To Daddy Atogho
“Men are measured at two times in their life. What they say when their first child takes their first breath of air, and what they say when they are taking their last breath on earth.”
Daddy [laughing], I wasn’t there at the hospital to hear you preach to Jessie Atogho at her birth on her responsibilities as a child of God who must take her place in the world but I’m sure she vividly remembers it. I was not present to hear your last words before departing from our physical world to enter into the Lord’s eternal Kingdom.
If I had never known you before, but listened to just your last words to us as a family, from that moment alone, I would have come to a final conclusion that you were a servant of God’s peace here on Earth. Your words urged us (the family) to sow Christian faith, hope, light, and joy whenever we had the chance to. A full definition of what the Gospel would refer to as “spreading the mustard seed from one generation to the next,” Daddy, your burning last messages of reconciliation, grace and love are forever with us. Your death is not only a transition of states - physical body into a spiritual one - but also a reaffirmation of faith to all those in attendance that God is real. And you believed in Him.
For the years I was blessed to hear you share the Word, your central messages were: the reconciliation of all people through the grace of Christ; Personal relationships shall not remain locked in alienation forever; Misunderstanding and suspicion shall not always subvert openness; Resentment and revenge shall not prevail over forgiveness; Carelessness and apathy shall not forever strangle good will; … You constantly reminded us, whether during family meetings or when giving the messages of God, that we should always believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Each time I listened to you preaching the Word, you ended most of the time stressing that “Love” will have the last word. You visited us from time to time to remind us to be servants of God’s peace, unshakeable faith, hope, light and joy as we journey in this mortal world pursuing eternity. You reminded us that sin is what separates us from God and that Jesus came to build the bridge.
Let the family use this moment to think of forgiveness.
“Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man has a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” - Colossians 3:13
Bye,
Willy Abegesah
Daddy: I accept your home going because I am assured by the Word, (I Thessalonians 4:13-18) that I will see you again in the Kingdom. Take your rest and wait for the trumpet sound; the great reunion of the dead and the living, the Loud Cry that will be heard by those in Christ. They all shall and be quickened to take off for the meeting in the air.
I am at peace and resolved to walk diligently with the Lord. I will see you again man of God, great counselor and teacher. You will be missed here but hope is building to see you again in the Kingdom of the Most High God where we shall live forever in His awsome presence. Greet Mama Lydia and Pa Philip Ansoh. By His Grace we and the grand children will make it. See you all SOON.
AMEN
Awangie
C'est ici la partie la plus difficile.
J'aurais mieux aimer dire tout ceci de vive voix à daddy.
Je vais donc parler de lui.
Ce n'est pas fantaisiste, de l'avoir appelé daddy. Ça venait avec un profond respect pour ce qu'il était comme pere. Avoir si tôt élargi son coeur et ses bras pour accueillir tant de jeunes gens comme moi, pour les enseigner comme Aquilas et Priscille l'avaient fait avant lui, l'exactitude de l'evangile de Christau jeune Thimotée.
Il a su canaliser notre énergie spirituelle tres tôt. Nous a aidé à l'utiliser pour les bonnes raisons. Je le remercie de m'avoir fait comprendre qu'aimer Dieu c'est aussi respecter même ceux qui ne sont pas comme nous.
De m'avoir fait comprendre que les chrétiens pouvaoent aspirer à tout ce qu'il y'a de meilleur.
Merci de m'avoir permis de connaître l'Évangile sans artifices. Cet évangile simple. L'Évangile qui attire et non éloigne.
Merci pour tes conseils sans détours. D'avoir été celui qui n'avait pas le jugement facile. Celui qui laissait l'occasion à tout le monde de connaître Dieu.
Merci pour ta merveilleuse famille que nous avons partagée, et partageons encore.
Je garde les derniers échanges téléphoniquestéléphoniques que nous avons eu dans mon coeur.
Merci beaucoup d'avoir rencontré ma fille à Miami au mois de Juin 2017.
Merci.
If rare things are hard to come by, that does not mean that they do not exist. They are only hard to find. So are David and Monica Atogho, commonly known to the Family as Daddy and Mama.
We go to the beginning of life where God says, “it is not good for man to live alone.” He needs a “suitable” companion; that is to say, a loving one. That precision is note-worthy. God has bestowed Daddy and Mama with both long life and happiness.
Of course, I knew Daddy first. He was the only son to my grandfather Atogho-Yebu. Living with my grandmother Abo Anyimboro, I was virtually with Daddy whenever he was at home. He later trailed an uncle, John Atengi, on foot to the coastlands. Did I say on foot? Indeed! Unimaginable in those days, my today’s knowledge allows me to describe how it could have been. The foot paths may have been from Ngwo through Azem in Ngie, the sprawling Ashong hills in Batibo, Banwa highlands to Bakebe junction, then Manyemen to Kumba and then through the mosquito-infested Bafaw lowlands below the Buea Mountain and finally down to the Victoria coastland where the journey had a natural end. That was where the late Uncle worked, at the Oil Mill. It must have taken about two weeks, interspersed with short stops and nights at friendly country-side natives’ homes. At about 15, the young David could probably not keep better pace with the adults who must have been carrying some load. How the lad fared on arrival is your guess.
Young David emerged to pursue a rewarding educational career through Basel Mission College, today the Cameroon Protestant College, Bali; the Nigerian College of Arts, Enugu; Legon Hall University in Ghana and the University of California, Los Angeles. Daddy was one of the first educated people in our quarter, Soh, in Ngwo village. He did and succeeded in many things within his stride.
