(Part 1/2) I’m a man of many parts. From a professional point of view, I run an organisation called Inspiro Consulting. It’s an HR and career services organisation and has been running for 6 years. Prior to that, I had worked with different organisations in consulting and banking at senior management levels. Today, I do a lot of career coaching, counselling, and public speaking. I also ­pastor the Lekk­i arm of my church - Kingsword International Church. ­I'm an author of 5 published books.

The truth is, I wasn't alw­ays like this. I reme­mber some time ago, m­y mum called me and s­aid there was a frien­d of hers that wanted­ to speak with me. So­ the woman was given­ the phone. I knew her wh­en I was in Secondary­ school. This is how ­the conversation went­:

Mum's friend­: "Hello, is this Jim­i?"

Me­: "Good afternoon ma. How are you ma?"

Mum's friend­: "My children have b­een telling me about ­one Jimi Tewe that is­ going around talking­ everywhere and I was­ like it cannot be th­e same Jimi. Because ­the Jimi that I know ­cannot talk."

So, that is an exact picture of who I was­ growing up versus wh­o I am right now.

I am the 1st of 4 kid­s. I grew up in a r­egular nuclear family. My father is a lect­urer and my mum taught English Language - she later became a principal of several schools. For some reason, I grew up with a he­avy sense of poor ­self-esteem. I rememb­er I had a permissible ­excuse why I couldn't tal­k to people or why I couldn't an­swer questions in cla­ss - I­ was shy. So, shyness­ was my excuse. I coldn't even talk to a ­lady.

I wasn't too goo­d in my academics either; I ­was below average. In­ a class of 40, my pos­ition would be 20 som­ething. I remember wh­en I was 19th position. It was like a mirac­le. Meanwhile, my sibl­ings were always in the top three positions in their respective classes. The one after m­e was the head boy of­ the school. My sister wa­s head girl too. I, the eldest­ brother was always a­t the back of the cla­ss. So, I didn't feel­ I was smart. I was j­ust going through lif­e essentially.

(Part 2/2) I grew up in a Christian home and I got born again when I was ­in my 2nd year in Junior Secondary school (JSS2). In JSS3 we were about writing the ­exams that would take us to Senior Secondary School, but my dad was concerned about me. He got the Maths teacher, Mr Balogun from school to ­come be my home teacher because that was my worst subject. I just couldn't understand it. And in spite of that, I was still failing.

So I remember it was some weeks to the exams and my dad came to school to see Mr Ba­logun. My dad told him, “Mr Balogun, Jimi can't fail this exam o. Please o, does he need more classes?" And Mr Balogun had a startled look on his face and he said, "Jimi?­ Which exam? Maths? No o. Jimi will do very well." All the while he was speaking, I was wondering which Jimi they ­were talking about.

To my surprise, I ­finished the exams and I got just one A, and it was in Maths. That's where I learnt the place of believing in others and how that can transform people’s lives. Nobody had believed in me like that and ­I don't blame my parents because I had given them enough bad results. I don't know what Mr Balogun saw in me or why he said what he said, but I remember that his belief alone helped me. From there I said to myself, “I like Maths.” It changed my perspective.

I started getting better results, results I'd never had before in my entire destiny *laughs*. So, ­by the time I got to ­SS2, I wrote JAMB, WAE­C and I passed. I gained admission to the ­University of Ibadan ­and graduated with a ­2.1 CGPA in Agricultural Economics and the rest is history, though it ­is still being written.

(Part 1/2) My name is Samuel Olusegun Adepeleinde Obe. Adepeleinde means the crowned one that came last. I am the youngest child of my parents. My father was an ambassador of Nigeria to some African countries and my mum was a banker for many years. My dad died when I was 3 years old and my mum died about 21 years ago. I have just one sister and 3 brothers. I was that baby they didn't plan to have. Even the age gap between myself and my siblings bears witness to that, *laughs*.

I had a lot of challenges growing up as a man because I didn't have a father figure but the greatest challenge of all was the issue of identity crisis. You know when you don't even know yourself, you don't know how to love and you don't know how not to love. You're either very nice to everybody or you're very into yourself. I was more into myself. For a long time, I felt nobody really loved me and for many years I lived in my own world. The age gap between my siblings and I didn't make it easy so there was really nobody to talk to.

Some of the things I've probably not achieved today such as being married, are tied to my growing up. I was always secluded, always by myself not because anybody locked me in a room or something, but mentally I just wanted to find myself. At some point, I didn’t even know who I was but I thank God that my mum introduced me to church.

