Celebrating Our Heroes and Heroines

The Celestial Church of Christ was established through the calling and anointing of God upon the Pastor Founder, Prophet Rev. Pastor Samuel Bilehou Joseph Oshoffa, and through the contributions of several people whom God used in different ways during the Church’s formation and early growth.

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Throughout this month of celebrating our heroes and heroines, we are remembering those contributions with gratitude. We have reflected on people whose spiritual gifts, counsel, journeys, communication, and practical service became part of the Church’s story.

Today, we remember Elizabeth Ekundayo Guton, the Pastor Founder’s elder sister and the mother of Emmanuel Mawunyon Guton.

Her place in the account invites us to reflect on a mother’s distress, a life-changing experience, and her decision to join the emerging mission.

Her place in the constitutional account

Paragraph 23 recounts Elizabeth coming to Papa Oshoffa, about three days after his return to Porto Novo in 1947, to say that her son Emmanuel had died. The Founder attributes the boy’s restoration to life to Christ working through him.

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What the native doctors failed to do, Christ did: for I touched the deceased, and he came back to life all in the name of Jesus Christ. It was this miracle that made my sister leave U.A.M. (Eleja) Church and follow me.

— Papa Oshoffa, Makoko, 18 January 1969
CCC Constitution (Nigeria Diocese, 1980), paragraph 23

Paragraph 76 identifies her as Elizabeth Oshoffa, married to Guton, and describes Emmanuel as her only child and son, the boy who became the first prophet of the Church and later its Evangelist in Ivory Coast. (CCC Constitution, paragraph 23 and paragraph 76)

This is the foundation for remembering her in our series.

A mother’s distress deserves our attention

When we read a historical account, we may move quickly towards its outcome. It is worth pausing to consider the person who first brought the news.

Elizabeth appears in the account as a mother facing the loss of her child.

For devotional reflection, that should make us attentive to the pain people bring into our communities. Behind a request for prayer may be fear, grief, exhaustion, or uncertainty that others cannot fully see.

How do we receive someone in distress?

Do we allow them to speak?

Can we listen without rushing to judge or explain?

Are we willing to offer practical support alongside our prayers?

Compassion asks us to recognise the person before us and respond with care.

Her decision belongs in the story

The Constitution records a change in Elizabeth’s religious allegiance following the experience concerning her son. She left the church she had belonged to and followed her brother, before the Church had a name, a building or a congregation of its own.

That decision gives her an identifiable place in the early account. We can remember her as a participant whose response is expressly preserved in the history.

Her story also offers an opportunity to reflect on how personal experiences can lead people to reconsider the direction of their lives.

Such decisions deserve thoughtful attention. For those who join our communities today, we should provide patient teaching, room for questions, and relationships through which they can grow in understanding.

Welcoming someone carries an ongoing responsibility.

Remembering her alongside her son

We have already honoured Emmanuel Mawunyon Guton in this series.

Returning to Elizabeth helps us see the family relationship within that account. The story includes a son and a mother, each with a place in its telling.

We should give Elizabeth her own attention rather than allowing her name to pass unnoticed.

This is one reason for reading our history carefully. A passage centred on one person may also preserve the experience of another whose significance becomes clearer when we pause.

Our celebration of heroes and heroines should create space for those people too.

A reflection on mothers and caregivers

Elizabeth’s story invites us to appreciate the mothers and caregivers who seek help for those they love.

Many people carry responsibilities that remain largely unseen. They arrange appointments, stay beside someone through difficult nights, ask questions, seek support, and continue caring when they are tired.

Their efforts deserve recognition.

In our parishes, we can ask whether families facing difficulty know where to turn. We can consider how to support those who care for children, older relatives, or people experiencing illness and disability.

Sometimes the most useful help is practical: a meal, transport, a visit, or time to rest.

Remembering a mother in our history can encourage greater care for families in the present.

Preserving what the record tells us

The constitutional passages give limited information about Elizabeth’s later life. They do not provide a full biography or describe every responsibility she may have carried.

We should preserve that distinction.

We can honour her recorded decision and her place in the founding narrative without assigning her offices, activities, or achievements that the text does not establish.

Accurate remembrance respects the person we celebrate. It also gives younger generations a sound starting point for further learning.

Where reliable family memories and records survive, they deserve careful preservation and study.

Our heroine deserves remembrance

Today, we remember Elizabeth Ekundayo Guton—the Founder’s elder sister, Emmanuel Mawunyon’s mother, and a woman whose response forms part of the Church’s early history.

May her story encourage us to receive distressed families with compassion, recognise the people within the accounts we inherit, and support those who join our communities.

As our celebration continues, let us remain grateful for the many people whose experiences and contributions belong in the Church’s story.

We remember the people. We honour their contributions. We give the glory to God.

Historical basis: Constitution of the Celestial Church of Christ (Nigeria Diocese, 1980), foundation history, paragraph 23, and Papa Oshoffa’s supplement, paragraph 76. The text uses Elizabeth Ekundayo in paragraph 23 and Elizabeth Oshoffa, married to Guton, in paragraph 76. Reflections on compassion, family, and service are devotional applications of the account. The picture is an illustration: no photograph of her is used.

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