Though of small stature, he was marked by many as a clever strewed, daring and especially bold young man. He confronted and convinced many parents in our village to send their children to school. In fact, he was a Path-Finder and the Cradle of Ngwo Civilisation.
Mama’s beginnings as a young girl must have been less exploratory. I first heard of and knew Mama from a distance. She was known and called Miss; that is, unmarried and the short form for Miss Awuro. My mother told me how the family had conjugated efforts which culminated in a destined betrothal; that is, asking for her hand in marriage.
In the village, gourds or calabashes for transporting palm wine are cocked in different ways to denote different things. As it happened during the Knock-Door Ceremony, the gourd containing palm wine destined for the asking of a girl’s hand was corked in a special way. A number of palm leaves were folded and tightly corked with the curved end over-lapping. This allowed for the uncorking to demand some effort. So, on a date set for Mama to uncork the calabash of palm wine to denote her consent; two such calabashes of palm wine had been brought to Zacharia Awuro’s compound on behalf of two suitors. Often, a weak suitor counted more on the intervention of some external influence to provoke consent. Daddy’s case was penchant and direct. Notwithstanding, consent was a personal decision. So, at the behest of Mama’s father for consent, Mama uncorked the calabash of palm wine that had been brought on behalf of Daddy. That concluded the engagement as well as put a stop to any other interest that had been intended or expressed. And there was one! All is well that ends well.
From that time, the engagement became official. I joined family members to warm the ensuing relationship between the two families. I remember how I stayed with Mama when she was a teacher in the Basel Mission School, Mbengwi, where I had gone to write my promotion examination into standard five. She had treated me with obvious cosiness. The closest I went to Mama before marriage was when she often visited us in Buea where Daddy worked. We lived two of us. She was a Student Nurse in the Preliminary Training School in Tiko. What I retain of the frequent visits is that she never spent a night in our house. However, as things evolved, I knew that marriage was imminent. The preparations were meticulous and procedural and the event came to pass.
Daddy and Mama were married in the Presbyterian Church, Muyuka, on 1st January 1961. That was where Papa Zacharia Awuro lived. He had retired from working in the colonial plantations and taken up Tailoring at the famous Muyuka Black Bush Road. What stands significant of the occasion is that the marriage was celebrated by Rev. Moses Fondo. The Best Man was Mr. Nyo Wakai and the Bridesmaid was late Mrs. Lucy Nkwate, while Mrs. Magaret Sona, heavily pregnant, was a close attendant to the bride. The wedding cake was made by Mama Elizabeth Muna, wife of the then Minister of Commerce and Industries in the Southern Cameroons Government, Mr. Solomon Tandeng Muna.
After the marriage, the retinue drove to a near-by bar in a borrowed car for the reception. That car belonged to Mr. Sona, husband of the Bride’s attendant. It was a green Opel Kapitan, matriculated CM 2954. There were very few cars in those days. Buea was the bosom of most of them, about 30 in number, to be modest and whose numbers many children virtually knew. For instance, I remember that Prime Minister John Ngu Foncha’s car was CM 9, Former P.M. Endeley’s was CM 22, L.M. Ndamukong’s was CM 2, which later liaised with the 2 legs that carry a foot-going person. That car returned to its base in Kumba after the wedding and the Couple returned to Buea through other arrangements and began their honey-moon.
Their first child was born on 4 October `1961; that is, about 10 months after their marriage. That is good to retain for several purposes and reasons. Later, the others came - boy, girl, boy and boy for a total of five children, all of them happily married, settled and pursuing endearing professions. Prominent is that each of them has contributed to the two-digit number of grandchildren Daddy and Mama have.
We are celebrating Daddy and Mama’s 50th Anniversary of marriage. From its form and content, we see that it is a wedding, the celebration of an achievement. Daddy and Mama have come a long way to be here. What has kept them together and for so long? They know that, ordained by God, marriage is consumed in Prayer, Love and Forgiveness to prove that what God has put together, no man can put asunder. They have done and are doing it in style. As any couple, they may have passed through trying moments. The important thing is that they have resisted and survived those moments. Like a jubilant athlete who respects the rules to be crowned, Daddy and Mama are arriving as Conquerors. They have the pedigree to be honoured and crowned. Thus, they are an example for others to emulate, their children especially. Knowing from where they have come, they should know where they are moving to. Marriage, like life, has to be purposeful to have length and breadth.
We thank God Almighty as the Source of life and all what sustains it and may to Him be the Glory.
37 years in the Lord and counting, I know of no one more popularly known by the appellation "Daddy"
"Our Daddy, Our Daddy, the chariot of God's people and the horsemen thereof!" (At least, to my own world of Christendom).
I was privileged to spend some days at the Atoghos with some other brethren and to take part in enriching daily Family Devotions- No space to go in details here.
Daddy and Mummy Monica Atogho always treated us as their children whenever we lodged in their home.
Daddy always brought out something good in everyone, giving no room for complaining about anyone. He was a man full of heavenly wisdom, easy to be entreated, thus opening a door for every one into his heart. He listened, he observed and carried the pains of others more than he could possibly bear. What a Dad! Stretching himself beyond measure over the chasm of a dark past and a bright future so that his children could safely cross over on his back.
His memorable touch in my life was during one of his Pastoral visits to Buea, when Daddy spent the night in our home.
In the guest room, as I poured out my heart to him, I could feel the gentle movements of Daddy's healing hand on my back, coupled with his soothing words of encouragement and prayer. I could not help but weep and sob like a child. I came out of that room a different person.
May all that we know, and the selfless life of Daddy Atogho, make us love and serve God all the more.
Brother Simon Mbella
Buea.
