence to people that have really been abused, sexually. She needs to deal with her issues, yes, everyone has issues. Wisdom is the principal thing, she lacks the principal thing.
ReplyDeleteLol! I agree!
DeleteIt was consensual, the right use for that pit statement is that's they both walked hand in hand to the pit...
DeleteShe really needs therapy and I advise she gets it quick!!!
ReplyDelete@ano 25 u are just a fool for all that stmt....May God forgive U....
ReplyDelete@ano 25 why will she 'drag a pastor to a pit'. Get lost with your 5MB brain. MUNTULLA OF LIFE!
ReplyDeleteHi Muntulla isn't a word. Bye
DeleteAnonymous 26 August 2013.
ReplyDeleteI pray that God should forgive her for touching his Anoited one
Wake up. For real wake up. A married pastor had sex with her and she exposed it, where did she go wrong? You are misunderstanding the scripture that says "Touch not my anointed". She exposed a sexual affair and please tell me where did she go wrong? It is your kind of mindset that helps men perpetuate abuse and people abuse their office and get away with it. No wonder Nigeria is in a mess
DeleteLol, touching his anointed? Lmfao!!!
DeleteI feel her pain am in her shoes,I don't expect some of u to understand what she is going thru.instead of saving some one who needs saving nd allow other people out there to be able to speak out nd be saved ur busy covering d truth.ese spoke out so as to give voice to others nd so that what happened to her will not happen to another person,all I see is her being criticise her for her bravery.typical of Nigerians who prefer pretending that such things nt exist thanaccept facts nd make this stop.am disappointed
ReplyDeleteShe might have been abused before but what happened between her and the pastor is not abuse. It was consensual and not even a mistake. Though she didn't say how many times she had sex with the pastor, we can decipher from her account that she dated (yes, it was dating) him for sometime. Rather than talk of abuse, let her instead, be penitent, and beg God to forgive her and the pastor.
ReplyDeleteIts so alarmin hw we r so quick 2 pass judgements and believe everytin we read.Am nt tryin 2 take sides;anybody can write out anytin dey wnt 2 provided dey put their minds 2 it.imagine if all dis was a scam, d same mouths dat cursed d pastor and his church will turn arnd and bless him while dey will turn arnd and curse d lady, wat kind of christianity is dat den? Dere r only 2 pple u can trust and believe,urself and d word of God(bible).Ask urselves sum questions b4 u pass judgement on any1.
ReplyDeleteIt ČŠ̝̊̅§ well
ReplyDeleteI once knew a lady that was molested by the Pastor her parents told to watch over her while she was in the university.
ReplyDeleteThe line of curses,touch not my annointed,the devil is using the lady iif she speaks against the man of God were all used to drive her to the point of suicide.
I will never forget how that incidence shaped her life
This attitude by men of God is not a fruit of the spirit. Do we even have leaders like King David (a man after God's heart) anymore?
My heart goes out to the lady who was molested. I pray God heals her body and soul. I am happy He never sleeps but watches and weighs the actions of men. God will judge.
DeleteThat lady was not molested, I sense something wrong somewhere and its a frame up story of lies betrayal, a lie and revenge of some sort now seeking for attention, what will it profit you to tarnish another man image? I dare her to show her proof. Pst Biodun is a man of integrity, he will do no such thing.
ReplyDelete