- Sam Adeyemi, the renowned Nigerian pastor, has been conspicuously absent from his ministry’s central hub in Nigeria for years.
- Recently, he shed light on the whirlwind decision to uproot his life and move to the United States.
- Adeyemi revealed that the catalyst for their abrupt relocation was a relentless barrage of ominous dreams that plagued both him and his wife.
- These unsettling nocturnal visions, coupled with a slew of other pressing concerns, left them with little choice but to make a swift exit to safer shores.
The esteemed senior pastor of Daystar Christian Center, Sam Adeyemi, has finally lifted the veil on the reasons behind his significant move to the United States.
In a revealing episode of the Mic On Podcast, Adeyemi delved into the details of his family’s relocation, which occurred during the tumultuous early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The 57-year-old pastor revealed that they were on the verge of planning their return to Nigeria when violence erupted during the #EndSARS protests against police brutality.
Adeyemi, a vocal critic of the authorities’ heavy-handed response, was among the notable figures who condemned the police for using bullets and tear gas to disperse peaceful protesters.
During the interview, Sam Adeyemi shared that every time he and his wife, Pastor Nike Adeyemi, selected dates to return to Nigeria, they would be plagued by “bad dreams” forewarning of something terrible befalling them.
These recurring nightmares were so disturbing that Adeyemi felt compelled to call a meeting with the leaders of Daystar Christian Center to discuss the unsettling developments.
In this pivotal Zoom meeting, Adeyemi said himself and the church leaders deliberated on the best course of action. It was ultimately decided that the church would continue its operations smoothly while he remained in the United States.
“When COVID-19 started, all our children were in the US, so everyone stayed with their families. We stayed with our children. The week services resumed was when EndSARS started, so we were preparing to return to Nigeria. When the EndSARS protests ended in violence, we stayed back a bit,” he said.
“When we were ready to return to Nigeria, a different experience altogether happened. My wife had a dream in which she travelled to Nigeria and returned to the US, which was a bad dream. I told her I would not say I liked this dream. Three days later, I had a dream.
“We both travelled to Nigeria in my dream, and I was in a big fight. I was being attacked violently and had to ask the Holy Spirit in my heart what to do. He said I should call the name of Jesus Christ. I shouted ‘in the name of Jesus Christ’ in the dream and didn’t realise I shouted out loud in real life.
“My wife woke me up at 2:00am by hitting me and asking what was going on. We decided to take it seriously, especially considering a dream we had three days earlier. We prayed fervently, sensing danger.
“Three hours later, I fell back asleep and had another dream. We were in Nigeria this time, and I was in a fight.
“A few days later, we called family members in Nigeria, and one person said I’m feeling very uncomfortable about you travelling to Nigeria.’ We called another family member who said, ‘I feel uncomfortable about you coming. What is going on?’
“We just turned and looked at each other, pondering the situation. Then I said, ‘You know what? I’ve been a Christian for 40 years. At this point, if God is speaking to me, I should have an idea that it is God speaking. Something is going on. I don’t know what it is, but I want to pray more.
“And at that point, we called a meeting of all the leaders in Daystar Christian Center, the top 120 leaders on Zoom. They said you’ve never deceived us before. If God asks you to stay, stay as long as He directs. We’ll continue this journey.
“Six months, we were still in the US, one year, tearing me apart. I discovered that until COVID-19, I’d been out of Nigeria for eight weeks. To now be away when you had the church with 40,000 members.”
WATCH HIM SPEAK BELOW
Adeyemi is married to Nike and they are blessed with three children.