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| Pastor E.O. Medaiyese |
By ‘Gbenga Bankole
Christ Apostolic Church is blessed with ministers who serve
the church sacrificially. One of such ministers is the pioneer Regional
Superintendent of Anosike (Europe) Region, Pastor Emmanuel Oluwasegun Medaiyese.
Pastor Medaiyese was born on the 16th of January,
1946 in Kogi state. The cleric told the story himself in this interview;
When and where were you born?
I was born in 1943 in a little village called Ogale in Kogi
State Nigeria. My father is from Ayere and my mother is from Ogidi both in
Ijumu LGA of Kogi State, Nigeria.
What was your upbringing like?
I spent most of my childhood in Ogale before absconding to
Kabba at age 17 in 1950 when I could no longer bear the ill treatment I was
subjected to where I was staying with a relative. I trekked from Ogale to Kabba
on a journey that spanned almost a whole day. At 17, I had neither academic nor
apprenticeship training.
On getting to Kabba I decided to learn Carpentry for about
two years under strict and difficult condition because my master was very cruel
and mean.
I left Kabba back to my mother’s village in Ogidi. There was
a prior pronouncement that I must walk into my mother’s town on my own volition
and should never be brought by anyone. I walked into Ogidi; though my mum was
not around then, I located my grandmother’s house divinely without any prior
knowledge of the place nor guidance from anyone. My grandmother welcomed me and
served me a piece of meat which was the only meal I had for the whole day. After the visit, I left the place, I went
back to my father; on sighting him, I greeted him well but his response was
cold and unwelcoming. When I noticed it; I went to one of his brothers to
explain to him and he decided to come with me to my father; my father told him
he was unhappy with me because, where I went to was without his consent. I went
back to my mother’s family place and went back to Kabba on the same day. On
getting to Kabba, I gathered all my clothes and other possessions and set them
ablaze so I could be left with nothing to look up to in Kabba then I went back
to my father’s place and started farming which I did for almost three years and
also did some petty trading.
How did you manage to
get out and start a new living?
When I was with my dad, whenever I come back from the farm,
I will sit in front of my dad starring at him; this was my practice until this
faithful day when my uncle Pastor J.O. Medaiyese, the 3rd CAC General
Superintendent (1964-1975) came visiting, he was my dad’s elder brother. When
he saw me, he asked my dad, what’s your son doing here? My dad responded that;
he’s living with me; he didn’t tell him that I was farming because that would
have infuriated him. He then asked me to go inside and get all by belongings
and he brought me to Akure in 1960.
In 1961 at my uncle’s place, his only daughter sat me down
for a long chat in which she advised me to go to school and do something
meaningful with my life as all I know to do was just to cook all day for people
and nothing else; that’s the more reason I’m a good cook; I used to do loads of
cooking those days; I was responsible for making food for all of my uncle’s
guests.
I felt so down after the conversation then went to my uncle;
knelt down before him and made my request that I want to go to school, my uncle
answered back “oh so you just realised that you need to go to school?” he then
gave me a note to give to the principal of St James primary school Oke Isegun
in Akure were I spent 4 years; I was the oldest in the entire school, I was in
fact older than most of my teachers. When I left St. James’, I proceeded to
Commercial School Ilesha which I left in December 1969 to Lagos at the
invitation of my elder brother.
Kindly tell us about
how God called you?
When I got to Lagos, I was involved in so many things to
make ends meet; after a while I fell sick and I was rejected by my brother who
denied that he was the one that asked me to come to Lagos.
Through the help of God, I moved to Tonade Street (Ikeja) in
Lagos to live with Pastor Agbonifo. Prior to then, there have been several
prophecies concerning me that I was going to be a minister of God which I
wasn’t completely disposed to. I was with him for about 15 years.
My Ministerial work started around 1978 which was the year I
was first granted visa to study abroad but was unfortunately sent back at the
point of entry. I returned to Nigeria to continue my ministerial tutelage
before I was recommended to study at the CAC Theological Seminary, Ile-Ife in
1981. I can vividly remember my first day at the Seminary, as I was coming in,
one of the seniors called me and asked for my name; I told him I’m Emmanuel
Oluwasegun Medaiyese; he said, oh you are the son of our father Medaiyese? He
asked me to drop my baggage and handed me a bucket to go fetch water for him
which I obliged, when I came back with the water, he collected the bucket and
poured the water away; he said, he only wanted to test me if I was going to
obey him or not.
I was known at the seminary for my forthrightness and for
always speaking out against wrong doings which pitched me against some people.
