By Dr. Ogochukwu Soludo
My first encounter with Pastor Segun Isaac Adediran was at Sampou Mission Field in July 1995. Sampou was and still is one of the riverine communities of Bayelsa State.
I was on my way to *Asaingbene (Izon) Field* for my field practical exposure term, a requirement for our cross cultural missionary training at the CMF School of Missions, Idere, Oyo State.
Night caught up with me at *Kalama Field.* I stopped over and passed the night at the mission house there under the care of Pastor John Imobisa (now late).
He had no food in the house that night. We just prayed, committed ourselves to God and slept like little babies.
The following day, he took me to the nearby Sampou Field to meet with Pastor Segun whom God was using mightily to do great exploits in Izon (Ijaw) Mission Fields.
It was a memorable encounter we had sharing fellowship together. I saw in Segun a perfect example of one who had given up everything else for the cause of Christ.
Said he, *”I gave my life to Jesus June 4.1986; got baptized in water and in the Holy Spirit around 1987; was called into mission in 1988.The first place the Lord led me to was my own village, called Fajoye. The mission church is still there today. There, I joined Christian Missionary Foundation and went to the school of missions 1991~92 trained as a career missionary and also served with CMF for 15 years. I served in the riverine area of Bayelsa State: Kalama for two years and eight months; and then in Sampou for five years. Then, I relocated to Ibadan where I served for three years, pastoring at the Chapel of Missions before moving over to Ologuna Mission Field to serve for 18 months, etc.”*
Pastor Segun’s field labour in Sampou and elsewhere has yielded tangible dividends, producing many standing disciples, pastors and missionaries that are standing and serving in many different mission fields.
At Sampou, there was a massive revival which shook the land in the mid 90s leading to the conversion of the chief priest of the village, Pa Festus Omomolegha (now late).
He abandoned his shrine and turned to Christ, and with him multitudes of other former idol worshippers, men, women and children.
So many young men who previously belonged to the dreaded Egbesu Cult and prided themselves in their occult prowess likewise embraced the gospel, with a great number of them eventually becoming missionaries and are still standing and bearing fruit till today.
I vividly recall that day, 34 years ago, when, after my first fellowship meeting with Pastor Segun in Sampou, his Mission Field, the former chief priest, whom he had personally converted to Christianity, came to me for counseling and deliverance prayer.
He wanted to free himself completely from the stranglehold of the Mermaid of Sea, to whom he had been married spiritually when he occupied the office of chief priest of the community.
He was supported effectively and was also greatly enriched by the queen of the mermaid world with resources from the sea and the marine kingdom.
Following his conversion, however, the mermaid threatened him with severe retribution should he fail to return to her service.
I strengthened him with the scriptures and ministered to him accordingly.
Thereafter, it was time to proceed on my journey to the next mission field of Polaku through Kayama, and the only route was to paddle across the Taylor Creek and the River Nun, and I neither could swim, nor was there any live jacket available for me to wear in case of any mishap.
It was a very risky undertaking, but the Master’s command must be obeyed. As a visiting missionary had once said, “If the cause is right and really important, then the cost is totally irrelevant!”
Segun put his life on the line and offered to paddle me across hungry river in one rickety wooden boat that lay nearby.
Was I scared, you ask?
Hmm! I was scared stiff, even to my marrow.
You needed to hear the cacophony sound as my heart pounded hard against my rib cage.
It was a moment of decision for me. Remember that I had just caused a lawful captive of the Marine kingdom to be freed from their grip, and now to attempt to pass through what might pass for the mermaid’s own stronghold!
As the sun shone brilliantly above, it’s rays, like the fiery darts of a monstrous beast, starred back at me from the reflection on the surface of the sea.
The boat likewise danced around uncontrollably in zigzag formations, as if in a haste to cast some needless burden overboard or some excess baggage for that matter.
But Segun remained calm and unruffled. He was not scared like me, not in the least, from all that I could see.
May be he too was afraid but it didn’t show. He kept smiling, as he perched precariously at the tip of the boat, bailing out water from the swollen belly of what looked to me like a wooden coffin; that boat ride was like a blow to the face or bang on the head.
“Segun!” I called out to him in my utter trepidation. “Can you swim,?” I asked
“No!”
“How come you’re so calm and composed?” I asked.
“Because I am strongly persuaded that the Lord is able and will take us safely to shore,” was his calm reply.
Then, I mustered boldness and joined him in the boat, with my heart in my mouth, singing the pilgrims songs, as we set sail, Segun and I, like Barnabas and Paul of old, in that missionary expedition to spread the light of the gospel and the love of Christ to regions beyond the sea.
It is 36 years now, since Pastor Segun Isaac Adediran laid his hands on the plough, and picked up the gauntlet of missions, yet his zeal for the Lord, his passion for the lost, has not abated.
Together with his wife, Salome, and their four daughters, Pelumi, Bisiogo, Eden and Iyanu, he is still zealous as ever in taking the light of the gospel further afield, preaching, teaching and reaching out to the unreached in the rural areas across three states in the south western part of Nigeria, namely: Oyo, Ondo and Osun States, where they have successfully established five mission fields and discipleship outposts, targeting the least evangelzed places in rural areas and neglected parts of the city, like army barracks, farm settlements and remote villages: Dagi (Oyo State), Idanre, Ominifon, Rumuje (Ondo State), Otan Ayegbju (Osun State) for evangelism and soul winning, open air crusades, medical missions/film shows, empowerment and skill acquisition, discipleship programs, trainings, prayers and intercession and counseling, etc.
Currently operating under the ministry known as Grace Missions International (GMI), the Adedirans, like most other African missionaries, live by faith (Rom. 10: 17, Heb.1: 2). They have to trust God wholeheartedly and depend on him for provision of all their necessities.
God has helped them greatly. They have impacted the body of Christ by their exemplary conduct in the field as well as their total commitment to the cause of Christ and His kingdom, spanning over three decades of faithful service in the fields; by their labour of love and patience of hope in the face of many daunting challenges.
Their first daughter, Pelumi has graduated from the university and is about to get married. The other three are at different levels in their educational careers, trusting God to continue making ways for them.
Here is a list of things that the Adedirans are trusting God for in other to strengthen their arms as well as enhance their operational efficiency and effectiveness in the field:
i Prayer and financial partners
ii Scholarship for their children
iii A laptop and rechargeable projector
iv Two motorcycles
v Rechargeable box speakers
vi Funding support for their monthly outreaches.
For further information on how you can support or be a blessing to the ministry of Segun and Salome Adediran, please contact:
Dr. Ogochukwu Soludo
(General Missions Director)
African Missionary Empowerment Network (AMEN) Ltd/Gte.
osoludo@gmail.com
+2348138979654; +2348088722221