CHURCH OF GOD MISSION INTERNATIONAL (CGMI)
Every great ministry on the earth starts with God’s dealings with a man. Church of God Mission International was birthed by divine instructions of the Holy Spirit to Archbishop Benson Idahosa. The Lord told him precisely “Raise an army for me, to go with the gospel to all Nations. Gather together those whom I have called and I will send them with the fire of my Spirit. Give my word and your example to many who will go to teach, preach and heal”
Archbishop Benson Idahosa was born again on the 1st of January 1960 in an Assemblies of God Church in Benin City Nigeria. In 1962, after a period of discipleship and with a passion to be an instrument in God’s hands, Benson Idahosa started a prayer group known as the Calvary Fellowship, which metamorphosed into the Church of God Mission International (CGMI). The Calvary Fellowship was a coming together of young men and women who were also passionate about the things of God and hungry for the Word of God for times of prayer and Bible Study. Meetings were held at a shop on Ivbizua Street, off Mission Road, Benin City of Western Region (present day Edo State), Nigeria. The fellowship was officially inaugurated in 1965 by Rev. Edgar Perkins, a veteran missionary to Nigeria.
On October 26th 1968, Rev. Perkins approached the Assemblies of God to release Benson Idahosa, who was a Church Elder and Sunday School Superintendent to pastor the prayer ministry as an autonomous ministry. After his release, Rev Edgar Perkins laid hands on Pastor Benson Idahosa and Church of God Mission International was founded. The church started with seven adults and five children at No 26 Forestry Road in Benin City. The membership of the ministry grew numerically within the first few years and Pastor Benson Idahosa decided to build a church. The Iyaro Church which is referred to as ‘The Mother Church’, a 500-capacity auditorium which was rare among Pentecostal churches at that time, was completed in 1972 and was dedicated by Rev Gordon Lindsay and Pa S.G Elton. The Iyaro Church was the first Church building built by Church of God Mission International and is still standing today. It was renovated and rededicated by Archbishop Margaret Idahosa in June 2019. It is the current place of worship for CGMI Gospel House, Iyaro, Benin City.
Further growth in membership and the need to accommodate the great influx of new converts led the ministry to build another headquarters, The Historic (Faith) Miracle Centre, Airport Road with a seating capacity of 4000 persons in 1975. In 1983, While Archbishop Benson Idahosa was in Australia, heard God tell him to build Him a building that will bring honour and glory to His name. Church of God Mission commenced the building of Faith Arena, a dome-shaped auditorium which seats between 7,000 and 10,000 persons. Faith Arena was the largest church building in Africa at the time of its dedication on the 2nd of November 1986.
Coinciding with the growth of CGMI churches in Benin City was the planting of branches across Nigeria. Evangelism is the primary ministry of Church of God Mission International, her motto is ‘Evangelism, Our Supreme Task.’ Church of God Mission International engaged in street evangelism and open-air crusades. Through these activities several souls were added to the church and other branches were planted across Nigeria. Church of God Mission International was the first Church to plant branches in every state in Nigeria. A powerful crusade in Ghana in 1977 saw the Church expand outside the shores of Nigeria. By the time of Archbishop Benson Idahosa’s consecration as the first Pentecostal Archbishop in Africa in 1981, CGMI had planted over 650 branches within ten African countries with 11 of those branches in Benin City alone. At the time of the Archbishop’s coronation in 1998, Church of God Mission had over 6,000 branches across the world. In 2018 at the 50th Anniversary of the Church, it was announced that Church of God Mission International had over one thousand branches.
Church of God Mission International led by Archbishop Benson Idahosa started the trend of ‘Reverse Missions’ which is Churches from Nigeria sending missionaries to countries which had brought the gospel to Africa originally. Today, Church of God Mission International (CGMI) still has presence in three continents outside Africa – Asia, Europe and North America.
Church of God Mission International began several improvements in Nigerian Pentecostalism. Church of God Mission International was the first Pentecostal church to begin using musical instruments (guitars, keyboards and drums) in their church services. Archbishop Benson Idahosa was greatly criticized at the time and accused of turning the Church into a disco hall. Archbishop Benson Idahosa was the first to preach the gospel on television and radio in Nigeria. This gave birth to the media ministry of Church of God Mission International, Idahosa World Outreach (IWO). The IWO TV Channel is available on free to air satellite networks.
After he established the Church of God Mission International in the 1960s, Archbishop Benson Idahosa received specific direction from God to venture into the area of education starting from nursery to tertiary level. Word of Faith Group of Schools comprising nursery, primary and secondary schools was established in 1978 in Benin City but was licensed by the government in 1981. Academic activities commenced in January 1981 with 23 pupils and 5 staff. The School currently has over 108 branches across Nigeria.
Benson Idahosa University
Archbishop Benson Idahosa was the pioneer of Christian Private University Education in Nigeria. In 1978, the Lord told Archbishop Benson Idahosa that he would establish a University for the glory of His Majesty. At that time, the establishment and running of tertiary institutions in Nigeria was the exclusive preserve of the Federal and State Governments. Archbishop Idahosa was inspired to start Christian Faith University by Oral Roberts University. By April 1981, Church of God Mission held a groundbreaking service for Christian Faith University (presently Benson Idahosa University) but was held back by government laws from taking off. Christian Faith University which was later renamed as Benson Idahosa University is the first Christian private University in Nigeria. As far back as 1997, Archbishop Benson Idahosa started the issue of enforcing decent dressing in universities with Christian Faith University. The institution applied to the Federal Government to be licensed in 1992 and got licensed by the National Universities Commission (NUC) on the 12th of February 2002 and commenced full blown academic activities shortly after with 400 students.