The first church that I ever entered was Four Square Gospel Church and my mum prayed me into that church. She always used to go to church but I never liked and never knew the reason or concept of church. I remember one day I was playing street football outside the house and she got back from church. I was still quite young then. She was walking in and looking at me and she just started crying. I could see the tears. I told my friends I would see them later and followed my mum inside.

When we got inside, I asked her why she was crying. One thing I had always told myself is that I would never want to see tears in my mother’s eyes. So I said, ''Mum why are you crying?'' She said, ''It's you.''

(Part 2/2) ''What have I done. How would I make you cry? You've been there for me and I love you. You're my mother'', I said to my mum. She replied, “You don't follow me to church.” Today in particular, she sat back and watched other people’s kids acting drama and singing. She knew her son was so talented and gifted, but for some reason was just wasting away, not using his gift anywhere. Now here were some kids doing an adulterated version of what her son does at home like a ‘joke’.

To cut the long story short, she was sad about that and she said to me, ''Look, I am sad and this has been a source of concern to me. I saw those kids and just wished that you were on that stage too.'' I said, ''Okay mum, promise me that if I follow you to church next Sunday, you will not cry anymore?'' She said, ''I promise.'' Her face lit up and I thought, “Wow this is my rock, she's happy again.”

I went to church. I got into the drama team, music team and practically all the teams. My mum was so proud. I remember her watching me sometimes and she would just cry; not tears of sorrow but of joy. I know that the day we laid her to rest, she was happy.

I'm still doing what my mum led me into. I'm still in Christ and God is good.

I gave my life to Christ at a very young age. I was 4 years old and it was quite an experience.

I woke up one night from a terrible nightmare that was tormenting and scary for a young child. In my fear, I screamed awake. Luckily for me, my aunt was in the same room and heard me scream from my sleep. She spoke to me about Jesus and led me to say the sinner’s prayer. She told me that Jesus was able to protect me, keep me and fight my battles. She calmed me down and I went back to bed only for me to continue the same dream.

In the dream, what I saw was a masquerade-like looking demon with eyes all over its body. It was trying to grab hold of me but I kept dodging and trying to avoid it. I couldn't hold it; I couldn't fight it. I screamed, ‘Jesus!’ in my sleep. I don't know where the power came from, but all of a sudden the demon was frozen like a statue, though all the eyes were still moving and looking at me. It couldn't move, it couldn't do anything; it couldn't reach or touch me. I woke up and realised the name of Jesus was the name above all names. 

I'm still born again today, over 20 years after this experience and trust me it hasn't been a simple journey. But the name of Jesus remains at the back of my mind. He’s the only one that can keep me and fight for me. Jesus is so real that every day I realise more and more that he is there, waiting for us to call his name and reach out to him. 

I started having nightmares when I was around 12 years old. They were so bad that I couldn't sleep at night without nightmares or night terrors. I was only able to sleep in the mornings so I would wake up very late. This went on for several years even till I entered a higher institution. And of course, my grades were badly affected, I was barely getting by in school.

I prayed and prayed to God but didn't see any change. All the while, I was a leader in my fellowship, but only a few knew what was happening to me. Then one day, I just got so distressed and tired, so I told God I was leaving school and fellowship and wouldn't come back except something changed. And it did!

God reached out to me through someone who encouraged me and said that God had heard my prayers, and I just needed to follow a specific instruction which was to sow a seed. I did so, and kept praying.

A week after this, the nightmares stopped. My grades started improving remarkably and I graduated from school. Now I sleep comfortably and soundly through the night. Indeed, he gives his beloved sleep!

RCCG HOLY GHOST CONGRESS 2016

I thank God for the previous Holy Ghost Congresses I've attended. They've been awesome. There have been great testimonies, signs and wonders. When I came to camp, I prayed that God should heal my mum and she was healed. In the years that I've been coming to camp, God has never let me down. He has helped me achieve a lot of things especially concerning my education and career. I just appreciate him for everything. He's worthy. 

So far, the Holy Ghost Congress has been full of testimonies. I thank God for all he has done in my life. Every time I come here with an expectation, God answers me. I thank him for all he has been doing in the life of Pastor E.A. Adeboye. I thank God for the new auditorium. God has really been faithful. 

It’s always awesome being at the Holy Ghost Congress. There’s always one experience or the other. For me, I can't afford to miss it because I get renewed spiritually. Each time I come it's new and God is always doing something fresh in my spiritual life. I see an impartation of power and apart from that, God has been faithful to me. It's not something to miss. 

