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For 20 years, I was a monk and lived in West Africa

My Bible: reasons to believe in the power of the Bible

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'For 20 years, I was a monk and lived in West Africa. Then, I did a sabbatical in Ireland. I had to go to see a cloistered nun for six days as a retreat. It was a moment when I saw that the calling to be a monk was no longer on my life.

I had a feeling that I had fulfilled what I wanted to do. I had loved the life. But I had come to the point of no longer being fulfilled by my vocation. I read Isaiah 42.16 which says, “I will lead the blind by a road they do not know, by paths they have not known I will guide them.”

I knew I had to make up my mind about whether to go. I was afraid to leave because I had no money, nothing. This holy nun told me, “You are a coward, aren’t you? You should go when God has told you.”

When she said that, those words from Isaiah came alive for me. I knew that God had something else for me. That was a turning point in my life. I decided to take a leap of faith and come to this country.

I never thought I would come to London. I’m a social worker now and I love my job. I met my wife and have been married for 11 years now. We have a daughter. I have a full life now and two ladies who can’t stop talking! It’s a different life, and I wouldn’t exchange it for anything else now.'

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