After Archbishop Benson Idahosa went to be with the Lord in 1998, Benson Idahosa University was not in full operation yet. The University was faced with a financial distress. Bishop David Oyedepo, a son and mentee of the Archbishop paid the salary of all staff of the University for two years until the institution stabilized. Bishop David Oyedepo also received inspiration from God to start ‘Covenant University’ during this time.
The All Nations For Christ Bible Institute International (ANFCBII)
On October 26th, 1968 at Forestry Road, Benin City, Nigeria, Archbishop B.A. Idahosa started what eventually became the All Nations For Christ Bible Institute International (ANFCBII). In the beginning, it was a two weeks Bible School for his first converts to get grounded in scriptures after their salvation what is now ‘Foundation School’ in many Pentecostal churches. By 1971, it had grown to a three month programme with veteran missionary, Rev Edgar Perkins as Principal and was called New Covenant Bible Institute. In 1975, the Nine Months Course started with another English Principal, John Valentine, and was called Nigerians for Christ Bible Institute. The enrollment grew as the church expanded dramatically with the outpouring of the spirit in Nigerian revival. The miraculous Accra Crusade in 1977 brought many Ghanaians students who wanted to know the secrets of power with God and signs following to enrol in the Bible School. It also saw the name change to All Nations for Christ Bible Institute since the students were now from other nations. A wider spectrum of subjects was introduced, by then principal Rev. Dr. Ron Childs, including a degree programme for those who qualify. The French speaking department of the institute was established to train French speaking students. The Bible College trained the likes of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, Rev. Dr Felix Omobude, Bishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams of Christ Action Faith Ministries, Bishop Charles Agyin-Asare, Bishop James Saah and many others. The All Nations For Christ Bible Institute is one of the largest Bible Schools in Nigeria.
Other notable infrastructure established by Church of God Mission International include the Faith Mediplex Group of Hospitals which has the vision to merge the hand of prayer and the hand of medicine to heal the whole person – body, soul and spirit. The Hospital opened in 1989 in Benin City and now has branches in Abuja and Uyo State in Nigeria. It has recently birthed the Big Ben Children’s Hospital (BBCH) Annex which provides state of the art labour and delivery facilities, obstetrical theatre, neonatal ICU and birthing centre suites.
Succession
On the 12th of March 1998, Archbishop Benson Idahosa went to be with the Lord. At the time of his passing to glory, the Church Constitution placed a College of Six Bishops just beneath the Archbishop. Bishop Joseph Imariabe Ojo (now Archbishop and Presiding Bishop of Calvary Kingdom Church) was next in pecking order to the Archbishop. At the Thanksgiving Service held the day after Archbishop Benson Idahosa’s Coronation (a name used to describe his burial), Archbishop Benson Idahosa’s widow, Margaret Idahosa was consecrated as the Presiding Bishop of Church of God Mission International. This was consequent to some white guests bandying a letter written by Archbishop Benson Idahosa implying his desire for his wife to succeed him. Also, Archbishop John Osa-Oni of Vineyard Ministries implied that Papa Idahosa had some related issues with Ojo in the weeks before he departed. One of the Newsweek editions of March 1998 implied that there were concerns as to how Bishop Ojo would treat Mama Idahosa if he succeeded the Archbishop .In his own Defence, Bishop Ojo insisted that he had no plans to leave despite all humiliations he suffered and only left when all kinds of animosity towards him was condoned by the Church leadership. Be that as it may, some Leaders including Bishop Joseph Ojo, pastors and even members (laity) left the Church afterwards. The Church has however continued to march on under the leadership of Archbishop Margaret Benson Idahosa who was elevated to the position of Archbishop on 7th of November 2009.
At the moment, Bishop FEB Idahosa, Archbishop Benson Idahosa’s only biological son, who was consecrated as a Bishop in 2009, is the Bishop of the global Headquarter Church of Church of God Mission (Faith Arena). Secondly, he is also the Vice President and Head of Cabinet of The Ministry, President of Benson Idahosa University, Vice President of All Nations for Christ Bible Institute International, Faith Mediplex Group of Hospitals, Archbishop Idahosa Foundation, Idahosa World Outreach respectively. He also serves as a Member of the CGMI Council of Bishops, CGMI Board of Administration and CGMI Board of Education. With all these appointments, he is poised to succeed his mother as the next Presiding Bishop of Church of God Mission International
Balm of Gilead City is the international camp of Church of God Mission International and is located at Egun/Ogua community on the Lagos/Abuja/Asaba bye-pass expressway to Benin/Sapele/Warri near the Benin-Sapele Road end, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
Sources:
Church of God Mission International Official Website
Church of God Mission International Facebook Page
The Historic Miracle Centre Website
Excerpts From ‘From Heaven To His Generation: The Life And Times of Archbishop Benson Idahosa’ by Oluwaleke Beecroft
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