Years ago, Pastor Sam Adeyemi faced a sobering truth. After conducting a demographic study around Daystar Christian Centre to understand the people living within five kilometers of the church, its most immediate catchment area, one result stood out: poverty ranked as the number one challenge. It was a wake-up call. At the time, most of the church’s teachings on financial breakthrough centered on giving—how to give, where to give, and who to give to. But as Adeyemi painfully realized, many people simply had nothing to give. That moment triggered a desperate prayer: “Lord, what can I teach them to help them get the money in the first place?”
From Visa Rejections to Global Leadership Coach: The Remarkable Journey of Sam Adeyem
His answer came through Scripture, specifically 2 Kings chapter 4. The story of the widow whose prophet husband died in debt, leaving her and her sons at the mercy of creditors, began to speak to him in new and powerful ways. The prophet Elisha asked the widow, “What do you have in your house?” and she answered, “Nothing except a small jar of oil.” That tiny jar became the starting point of her miracle. For Adeyemi, the lesson was clear: God will never allow you to get to a point where there is nothing around you He can use to move you to the next level. You are not as poor as you think. There is something.
Inspired by that passage, he began teaching entrepreneurship, not from a business school framework, but from a prophetic, Scripture-based perspective. The message was simple but radical: find the small jar, recognize the value of what you have, serve others with it, and watch the miracle unfold. From that moment, the direction of his ministry shifted. Twenty-four years ago, he began holding early morning entrepreneurial classes every Sunday at 7 a.m. People from various churches showed up. They learned how to build businesses, solve problems, and meet needs. Some went on to become millionaires. Others, billionaires.
A firm believer in the biblical call to economic empowerment, Adeyemi began to see the word “sell” everywhere in Scripture. “The prophet didn’t give her money, he gave her a product to sell,” he said. That realization became a foundational truth. In his words, “The only thing that keeps you broke is self-centeredness. Find a need to fill. Take your small jar and pour into others. When you serve, the oil flows. When you stop meeting needs, the miracle stops.”
One powerful example he shared was that of a young engineering student from the University of Lagos who began attending the entrepreneurial classes while still broke. That student later won a scholarship, completed his master’s degree in Europe, worked in the oil and gas industry, earned a PhD, moved to the United States, and eventually bought a construction company. For Adeyemi, this is what happens when people are empowered with the knowledge to create wealth.
But entrepreneurship, in his view, isn’t just a personal journey, it’s a national mandate. He emphasizes that while not everyone will start a business, everyone must learn entrepreneurial skills. With Artificial Intelligence disrupting jobs and robots taking over repetitive tasks, Adeyemi says originality, divine talent, and creative problem-solving are now more vital than ever. The traditional education system, he argues, was designed for the Industrial Age, not the digital era. “We’re returning to the days when families had businesses and children learned skills,” he says. “Today’s future is flexible. People will contract with multiple companies. Entrepreneurial thinking is not optional, it’s necessary.”
Under his leadership, Daystar Christian Centre has become a training ground for such thinking. Through platforms like the Daystar Leadership Academy, which he founded in 2002, over 40,000 people have been trained in leadership, enterprise, and organization building. The Daystar Academy includes schools for Membership, Maturity, Ministry, and Mission, while its Skill Acquisition Programme equips participants with practical skills beyond academic certificates. The Daystar Business Academy offers further insight into launching and managing profitable ventures.
Sam Adeyemi is no stranger to leadership development. For more than two decades, he has trained thousands of individuals, including top CEOs, through seminars, workshops, and public speaking. He holds a Master of Arts in Leadership Studies from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom and a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership from Regent University in Virginia, United States. He is also a member of the International Leadership Association. Through his global consulting firm, Sam Adeyemi GLC, Inc., he mentors emerging leaders and advises organizations on transformational leadership across the world.
His global voice has echoed in countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, South Africa, and India. Notably, in 2015 and 2017, he was a featured speaker at the Global Leadership Summit, one of the world’s largest gatherings of leaders, attended by more than 400,000 people across 130 countries. Sam Adeyemi is also the principal consultant of Sam Adeyemi GLC, Inc., a global leadership consulting company with the mission to raise high-impact leaders to shape the fortunes and destinies of nations. He is married to Nike Adeyemi, a social entrepreneur, and they are blessed with children.
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Still, Adeyemi’s message remains rooted in his earliest revelation: miracles begin when people sell, not just pray for, what they have. “You need something to sell,” he often repeats. “In God’s economy, the flow begins when you serve, when you fill a need, when you offer value. You are not a liability. You have oil in your house.”
As Nigeria and much of the world face increasing economic pressures, Adeyemi’s message of faith-fueled enterprise is gaining renewed urgency. “Ask yourself: What are you selling?” he says. “Because the miracle is not just in prayer, it’s in the pouring.”
