Biography Intro: Archbishop Benson Idahosa was a Charismatic Pentecostal preacher, and founder of the Church of God Mission International with headquarters in Benin City, Nigeria.

Name: Archbishop Benson Andrew Idahosa

Date Of Birth: September 11, 1938

Died: March 12, 1998 (60 years)

Place Of Birth: Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.

Married To: Bishop Margaret Benson-Idahosa

Children: Feb, Ruth, Daisy and Freda

Occupation: Televangelist, Preacher and Pastor

Career And Professional Activities: Televangelist, Preacher and Pastor

Publications:
1. Faith Can Change Your Destiny
2. Faith and Works and Success
3. Faith for all life’s storms
4. Power for Your Zero Hour
5. Faith to change the world
6. Strangers to Failure
7. I Choose to Change

CREDENTIALS
• In 1971, he earned a diploma in Divinity from Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas, Texas.
• In 1981, he earned a Doctorate of Divinity from the Word of Faith College in New Orleans.
• In 1984, he earned a Doctorate in Law at the Oral Roberts University.
• He was the founding president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN)
• He was a member of the College of Bishops of the International Communion of Christian Churches.
• He was once the President of All Nations for Christ Bible Institute.

As a youth, Idahosa got converted to Christianity by Pastor Okpo, and joined his fledgling congregation as one of its first members. He was very active in proselytising and converting many to Christianity. After experiencing what he believed to be a revelation from God calling him into ministry, he began to conduct outreaches from village to village, before establishing his church in a store in Benin City.

By 1971, he had established churches all over Nigeria and Ghana. Known for his boldness, power and prosperity-based preaching, as well as an enormous faith in the supernatural, he was instrumental to the strong wave of revival in Christianity and marked conversions from animism that occurred between the 1970s and 1990s in Nigeria. He is regarded by Christian foes as the father of Pentecostalism in Nigeria, and was the founding President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN). Many prominent Nigerian pastors like Ayo Oritsejafor, Bishop David Oyedepo, Rev. Felix Omobude, Fred Addo and Chris Oyakhilome were his protégés.