“Hello Daddy!”. Two words that rang out with joy at the start of most of our conversations. Two words I will definitely miss saying to him, on this side of eternity.
“Welcome, son!”. Two words my heart delights to know that replaced mine. Words from our heavenly Father to his beloved son, my father.
Chief Evaristus E.E. Bassey was one of a kind. He was one to be fondly remembered by all who knew him. His noble achievements have already been listed and celebrated, so I will speak to the father he was from a very personal perspective.
I am very grateful to God for the father I was blessed with. A genuinely caring and kind hearted man. As a daughter, he encouraged my creativity and talents from a young age. I had the freedom to follow the path the Lord had set before me, even before I fully understood it. My father did not stand in my way. Instead, he encouraged me to carry on in faith as he believed I was following God, whether he fully understood it or not.
He truly exemplified generosity in a way that revealed our heavenly Father’s giving nature. I do not hesitate to share this in sermons and testimonies where applicable. I have publicly shared that I have faith in a lavishly generous God, because of my father’s demonstration of generosity. This built a confidence in me about God. If my earthly father could care so much and give so freely, how much more would my heavenly Father do, whose love and measure cannot be compared to human standards? What a faithbuilding example he really was!
I enjoyed the security of knowing he loved me dearly as a daughter and appreciated how much he respected me in my calling as a Minister of God. I am very thankful that I was intentional in our relationship to often let him know just how much I appreciated everything he had ever done for me and how inspired I was by his own journey, and generosity.
There is so much more that I could say, but I will round up with this; I was blessed to have been loved and cared for by my dad. I rest assured in the truth that he now gets to receive all the love that he may have missed out on, here on earth, from his Father and Lord in heaven.
He named me ‘Precious’, Eme. An expression of his and God’s heart for me. He will forever remain precious to me.
Valerie Eme Elliott
(Fourth Child, Third Daughter)
