Erik Tryggestad via Religion Unplugged
Ose Ehimare was 24 weeks pregnant when she boarded a plane in Nigeria for her first-ever international flight.
She was alone and more than a bit apprehensive about the 6,000-mile journey, but she had no choice.
She wasn’t carrying just one child but four.
Ehimare, a member of the Kado-Abuja Church of Christ in Nigeria’s capital, had experienced fainting spells and seizures. She needed medical care outside her homeland to survive the pregnancy — and give her children the best chance to live.
A friend from college agreed to house her in the Atlanta suburb of Snellville, Ga. One of her church’s elders, Peter Egure, helped Ehimare navigate the arduous process of securing a visa for the trip. Her husband, Aburime, was unable to accompany her.
When she gave birth at Emory University Hospital on July 27, 2010, she was anything but alone.
In addition to three newborn daughters and a son, she was blessed by an army of volunteers — more than 130 strong — marshaled by the Northlake Church of Christ in nearby Tucker, Georgia.
“You never knew us, but you loved us all the same,” Aburime Ehimare wrote in a letter to the congregation, “and opened your hands and hearts and took us in as co-heirs of God’s kingdom.”
Fourteen years later, Ose Ehimare and the quadruplets — Alyssa, Bibiana, Noah and Valencia — made the 6,000-mile journey again so that the four teenagers could be baptized among the family that helped them come into the world.
The church set aside part of its Sunday service for the celebration. Cathy Hendrick recalled the months that she and her husband, Northlake elder Jeff Hendrick, housed the family in their ground-level apartment.
“People coming by at 1 a.m., 4 a.m. … it was just constant,” Cathy Hendrick said. “This was quite an operation.”
Cathy and fellow caretakers Susan Tippins and Julie Clinebell talked about the countless hours spent rocking babies, changing diapers and making trips between the Hendricks’ house and the neonatal intensive care. They rejoiced when all four of the children were released, “healthy and wonderful, each of them,” Tippins said.
“It’s like this always when God calls on us to act,” Cathy Hendrick said. “We think we’re doing something, but we’re not. We are the blessed ones, and we were so totally blessed with this whole story, and it continues to bless us in every way.”
Aburime Ehimare and the couple’s older daughter, Chavela, were unable to attend the service. So Clinebell read a letter from the quadruplets’ father to the congregation.
“It is impossible for the story of my life to be told or written without mention of the extraordinary act of kindness and love that you demonstrated to my family 14 years ago,” Aburime Ehimare wrote. “My family and I will forever remain thankful, and the story of your love has become a constant refrain in many congregations … converting many to Christ and strengthening the faith of others.
“Now, the quads are happy to return to Northlake congregation, the place where their journey of faith and love began, for their baptism. Over the years we have endeavored to instill in them some enduring values: integrity, compassion, humility, obedience, hard work and a deep sense of service to others.
“Your act of kindness, wrought 14 years ago, has now expanded the body of Christ with four souls to the glory of God our Father. … Thank you all for embodying the love of Christ, for your unrelenting support, unquenchable fellowship and for continuing to be a light in our lives.”
The quadruplets, dressed in their West African Sunday best, stood and thanked the church members for their hospitality. Then all four crowded into the baptistery with Jeff Hendrick. Before he immersed them into Christ, the church elder shared the answers to questions he had asked them a few days earlier.
Alyssa said that baptism would represent a change in her character, in the way she respects people. Most of all, she was responding to what God asked her to do.
Bibiana said that, after her baptism, “I will be filled with the Holy Spirit and begin my new life in Christ.”
Noah said that he wanted to be baptized “to obey Christ’s commands and to fully commit myself to Christ.”
For Valencia, baptism meant “to be cleansed by the Holy Spirit. Coming up from the water is like being born again in Christ.”
After the baptisms, Northlake deacon Brian Ikeda led a devotional for the Lord’s Supper.
“I can’t imagine a better time to celebrate community than after welcoming a new brother and sisters into Christ,” Ikeda said before he offered prayers for the bread representing Christ’s body and the fruit of the vine symbolizing his blood.
“How exciting that we get to pull up four new chairs to this table.”
This piece is republished with permission from The Christian Chronicle.
Main Image: The Ehimare quadruplets and their mother, Ose, stand with some of the Northlake Church of Christ members who cared for the quads after their births in 2010. (Photo provided by Margaret Robling)