Timothy Aduralere

Dear church,

It is with deep sorrow that I confirm that our brother and covenant member Timothy Aduralere has passed and is now with the Lord. There were several attempts by leadership to let people know what happened by various outlets, but I wanted to write this letter to our wider CoaH family to confirm all that you heard about Sunday morning or from others.

Late Thursday evening on August 1st, Tanya and I received a message from Sophia, Timothy's fiance, saying that Timothy had been found drowning at the bottom of a pool after a swimming lesson, and that his condition was very dire.

I rushed over to the hospital immediately with several others. Initially it seemed that it might take some time to know if Timothy would recover or not; his body seemed to be responding to treatment though he was still in critical condition. We went in the room together where Sophia already was and prayed for Timothy just before he was moved to the Intensive Care Unit. From there the plan was to perform some tests, and then it seemed likely that we would not be able to tell for a long time whether he would pull through or not.

Sadly, it was only a little while later that Timothy's body began to cease responding to treatment. What we thought would be days or weeks quickly became hours and then minutes as Timothy's vitals fell much faster than anticipated.

We all stood there as our brother was passing and as his body failed.

Timothy has been a most beloved member of our church, and moreover was a beacon of the way the Lord loved others. He was deeply involved with many people, and a wonderful Community Group leader. He ran the soundboard, and was tireless in his service to help with setup and teardown on any given week. He was a loving friend, and loving fiance. Many of you told moving stories on Sunday morning of how our brother touched your life with his immeasurable joy and love.

Tanya and I had just begun premarital counseling with Timothy and Sophia a couple days before this all happened. Preparations for the wedding had already begun and many of you were a part of those preparations. This is still a lot to take in.

Funeral arrangements have not been made yet; we are still working out details with Timothy's family because most of them are overseas in Nigeria. Please pray for speedy visa approvals and travel arrangements for his family.

Sunday during worship Pastor Bland brought us words of comfort from Psalm 22 - Jesus was no stranger to grief, and the scriptures are filled with Psalms of lament. It is a time for mourning. I have seen many of you switch between anger, grief, comfort, confusion, but also gladness for having known and been blessed by our brother's life and time with us.

These emotions will continue.

Some of you, you may not have known Timothy, but were able to feel and see how deeply many are affected by his passing. May you ask God for the ability to weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15). Offer to bring food to those affected. Take time to listen. Be sensitive. Allow these emotions to be displayed without judgment or attempts to get people "to move on". Seek comfort and not isolation. Most of all, be in prayer for one another.

In time, may we find comfort with our God who comforts.

May we remember the promise of resurrection, and the proof of our resurrected Lord.

May we pray for those who have not yet trusted in our Lord's promises, for we weep as those with hope, but there are those for whom hope has not yet come.

Blessings to you all. I wait with all of you for day we sang of on Sunday:

He shall return in robes of white,
The blazing Son shall pierce the night.
And I will rise among the saints,
My gaze transfixed on Jesus' face

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

- Pastor Mike

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. - 1 Thess 4:16-18