"My father was a Methodist born and bred in Dahomey (now Republic of Benin). His Father,
OJO, and his mother, KOSHINA, came from Abeokuta in Nigeria to Dasatre where they settled.
The artificial boundary between Nigeria and Dahomey set up by Europeans meant that my father
was - a Dahomean. His name was OSHOFFA (this is obtained from 'OJU KI ISE OFA TI OTA LE
TA BANI KA SUBU, or, for short, 'OJU KO SO FA", which was shortened further to OSOFA' in
Yoruba' language; and it means, in English, 'the human eye is not a missile that an enemy can fire
at one to make one fall'). He had many wives each of whom bore him up to five to six children.
All the children were, however, female and only one survived. This made him entreat God
according to Methodist doctrine: '0 Lord if, thou would give me a boy, I shall give him up to thy
service just as Hannah and Elkana did". As a result, I was born in 1909 in Porto Novo of a
Nigerian mother named ALAKE IYAFO from IMEKO Egbado Division,' Abeokuta Province. I
was named SAMUEL and also BILEWU (BILEAIYEBAWU KOGBE, SUGBON MO MO WIPE
MO TI TORO RE LODO OLORUN) which means 'if you prefer to live in this world, then you are
welcome but if you prefer to live above in heaven, then you are equally welcome to go, but I know
I specially requested for you from God'
"In fulfilment of my father's vow to God, I was sent at the age of seven for God's service to a
Methodist Catechist MOSES YANSUNU, father of Evangelist NATHANIEL YANSUNU of our
Church. Because my father was not happy with the way I was treated he brought me back home
and later sent me at the age of thirteen to stay with Revd. Bishop David Hodonu Loco, the
Methodist Bishop of Porto Novo, formerly of Methodist Church, Olowogbowo, Lagos, Nigeria. I
was there with some other children. After a number of years, Rev. D. H. Loco was replaced by
Bishop Garner from London. The new Bishop ordered that we pupils should participate in making
blocks for a new College building. We all refused and so he sent us all back to our parents. When I
got back home, my father admonished me that I was different from the others because he had
specially requested for me from God and so I had to do the work. Whereupon he took me back to
the Bishop, but the Bishop would not reverse his decision. Whereupon, my father said there was
no alternative but that I should learn to be a carpenter like himself.
"I became proficient as a carpenter. I was good at roofing buildings, wood planing and
working with ebony which I bought regularly from a friend. I kept on working happily as a
carpenter until my father died on June 15th, 1939.
"After my father's death, I continued to bear the burden until December 1946 when I decided
that I would henceforth trade in ebony. I would myself go into the forest to purchase ebony and
bring this into the town to sell to carpenters. I began this trade, going into the forest areas in search
of ebony. I bought it cheaply and brought it to town to sell at a premium. I continued this lucrative
trade until one such trip in May 1947 during the floods. As usual I had my Bible with me. I also
loved much to pray.
"On the 23rd May 1947, the day of the eclipse of the sun, as I was praying in the forest on this
trip, I heard a voice and could not open my eyes. The voice I beard was 'LULI', and the same
voice told me 'This means The Grace of Jesus Christ'. When I opened my eyes, I saw a white
monkey with two teeth each top and bottom with winged hands and feet like those of a bat. When
it wants to fly, it flaps its wings forward. But it was stationary. I saw a bird with yellow feet,
yellow beak and long tail. It would sometimes fan out its tail like a peacock does, and it was
rnulti-coloured. It was also stationary. I also saw a short snake about one foot long. As it stood
stationary, it was coiled and its mouth was puffed like a cobra. When I heard this voice, I noticed I
felt quite different from my normal self. I now found myself toying with the snake. The bird stood
for a time and then went into the bush. The monkey also flew away and I then noticed that there
was a complete change in me.
