Life and Ministry Exploit of Archbishop Benson Idahosa

Idahosa, Benson Andrew
1938 to 1998
Church of God Mission International
Inc.
Nigeria
His Early Christian Ministry
Testimony
As a young Christian, I once heard
my pastor say during a morning
service that Christians could raise
the dead in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I believed it with all
my heart. And flying around on my
bicycle in those days, I went
through the city of Benin in search
of a dead person to raise to life.
After about five hours of hard
searching I found a compound
where a little girl had died a few
hours before. The corpse had been
cleaned and prepared for burial. I
walked boldly up to the father of the
dead child. "The God whom I serve
can bring your baby back to life," I
told him. "Will you permit me to
pray for the child and bring her back
to life?" The man was startled, but
he agreed. With great enthusiasm, I
walked into the room and up to the
bed. The child was cold and dead.
With strong faith in the Lord, I called
on the Lord to restore the child back
to life. I turned to the corpse and
called it by name, "Arise in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ." Oh
Glory to God! The corpse sneezed,
heavily, alas. The child had come
back to life! (Benson Idahosa)
Benson Idahosa's Childhood
Benson Andrew Idahosa was born in
Benin City on September 11, 1938
of Apoor pagan parents. He was a
sickly infant who was always
fainting. As a result of his constant
illness his father ordered the mother
to throw him in the dust bin. When
he was eighteen months old he was
left on a rubbish heap to die. He
was rejected by his father, sent to
work on a farm as a servant and
was denied education until he was
fourteen years old. His education
was irregular due to the poor
financial status of his parents. He
later took correspondence courses
from Britain and the United States
while working in Bata Shoe
Company.
His Conversion and Call to the
Ministry
His conversion was dramatic and
his calling supernatural. He was
converted by Pastor Okpo on a
football field one Sunday afternoon
while playing soccer with his
teammates. Thus, young Benson
became the first Bini member of
Pastor Okpo's small congregation.
As a young convert he became very
zealous in winning souls and in
conducting outreaches in villages
around Benin City.
He was called to the ministry in a
night vision from the Lord. "I have
called you that you might take the
gospel around the world in my
name, preach the gospel, and I will
confirm my word with signs
following," said the voice from
heaven. The room was filled with
the presence of God as Benson fell
to his knees beside the bed: "Lord,
wherever you want me to go, I will
go." He prayed on through the night,
renewing his vows to God and
interceding for his people who were
yet to hear the message of
salvation.
After his call, Benson launched into
ministry work preaching from
village to village the gospel of Jesus
Christ with great power and
anointing. More people confessed
Christ as their Saviour, and more
healings occurred as he prayed for
the sick.
Expansion of His Ministry and His
Credentials
Benson Idahosa, the archbishop and
founder of Church of God Mission
International Incorporated with its
headquarters in Benin City, Nigeria
established over 6,000 churches
throughout Nigeria and Ghana
before 1971. 

Many of the ministers
he supervised pastored churches of
1,000 to 4,000 people.

 In addition
to filling the position of archbishop
of Church of God Mission, he was
also president of All Nations for
Christ Bible Institute, president of
Idahosa World Outreach and
president of Faith Medical Centre.
He held positions in numerous
organizations including the college
of bishops of the international
communion of Christian churches
and the Oral Roberts University in
Oklahoma.
Idahosa earned a diploma in
divinity from Christ for the Nations
Institute in Dallas, Texas, which he
attended in 1971, a Doctorate of
Divinity in 1981 from the Word of
Faith College, New Orleans and a
Doctor of Laws degree from Oral
Roberts University in March 1984.
He also received other degrees from
the International University in
Brussels, Belgium.
Archbishop Benson Idahosa and his
wife Margaret Idahosa were blessed
with four children.

Idahosa's Supreme Task
Soul winning was Idahosa's
primary concern. With a motto
"Evangelism our Supreme Task," he
worked towards this goal of
reaching the unreached in Nigeria,
Africa and the rest of the world with
the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As a black African, he found the
doors of African countries were wide
open and he ministered in over 123
countries all over the world.
Crusades played a major role in his
ministry. He was involved in at
least one crusade per month. A
record crowd of nearly one million
people a night attended his Lagos
Crusade in April 1985. He
established the Redemption
Television Ministry with a potential
viewing audience of 50 million
people.

What Leading Gospel Ministers Said
about Benson Idahosa
According to Mrs. Gordon Freda
Lindsay, president of Christ for the
Nations