By Olatoun Gabi-Williams
To view it as beautifully written prayer guidelines would be to undersell its 249 pages. From the Acknowledgements, Preface, foreword, and Introduction, through the 14 chapters, epilogue, references, and End notes, what the author, Abisola Gabi-Williams, has produced is an inspired tapestry of doctrine combined with a prayer manual and fused with the organising principle of the book which is a memoir: short, compelling life stories highlighting core themes of the Christian faith. She laces all of this with prayer, poetry citations and verses from Christian hymns written by men and women whose outpourings of praise through music have blessed generation after generation of worshippers. These hymns have the power and resonance of the Psalms of Ascension, evoking a progressive elevation of worship – a stairway to heaven.
The memoirs you will find in Prayer: My Survival Kit are not only her own; you will find vignettes from the life stories of fellow pilgrims which reinforce the strength of the testimonies she bears. George Muller of Bristol and Russia’s Alexander Solzhenitsyn are just 2 of the heroes of faith she references, whose lives exemplify the Christian principles and wisdom that the author has floodlit in her book. Gabi-Williams has brought riches to our table. They provide a setting for analyses of a range of Psalms, including those that prescribe actions, and attitudes to be adopted by seekers in times of crises and calamities of the kind she and her ancestors in the faith have lived through and survived. She records these in Prayer: My Survival Kit in the Journey of Life.
It is an intensive course of Bible-based Christianity in a surprising and revitalising format – a mosaic of memoir, poetry, axioms, exhortations to pray ceaselessly, and biblical references to support the cases she builds with clarity and an unashamed outpouring of emotion. Phebean Ogundipe, the late fiction writer, teacher, and renowned author of Brighter Grammer, commended Gabi-Williams for producing this work of literary art and Christian evangelism with these words:
“This is a book that no reader can finish reading without a feeling of gratitude for coming across a work that does so much to increase the reader’s faith. It strengthens the reader’s conviction that prayer is indeed the tool given to us by God, together with the Bible and the Saviour He sent to die for our sins, for our journey through life”
Book Title: Prayer: My Survival Kit in the Journey of Life.
Author: Dr. (Mrs) Abisola Gabi-Williams
Publisher: Selina Publications
ISBN: 978-978-904-491-7
Year: 2010
To describe this book as comprehensive would be to understate the sheer sweep of the author’s knowledge and understanding of the subject of the Blood of Jesus. For the converted, the book leaves no doubt that the shedding of Christ’s Blood represents the one perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. For those in need of persuasion, Gabi-Williams’s scientific analysis of the Blood’s constituency is as good as persuasion will ever get to justify her faith in the indestructible, incorruptible, eternal life of God that flows through it. But what impressed me the most was Gabi-Williams’s exploration of the cultural and mythical significance of blood and blood sacrifices across the world – including Yorubaland – and additionally, across the ages from the Greco-Roman epoch to the 21st century.
This exploration reads like poetry and lends the transcendence of the greatest Christian hymns to this book which she has developed for seekers of the truth about the workings and impact of Christ’s Blood in His Body – the Church.
Book Title: The Blood of Jesus: My Only Plea in the Journey of Life
Author: Abisola Gabi-Williams
Publisher: Selina Publications
ISBN: 978-978-943-334-6
Year: 2014
Both titles are available at Selina Ventures Limited, 4 Idowu Martins Street, Off Adeola Odeku, Victoria Island, Lagos. Telephone: 0702 520 9415
Author’s Profile
Abisola Gabi-Williams had a distinguished career that began as a teacher at Lagos Anglican Girls Grammar School. She swiftly rose to Vice-Principal before transitioning to the Federal Ministry of Education. Her remarkable journey led to her historic appointment as Nigeria’s first female Federal Permanent Secretary in 1987, overseeing Exchange Control in the Ministry of Finance. She later served as Permanent Secretary for Police Affairs under General Ibrahim Babangida and held the role of Director-General in the Ministry of Transport, Aviation, and Communication until her retirement in 1994. Beyond her administrative prowess, Gabi-Williams authored impactful Christian books, solidifying her legacy as a trailblazer and scholar who continues to inspire.
