Caleb Adeshina
IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS:
LIVING UP TO AN HONORABLE NAME: CALEB
The Adeshina Family
together exemplifies how God blesses His people
and equips them to secure
victories He makes available to them
through faith and courage and diligence.
In Nigeria names are prayers which rise from the hearts of the family—parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and others dear to the family—on behalf of a newborn child. In devoted Christian families these prayers express faith and trust and obedience to God’s Will for their blessed child. For example, take Caleb Ituraoluwa RedzieBene Adeshina, born on November 17, 2003, the second child of Durojaye and Hannatu Adeshina. Caleb’s Christian name hearkens back to the courageous witness of Caleb, who along with Joshua, stood alone with faith in God and His Covenant to grant the Children of Israel the Promised Land . They opposed the unfaithful and ungodly advice of the other ten spies sent to examine the Land of Canaan. In fact, Caleb and Joshua even stood against the terrified Children of Israel who threatened to stone them. Out of that generation of adults who had been delivered from Egypt, only these two stood with Moses and Aaron to trust God who had delivered them over and over again. Basically, the entire nation, except for Caleb, Joshua, Moses and Aaron said to God, “We do not trust you.” So, the unfaithful were condemned to wander in the wilderness for forty years until all of them had died, except for Caleb and Joshua. So, Caleb Adeshina was given a name which spoke a prayer over him as a child, asking God to make him faithful and wholehearted for God even as His namesake was.
Caleb was given his Yoruba name, Ituraoluwa (God’s Delight) by his Yoruba father and his side of the family. He received his Irigwe name, RezieBene (God’s Righteousness) from his Irigwe mother and her family. So, the family prayed, based on their godly heritage, for Caleb to be strong and faithful before God, to live a life of righteousness which would bring delight to God.
Caleb has experienced the blessing
of living out a godly heritage
as he explores his own
Promised Land opportunities
to succeed and bring God glory.
Now, both of Caleb’s parents have lived obedient and faithful lives together in passing on such a heritage. The daughter of a deeply dedicated Baptist Pastor and his wife, Hannatu established her record of trust and obedience in her years as a student at Baptist High School, Jos. Her dedication grew deeper in her studies at the University of Jos, and in her answer to God’s Call into ministry through becoming a teacher at Baptist High School, Jos. She continued to do so in giving leadership to other Baptist schools in the area, including Baptist High School, Masaka as Principal and Baptist High School, Jos as Vice-Principal Admin. Presently she is serving as Acting Principal at Baptist Model High School, also in Jos. She has also been active in the Baptist Lydia missions organization for secondary school girls.Her husband, Durojaye has used his gifting to travel with Covenant Players, a Christian group of actors. He has directed for many years the Torchbearer Drama Group of Baptist High School, Jos. He has continued to serve other Christian schools and ministries. Currently he ministers as the Evangelism Director for the Philadelphia Baptist Association in Jos. He also leads the True Love Waits program in five Jos schools.
From the moment of Caleb’s birth, God established His call and protection over his blessed life. As his mother was nearing delivery, the power supply went out, so there was no light in the delivery room. His mother confesses she feared he might fall off the narrow birth bed. At the naming ceremony his father attempted to give him the name Aaron, but the grandfather insisted on Caleb. His mother gave him the name, Ituraoluwa (God’s Delight) based upon Zephaniah 3:17, honoring his Yoruba heritage and (RedzeBene) God’s Righteousness) giving tribute to his Irigwe heritage.
What a beautiful heritage to pray over their newborn baby boy. Caleb was led to faith in Christ by his mother, Hannatu, when he was in primary five (fifth grade) at Rechabites Christian Academy. Caleb had his share of childhood accidents, but God always brought healing. He graduated from Baptist High in Jos in 2020, where he was baptized. While at Baptist High he sang as a member of the choir, acted in the Torchbearer drama group, directed by his father, and also participated as a member of the Royal Ambassadors. Caleb is now a third year student at the University of Jos, studying Business Administration. He also plays the keyboard at his home church, Haske Baptist in Jos. In addition to this, God has given Caleb a gift for vividly capturing the personalities of people around him in his art work.
God honors his own people,
blessing them with multi-faceted
gifts and abilities,
to bring glory to His Name.
Art Work By Caleb Adeshina
As a young man, Caleb developed a strong dedication to body building and running. So, at a point, he felt God leading him to participate in the International ECOWAS (an inter-governmental developmental organization in West Africa) Marathon. Although he had never participated in such a race, he trusted the Lord and shared his desire to participate with his parents, who prayed, and asked for God to provide accommodations in Abuja, so he could complete his training there. When a friend’s parents agreed to do, Caleb’s father and mother gave their approval. He had actually begun his training four years earlier. He would rise each morning at 4:30 to go running for one hour. He timed himself and carefully computed the distance he needed to cover each week. He carefully made his weights himself and kept increasing the kilograms he was lifting until he reached fifty. He watched his diet carefully, reducing his carbohydrates and increasing his protein, eating soya beans, millet, eggs, groundnuts (peanuts) and beans. He also ate spinach, cabbage and other vegetables. So, on every front, Caleb persevered and accomplished every difficult task along the way to fulfill this particular call of God on his life.
Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV
Therefore, since we are surrounded
by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely,
and let us run with endurance the race
that is set before us, looking to Jesus,
the founder and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is seated
at the right hand of the throne of God.
When the race came, all of Caleb’s faithfulness to answer God’s Call and his determination paid off when he placed sixty-fifth out of over 700 runners. He certainly found God acting in his life as he did the hard work required to answer that Call, in spite of all the obstacles that would have made less trustworthy people excuse themselves and give up. Not only was this a victory for Caleb, but also for His God and his own faith, along with his parents and the entire family.
I believe Caleb’s accomplishments for the Kingdom will only increase as He lives up to the prayer his parents, divinely led, prayed forth for him a life of godly faithfulness, even as they named him. Oh, and by the way, Caleb is already planning and preparing for next year’s race. Some Nigerians would encourage him by saying, “More grease to your elbows!” That is, “Well done! Keep it up!”
HERE STANDS CALEB
Here stands another Caleb
standing tall and strong
relying on God’s own strength
and His dependable faithfulness
as he looks over all the hills
and the mountains he must
cross to reach God’s holy
Promised Land even
though He must expect
to fight mighty men and
giants as he conquers
in answer to God’s own Call,
in using God’s gifts and
abilities Holy Spirit breathed
securing through persistence
victories Heaven secures.
Caleb’s is one more example of God’s calling
and equipping His children to glorify Him
as they diligently work to make
God’s gifting a blessing to the people around them.
