Andrew Lovedale’s friend, Ben Ebong, and his family had a surprise encounter with Blessing, an A2S scholar, when they visited Andrew’s home. An encounter that reveals the true power of prayer.

“Our kids saw the card about the FaithFuel campaign and asked me what it was. They had recently started a business making and selling paracord bracelets and they decided that supporting the Faith Fuel kids would be a great thing to do with some of their earnings.,” Ben Ebong shared with A2S.

Ben told his kids that FaithFuel supported children in Nigeria through Access2Success, an organization started by a family friend. “They said ‘OK’, but I’m not sure it all sunk in.”

Here’s more from Ben,

“We kept the monthly campaign updates on the fridge and our kids always commented on the Nigerian kids’ names because they were not like typical American names. Their names had meaning. We discussed one of the kids to pray for named Blessing and how she may have been a blessing for her family. Our kids also have Nigerian names, so this was a way to connect with Blessing and the other kids from the program.”

What they didn’t realize at the time was a surprise that awaited when they visited their family friend, Andrew Lovedale.

“All of our worlds collided 2 years after we started supporting the FaithFuel program when we walked into Andrew’s house and he introduced us to several students, one of whom was Blessing.”

“We all froze. It was like we were seeing a ghost or more like an Angel. Our prayers (and those of the masses) had worked. We all thought we were looking at Blessing in the flesh and she was a symbol that prayers do come true. The kids could not take their eyes off her and we all showered her with hugs. Everyone shouting: ‘We prayed for you!’”

 

They prayed for her, and there she was standing before their very eyes, her story having changed so much since her card was sent to them in the mail back in 2021.

In Benin City, Nigeria, Blessing grew up as the fourth of six children. Her father is a mechanic and her mother is a housekeeper. From an early age, Blessing let her father know that he needed to save for her schooling because she was going to become a doctor. “Tighten your belt,” she said. At the age of eight, she was admitted to the A2S After School Academy where her gifts and talents began to come to life.

 

While at the Academy, Blessing became an integral part of the A2S Media Club. You can see her in several different “A2S Kids News” broadcasts sharing the latest from the Academy activities. She was also featured as a part of A2S’s monthly giving program “FaithFuel”*. Blessing shared these prayer points with the FaithFuel community in January of 2021:

  • I pray for God’s divine restoration in my family and life as we have lost a lot.
  • I pray for God’s protection over everything I love and cherish.
  • I pray for God’s peace and love to reign in the hearts of everyone in the world. 

Across the Atlantic in the U.S., somewhere Blessing would soon know, around 85 families began to pray for her. One of these families was the Ebong Family whom she met in Andrew Lovedale’s living room on that exciting day. 

Now Blessing is a part of the A2S Scholars program and studies at Covenant Day School in Matthews, NC. As one of the first After School Academy kids to come to study in the U.S., we have been so proud to see how she thrives in her studies. She excels in math and science and has recently discovered her love of track and field hockey.

 

We continue to pray for Blessing as she continues on her path to becoming a doctor. It is amazing to see the ways that God is working in her life. We can’t wait to see what she will do (or who she will meet) next!

 

*To learn more about FaithFuel, visit this link: https://a2sfoundation.org/faithfuel/