Sam Adeyemi, Founder and Senior Pastor of Daystar Christian Centre, has shed light on his reasons for relocating to the United States.
During a virtual interview on the ‘Mic On’ podcast with Seun Okinbaloye, Adeyemi discussed his move amidst broader themes of leadership and the role of Nigeria’s younger generation.
The one hour, thirty-minute, and forty-seven-second video streamed on the Mic On YouTube channel on Sunday, detailed Adeyemi’s reflections on the need for Nigeria’s older generation to step up and make the country work, emphasizing the growing impatience of the youth.
Adeyemi revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic, the EndSARS protests, and troubling dreams about Nigeria were pivotal in his decision to relocate.
“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,” he explained.
However, after the EndSARS protests ended in violence, plans to return were delayed.
“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 wouldn’t say I liked this dream,” he shared.
Days later, Adeyemi himself had a similarly disturbing dream. “I was in a big fight… I was being attacked violently… I shouted ‘in the name of Jesus Christ’ in the dream and didn’t realise I shouted out loud in real life.” His wife woke him up, concerned, which led them to take the dreams seriously.
Despite setting dates and booking flights to return to Nigeria, Adeyemi continued to experience unsettling dreams about danger awaiting them. “A few days later, we called family members in Nigeria… one 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.”
Acknowledging the divine warnings, Adeyemi called a Zoom meeting with the top 120 leaders of Daystar Christian Centre. “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,” he stated.
This decision led to an extended stay in the US, an initially challenging adjustment for Adeyemi, who had not been away from Nigeria for such a long period. “Six months later, we were still in the US for 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,” he noted.
Despite the challenges, Adeyemi highlighted the resilience and strength of Daystar Christian Centre, attributing it to strong systems and training investments. “I’m passionate about building systems so the church does not collapse. It is fantastic, and we call it an organisational miracle. It was almost three years before we had the Holy Spirit’s clearance to return to Nigeria.”
The experience eventually led Adeyemi to shift his focus towards a global mission while maintaining the operations of Daystar. “The Holy Spirit wanted me to shift my focus from just being the pastor of a local church to that global walk that I had known that I would do. So right now, the focus shift is to do that global walk while we keep Daystar running, leveraging technology.”
Daystar Christian Centre, inaugurated on November 18, 1995, in Lagos State, has since expanded with branches across various states in Nigeria.
