Deborah: Indominable Witness of God's Peace
Deborah: Indominable Witness of God's Peace
Little Adeyemi was born in 1888 into a family who worshiped Orisa-oko, the god of harvest of the rural province of Oloisaoke, near Ogbomoso, in the Oyo State of Nigeria. The family worshiped and displayed the python snake prominently as a part of this worship and, as a child, Adeyemi was dedicated to marry a priest of Orisa-oko someday. As a young girl, she became an ambassador for the worship of Orisa-oko and its rituals, visited dignitaries with a python wrapped around her neck, and helped to support her family by doing so. Her brothers also followed the family tradition and, when her father died, her younger brother took his place as a priest.
When Adeyemi was a young woman, she fell in love with a Christian man, 'Ladeji. They pleaded with her father to allow them to marry. Reluctantly he agreed, under the condition that she would continue to worship Orisa-oko and to wear a python to earn money for her extended family. 'Ladeji prayed continually for the salvation of his wife and rejoiced when their daughter, Dorcas Adebola, was born.
One day, Adeyemi decided to attend classes at Baptist Church in Ogbomoso, where she learned to read and write in Yoruba, her heart language. After some time, Adeyemi began attending the Okeelerin Baptist church where, after several visits, she gave her life to Christ. For a time, she practiced her faith secretly, but when the next Orisa-oko festival came around, she confessed her faith publicly, denouncing Orisa-oko worship before her family and community. She had found new life in Christ Jesus, who was her Savior and Lord, and was finally at peace. She took the name Deborah, after the Old Testament woman of faith.
The instantaneous outrage of the idol-worshipers was intense, powerful, and threatening. They proclaimed that she would die on the seventh day after her declaration for Christ. She fell very ill, but her husband, other church members, and the missionaries prayed for the power of God to save her life. Deborah did not die. Instead, she arose victorious and continued to grow as a disciple of Jesus. In time, the idol worshipers realized that her God was mightier than Orisa-oko.
After a few years, tragedy fell when her husband 'Ladeji died, yet Deborah was sustained by her faith. As she grew older, she was faithful to the Masifa Baptist Church that she had helped to found, was a strong member of the Women's Missionary Society, active in the early morning prayer meetings, Sunday school, and both morning and evening worship services.
She became an evangelist, leading all of her nephews and nieces to salvation in Christ. She also trained her daughter, Dorcas, and other children she adopted, to know the Lord. Today, no one in her family worships Orisa-oko. Intelligent and Holy Spirit filled, Deborah could sing almost all of the hymns in the Yoruba Baptist Hymnal by heart and could quote long Bible passages from memory. She was a disciple maker, having great influence on Dorcas Adebola Ayanrinola, who later became a deaconess at Masifa Baptist Church. She also raised a granddaughter, Maria Aduke Ajagbe, who is now a deaconess at Sabo Baptist Church in Ogbomoso, and a grandson, whom she dedicated to God for missions at an early age, just as Hannah dedicated Samuel to the Lord.
Today, her grandson is Rev. Dr. Durosin Jesu Ayanrinola, a missionary known far and wide in Africa, and current General Secretary of the All African Baptist Fellowship, the largest gathering of cooperating Baptists across the African continent. BrotherDuro and the Baptist Center are partners in ministry.
When Adeyemi was a young woman, she fell in love with a Christian man, 'Ladeji. They pleaded with her father to allow them to marry. Reluctantly he agreed, under the condition that she would continue to worship Orisa-oko and to wear a python to earn money for her extended family. 'Ladeji prayed continually for the salvation of his wife and rejoiced when their daughter, Dorcas Adebola, was born.
One day, Adeyemi decided to attend classes at Baptist Church in Ogbomoso, where she learned to read and write in Yoruba, her heart language. After some time, Adeyemi began attending the Okeelerin Baptist church where, after several visits, she gave her life to Christ. For a time, she practiced her faith secretly, but when the next Orisa-oko festival came around, she confessed her faith publicly, denouncing Orisa-oko worship before her family and community. She had found new life in Christ Jesus, who was her Savior and Lord, and was finally at peace. She took the name Deborah, after the Old Testament woman of faith.
The instantaneous outrage of the idol-worshipers was intense, powerful, and threatening. They proclaimed that she would die on the seventh day after her declaration for Christ. She fell very ill, but her husband, other church members, and the missionaries prayed for the power of God to save her life. Deborah did not die. Instead, she arose victorious and continued to grow as a disciple of Jesus. In time, the idol worshipers realized that her God was mightier than Orisa-oko.
After a few years, tragedy fell when her husband 'Ladeji died, yet Deborah was sustained by her faith. As she grew older, she was faithful to the Masifa Baptist Church that she had helped to found, was a strong member of the Women's Missionary Society, active in the early morning prayer meetings, Sunday school, and both morning and evening worship services.
She became an evangelist, leading all of her nephews and nieces to salvation in Christ. She also trained her daughter, Dorcas, and other children she adopted, to know the Lord. Today, no one in her family worships Orisa-oko. Intelligent and Holy Spirit filled, Deborah could sing almost all of the hymns in the Yoruba Baptist Hymnal by heart and could quote long Bible passages from memory. She was a disciple maker, having great influence on Dorcas Adebola Ayanrinola, who later became a deaconess at Masifa Baptist Church. She also raised a granddaughter, Maria Aduke Ajagbe, who is now a deaconess at Sabo Baptist Church in Ogbomoso, and a grandson, whom she dedicated to God for missions at an early age, just as Hannah dedicated Samuel to the Lord.
Today, her grandson is Rev. Dr. Durosin Jesu Ayanrinola, a missionary known far and wide in Africa, and current General Secretary of the All African Baptist Fellowship, the largest gathering of cooperating Baptists across the African continent. BrotherDuro and the Baptist Center are partners in ministry.
Deborah Adeyemi 'Ladeji was given the honorable nickname, "Iya Gbagbo" of the Masifa area, meaning "the Mother of Faith." Her pattern of bringing others to know Christ and his peace is a legacy now extending to four generations. She said many times, "I was threatened left and right, but I purposed in my heart that I would not deny Jesus. Till I die, I will ever live to serve Him."
Deborah Adeyemi died on October 2, 1980 at the age of ninety-two. This month, we thank God for His transformational, dynamic, saving power as we celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the home-going of Deborah 'Ledeji, the "Mother of Faith" to generations.
-Karen O'Dell Bullock
Deborah Adeyemi died on October 2, 1980 at the age of ninety-two. This month, we thank God for His transformational, dynamic, saving power as we celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the home-going of Deborah 'Ledeji, the "Mother of Faith" to generations.
-Karen O'Dell Bullock
Posted in PeaceWeavers