How did you
eventually come to London after your first refusal?
While I was at the seminary, I was the typist for the
school. I was in the office one day when a member of staff from the ordination
department came with a letter and begged me to type the letter for him. He said
he wanted to apply to International Bible Training Institute (IBTI) in UK; I
typed the letter and I gave it to him. When the man left, something just said
to me that; “you can as well make a copy of the letter for yourself; just change
the address and put your own name” which was exactly what I did. Fortunately, I
was granted the admission; though there were obstacles with some people
unwilling to let me proceed but with the help and persuasion of Miss Pearse, I
was eventually allowed to go. I had financial difficulties and at a point I was
advised to transfer my admission to someone else which I vehemently refused but
to the glory of God and unflinching support of my wife; we were able to gather
some money. I then went to Pastor Akande in Ile-Ife who promised to bring me to
London. I entered London in 1985 with a month visa that was granted at the
point of entry.
I studied for 2 years at International Bible Training
Institute (IBTI). I was loved by everyone at the college and also obtained
favour from God.
How did you locate
CAC in London?
During my studies at IBTI, I was not permitted to work but I
needed to work to sustain myself and family back at home. One day on my way
back from work, I was stopped by police and when they searched me, they found
an ID with me which was an indication that I was working; they took me to their
station around Jamaica road where I was detained for a while. When I was
released, I looked haggard and disoriented but proceeded to CAC Seven Sisters
which was my initial destination before my arrest. I met with Pastor Adeusi and
explained my plight to him; he extended hand of fellowship to me and would
often send me money in college from the little given to him. He was very
supportive and he showed me so much love.
When were you
ordained as a Pastor?
24th August 1988, I was the first person to be ordained a
Pastor in Christ Apostolic Church, UK under the leadership of Pastor Adeusi.
Tell us about C.A.C
Surrey Docks – How did it start?
After my studies, I moved fully to London and was with Baba
Adeusi at Seven Sisters. Myself, Baba
and few others notably among them was Elder Fasuan (of blessed memory); we
started a prayer session on the 1st of May 1987. After one of the prayer
sessions as I was going back home and walking towards the underground station
in Seven Sisters, God spoke to me that, if I refuse to do the work he has
placed in my hands, he would replace me. My plan then was to go back to Nigeria
to start my own ministry; I had bought all the equipment and instruments I
would need to start my ministry in Nigeria but God’s plan for me was different
from my own plan. It was that prayer that gave birth to CAC Surrey Docks
We had our first service on Sunday 7th June 1987 at Silwood
Estate Bermondsey London; our attendance was 63 congregants and first offering
collected on the day was £190:00; the first announcement was written by Pastor
Adeusi after which I took over from him.
We moved to St Mary’s church in Dec 1989 where we rented for
a while before we finally bought our own property at 163 Ilderton Road, South
Bermondsey London. It was then an abandoned church building that has been left
unoccupied for almost 25 years; we bought it and got it renovated; that’s the
building we are still using till today.
What were the
challenges the church faced at inception?
Our main challenge was a place of worship; it was very
difficult to get a property as no one was willing to sell to us; they
complained that we were too many and had several cars and that we would be
making so much noise but to the glory of God, we surmounted all obstacles.
Do you have any plan
for life after retirement?
I cannot disclose this for now however, I will still be in
the ministry and will continue to support the work of God.
What would you like
to be remembered for when you eventually retire?
I would love people to remember all the good and presumed
bad things I did. For them to emulate the good ones and learn from my mistakes
and not to make such.
Would you be happy to
see churches under Surrey Docks such as Welling, Leyton and others become
districts or you prefer them to remain within one district (Surrey Docks)
forever?
It depends on how they run the course. If it’s properly
channelled with the correct process and on acceptable agreement by all. I would
like to remind the pastors of the various branches that the churches they head
do not belong to them. All of the churches are integral part of Surrey Docks.
What is your advice
to the political leaders in the world, most especially Nigeria and Britain?
We need to return back to God! People are no more faithful
to God nor truthful to each other; We can only continue to pray for our nations
for God’s intervention. I will admonish our leaders to have the fear of God and
serve the people who elected them faithfully.
Being a full time Pastor, how do you balance ministerial work with your
family life?
I have a covenant with God that I will serve Him for the
rest of my life; God gave me the grace and wisdom which is sustaining me in
balancing my family life and ministry. My wife is very supportive and I can
never forget her. If it’s possible to remember someone after we have left this
world; I won’t ever forget my wife for her, commitment, faithfulness and
dedication to the ministry
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