🔥 “Until you know God in the secret, you cannot represent Him in the open.” – Benson A. Idahosa Benson Andrew Idahosa (1938–1998) was a Nigerian Pentecostal evangelist, church planter and institution builder whose ministry helped give African Pentecostalism new public confidence. Born in Benin City on September 11, 1938, into poverty, he was sickly as a child and entered school late. As a young man he came to Christ under Pastor Okpo and soon gave himself to evangelism, cycling into villages around Benin to preach. In the early 1960s his work widened through crusades and prayer meetings. The little Calvary Fellowship that began in a shop in Benin City in 1962 eventually became Church of God Mission International. Its watchword was plain: “Evangelism our Supreme Task.” Idahosa preached faith with great boldness, but behind the public fire stood a private conviction: a man cannot give God’s people what he has never received from God. Prayer and the Word must sharpen the vessel before the crowd sees him. “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet” Matthew 6:6. His ministry moved beyond one church. He established All Nations for Christ Bible Institute, schools, Faith Mediplex and the vision that became Benson Idahosa University. He preached across more than 120 nations and helped form a generation of African ministers who refused to believe spiritual leadership must always arrive from another continent. Some miracle claims remain disputed, and parts of his prosperity teaching require biblical discernment. Yet his central burden was plain: preach Christ, train workers, pray and send men into the nations. Idahosa died in Benin City on March 12, 1998, at fifty-nine. Archbishop Margaret Benson-Idahosa leads Church of God Mission International, which reports thousands of congregations and branches abroad. Benson Idahosa University, All Nations for Christ, the schools and medical work remain active. A platform can make a man visible. Only the secret place can make him fit to stand there. He who would represent God before men must first remain before God when no one is watching. 🔥 — #BensonIdahosa #Quoted #SpiritBroods #SecretPlace #PrayerLife - @spiritbroods