Mrs. Ebunoluwa Olatunde AKINLUA Nee ODUKOYA
A Testament to God’s Amazing Grace
Dear Sister Ebun
It is with heavy hearts that we received the sorrowful news that you have passed on to the great beyond on Monday, January 1, 2024. Initially the news brought forth a wave of disbelief, hoping that it was merely a misconception. Little did we know that our Heavenly Father, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ had a different plan in store; He graciously called you from this world of darkness and sin to your eternal abode, high above the clouds. In the words of Rusty Goodman's lyrical verse:
"You finally make your entrance to that city
Of jasper walls and bright gold avenues
As you behold all its beauty and its splendor,” we believe you saw the heroes of Faith in the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews awaiting your arrival, eager to share your narrative of endurance and triumph.
Our hearts and prayers go out to your family here on this earthly side of existence: your husband Pastor Simeon, and your four boys and their children, your siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins, aunt, and in-laws, as we beseech our God to bestow upon them mercy, grace, and the strength to endure this profound loss. May they find comfort in your loving memory and may they know no more sorrow.
Throughout your sojourn among us, commencing from the moment we first encountered you in the late 1970s we discerned in you a devoted sister in Christ and a nurturing mother.
Your life here on earth was a testament of the saving grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Your life constantly reminded us of the amazing grace of our God that “saved a wretched like me.”
You embodied the truth that the grip of death cannot seize a child of God without the permission of our Lord Jesus Christ. Unwavering in your faith, you offered praises to our God, for you harbored the conviction that Jesus Christ had already wrought redemption. He served as your Shield and Guardian, having already paid the ransom to reclaim you as His own daughter.
On the day when the Lord called you home, you shed the mortal coil and transcended into your celestial form, eagerly awaiting the blessed day “when our Lord Jesus shall return to earth again.”
In that glorious resurrection morning when the family circle will be unbroken, you shall manifest the fulfillment of God's purpose. With the family circle being unbroken, everyone will sing that Redemption song that Holy angels cannot sing:
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind but now I see
In loving memory of you, we find solace in the First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians
1 Thessalonians 4:14-18 (KJV)
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Sister Ebun, though the outer cover of your earthly existence may have withered, and the pages of your life may now rest in stillness; fear not, for as you faithfully served God's purpose on this earth, the story of your life shall not be lost. It will reemerge in a new and more magnificent edition, revised and perfected by its Creator and Author, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Professor Abayomi and Mrs Toritseju Okanlawon
Local Christian Assembly, Lagos, Nigeria
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