Pushcart 2026 L: Uche Okonkwo, “The Harvest” from Tin House

He had married Inimfom eight years ago for her faith in him, for how readily she’d gone to the places he had envisioned. Before they were married, she would sit in his congregation, week after week, and when he shared his prophecies for the future of his ministry, her hallelujahs were the loudest. He had no choice but to notice her. Her enthusiasm, the intensity of her gaze on him as he preached, bestowed upon her an alluring quality. Many Sundays, she would stay behind after service to chat, and with time she began to materialize right there with him when he saw himself leading the megachurch of his future, standing tall beside him in low heels and the old brown hat she wore every Sunday. I was a bit puzzled at first. Though set in Nigeria, this seemed like a fairly routine story about an earnest preacher whose congregation, never that robust to begin with, is slowly poached by a neighboring megachurch offering air conditioning and promises of prosperity. Sort of like You’ve Got Mail…