This is my first time attending the RCCG Holy Ghost Congress. It's been awesome and beautiful. It's also been highly impactful. The ministers were on point. The choir, oh my! I love the organisation as well. The security and sanitation guys were great. God is speaking and men are speaking. When men yield their wills to God, God can speak through them and that's exactly what is happening here. I bless God for the vessels. Daddy G.O is amazing, his fatherly attitude and leadership are great. A man from Kenya came to share how we enjoy his leadership in Africa. I thought that's massive. In the faith, we know we have a father. It's been awesome.

God is so faithful. I thank him for everything, but I'm still believing him for one major breakthrough. When I came here, God still favoured me. I didn't believe I would get an accommodation here at camp, but I got one. I thank him for comfort. When Daddy G.O ministered, he mentioned my case and I believe God has settled it and in no due time it would manifest in my life.

We are siblings. I’m Heritage and he’s Ore my elder brother.

Heritage: I was born into the Redeemed church. Over the years, I've had different experiences. But this year in particular, I just began to feel a new realm. Everything has been going so smoothly since we came to camp on Monday. We had some issues with our car on our way but we just knew that we were coming here for something. Once we came it was so obvious to our family that something is happening. We’ve been seeking God for direction in our family, but by Friday morning after we did a prayer walk around camp, I can say there's a direction God has given to us and I'm grateful.

Ore: This Congress has been wonderful. God's presence has been so strong since day 1. It has just been like a progressive build up. Different revelations have been coming. And really, it's not only about knowing the Bible, this one is more about the experience, the actual connection with the Father. That's exactly what I've been experiencing and it has been growing deeper and stronger.

SHILOH 2016

The first day at SHILOH 2016 was really exciting. I had a great time and God's presence was so strong. The following day was also a continuum of what happened on the first day. My expectation basically, is to find direction. Almost like a sequential guideline of how my life should go from here. That's why I also got this book, 'Understanding Vision'. I feel like if you know where God wants you to go and how you should go about it; every other thing will fall in place.

I've had multiple SHILOH experiences. To me, SHILOH simply means an encounter with God. I remember the first time I came here; I was unemployed trusting God for a job. When I got here I got a word from Bishop David Oyedepo. He said, "You will get different jobs. People from far and near will be willing to employ you, and you are going to begin to employ other people as well." I keyed into this word and 2 to 3 months after, I got called for a job; 3 jobs in fact. I was now left with the option of choosing which one. 

I've had many diverse testimonies come out from here; testimonies on healing, breakthrough and even salvation. 

I started coming to Shiloh in 2005. At the time, I was an undergraduate. Now I have graduated, I run my business and things are going fine. But one thing about SHILOH is every time I come, it's a platform to prepare for the next year.

I remember SHILOH 2011 was a very significant one for me. I came back from NYSC without having a clue of what to do. I had some encounters at SHILOH that culminated in me starting my business in 2012 and from there the business has been growing and God has been showing Himself faithful. Also, spiritually there are some revelations that have been dropping here. It's a wonderful experience. I can't start highlighting them one after the other, but know this; this is a place to be.

This is my 2nd time attending SHILOH. It's been a time of pleasant experiences. And today I know by the grace of God I'm going home with all my answered prayers. Bishop Oyedepo has said it's a mountain of answered prayers and I believe him because I believe God and His Word. So, I'm full of expectations for this year’s SHILOH. 

I attended a public secondary school and throughout my time in school, I never saw a computer. We only did theory but never practiced with an actual computer. So I picked up an interest in computers and ICT. I had to fight my way through learning how to use a computer. I would sit in cyber cafes, watch people type and keep looking until I became pretty knowledgeable.

I attended the Daystar Leadership Academy (DLA) and Pastor Sam Adeyemi taught us a lot about helping and empowering people. My pastor also used to talk about reaching out to students so I thought I could impact them by introducing ICT to students in public schools. Before this period, I had already volunteered with some NGOs, so I understood what it takes to be a volunteer. I wanted to volunteer my own services and do the little I could to help kids. I approached one of the NGOs I had volunteered with before and told them what I wanted to do. They liked the idea so we started with 20 kids. I put them in an air-conditioned place to make them feel like ‘honourables’, away from their regular classrooms.

We needed about 20 laptops so we could give each child a laptop. Buying them was very expensive and a few friends donated some laptops. I repaired them and each child had a laptop to work with. A lot of friends volunteered, and we had them train the kids on how to use Word, PowerPoint and Excel. I had other friends who are professionals in their fields train the students on soft works, financials, project management, career development and so on. So besides ICT, we also trained them on other important areas of life.

The whole experience has been life changing for me, and I learnt a lot from the kids. These kids mean a lot to me as well as everyone who volunteered. After the training, the best male and best female during the training received their own laptop. We've got wonderful support from friends and family and even the church. Next year, we plan to move from 20 kids to 1000 kids. I’m confident we can achieve that goal.

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