Benson Idahosa

Archbishop Benson Idahosa

Heroes are defined according to how they lived their lives before death and the area they affected or changed in other people’s lives.
Hum!!! In my own opinion A HERO is a person that has something special that sets him apart, and then he is among the few God sets apart to reach nations. The twentieth century has brought us several of these God chosen people, but none perhaps has sprung from a more dramatic background than my hero Benson Idahosa.

Benson Idahosa was born in 1939 in a village called Ewasso Edo, in the state of Nigeria. It was small compound of mud houses like thousands of other Nigerian houses. He was rejected by his father (Joseph) and dumped into the rubbish bin by his mother (Sarah) because he was assumed dead; his physical appearance showed that he was not healthy and he was always fainting. This time around, Benson fainted and the mother threw him away about a hundred yards from the compound. Two or three hours had passed and then, suddenly, flashes of lightning streaked across the blackness and thunder rumbled in the distance, sheets of water poured from the sky falling noisily on the roof of the Idahosa’s family compound. The bundled baby in the rubbish heap began to wriggle, and the cry of a baby became more shrill and insistent. The mother went back and picked up the baby and said, “Benson my son, you are alive again oh! Thank God, you are alive”.

At age fourteen, Benson attended a local government school; he never had the opportunity to attend school from his childhood. He later had a Diploma of Divinity from Christ for the Nations institute in Dallas, Texas which he attended in 1971. He received a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1981 from the Word of Faith College in New Orleans, a Doctor of law degree from Oral Roberts University in March, 1984 and held varying degrees from the University of Brussels, Belgium. He got married to Margaret Idahosa with whom he had four children. Through his care and passion for the lost souls and the less privileged, and his detestation of idol worshipping, he founded a church named Church of God Mission International Inc. in Benin Edo state of Nigeria. Here, he was the Arch Bishop for forty two years.

The headquarters auditorium in Edo state has over ten thousand (10,000) worshippers capacity. Benson also founded other organizations such as Faith Me duplex Hospitals, Benson Idahosa University, International Bible School and Word of Faith Group of Schools. All the organizations were aimed at making the world a better place and at freedom from sin, sickness and ignorance. His church has spread to other villages and states in Nigeria with over a thousand churches since 1971. He also established churches in other parts of the world such as USA, Ghana, South Africa and many others. His Bible school attracts people from eighteen African nations and other continents, some of them come from Europe, Maurice, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Srilanka, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, the Middle East etc.

Benson Idahosa ministering

My Hero was a dynamic preacher and an evangelist of faith to the world through the power of God. He led a delegation to put a stop to bloodshed in his state because his state was known for bloodshed. His community became a better place to live, without fear of being made as sacrifice. Through his messages, millions of people became born again Christians; my family is one example of such. My life today is a reflection of Benson Idahosa's life style; living to please God. I have chosen him as my hero because if I was not a good Christian, I would have been living a wayward life. My Principal spotted me out among my classmates while I was busy doing something worthwhile and others were making noise. This made her to have interest in me and the school sponsored the launching of “Rugged Writer Club” which I initiated in the school; this club has since been extended to other neighbouring schools.

Benson reached out to fifty millions souls every day and changed their lives through his Media Programmes. He had over seven Broadcasting stations having their head office in Washington.

Book by Benson Idahosa

The first African preacher to have traveled to over one hundred and thirty countries before he died was no other person than Benson Idahosa. He was able to reach out to empowered people spiritually, financially and in giving out scholarships to the less privileged in the world. A title was conferred on him as the “Africa’s Greatest Ambassador of Faith to the World” and T.L. Osborn Tulsa, Oklahoma also conferred on him “Africa’s Greatest Ambassador of Apostolic Christian Faith to the World”. He was a member of the College of Bishops of the International Communion of Christian churches and he was once the President of All Nations for Christ Bible Institute. He died at the age of sixty eight. Benson Idahosa was not born with a silver spoon, but he strived by the grace of God to attain the position God destined for him as an ambassador of faith to nations.