By Gbenga Osinaike
The founder of the Warri-based Word of Life Bible Church and former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has recounted how he began a long and fruitful relationship with the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa.
In a video message monitored online by Church Times, Oritsejafor—who was a protégé of the late world-renowned evangelist—said that as a young boy in the Church of God Mission (which Idahosa founded), his dream was to come into close contact with him.
”In those days, I was literally staying in the church. I would sleep on benches and would always pray that I would get close to him. I would cry and cry all night, saying, ‘There is something in this man that I must have,'” he said.
The Turning Point
Just a day later, Idahosa came to teach at the Bible school Oritsejafor was attending. He preached on the importance of evangelism, stating that “if you are not evangelizing, you are not a serious Christian.”
The message made a deep impression on Oritsejafor. He took up the challenge and decided to go out preaching the very next day. While moving from house-to-house in Benin City, preaching the gospel, he encountered a large crowd gathered in front of a home. A baby had died, and the people were in mourning.
The Miracle
Oritsejafor recalled how Jesus had raised the dead in the Bible. “I got there and asked the people to move out. I did not know too much of the Bible then, but I knew Jesus asked the crowd to leave when He wanted to raise the dead. I went into the house courageously and asked the people to go out.”
Some bystanders, not knowing who he was, complied. “When everyone had left except the parents and the deceased child, I collected the baby from the mother and prayed. I said, ‘God, You did it in the Bible. You can do it again. Let the spirit of this child come back to her.’ After praying for about 15 minutes, the baby sneezed. The mother was so shocked she collapsed.”
Recognition from Idahosa
The miracle drew a massive crowd. Incidentally, it was a Wednesday—a Bible study day at the church. Oritsejafor told the crowd to follow him to the service. The number that followed him was larger than the congregation already inside the church.
When Idahosa saw the crowd, he was surprised and asked who had brought them. When he was told it was Oritsejafor, he asked him to come to the pulpit and handed him the microphone to sing. He sang, and the church was electrified.
Mentorship and Training
Oritsejafor, who also served as President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), said that from that day on, Idahosa began taking him everywhere. Their first major outing was a crusade in Calabar.
Idahosa preached the first day, but that night, he told Oritsejafor he would be leaving for Benin the following morning. “I said I would follow him back to Benin, of course. But he said no—that I would be the one to preach the following day at the crusade because he wouldn’t be around. I thought it was a joke. At 4:00 AM the next morning, I went to his hotel room to beg him to stay. The door was open; he was already gone,” Oritsejafor recalled.
Oritsejafor had to brace himself. When the crusade started, he followed Idahosa’s style, taking the microphone at the same time his mentor usually would. The crowd was massive, and he preached powerfully for the remainder of the crusade.
A Global Stage
Upon returning to Benin, he found Idahosa relaxing outside his house. “I thought in my heart that this man just wanted to punish me by abandoning me in Calabar. I didn’t realize he was training me. He asked how the crusade went; I said it was good, and when he asked others who were there, they said it was incredible.”
That marked the beginning of a lifelong bond. “He took me to every crusade he conducted. One day, he asked if I had a passport. I said no. He told me to go and get one. Before I knew it, I had a visa and began traveling with him outside the country. We traveled to the US, where he introduced me to many men of God, including T.L. Osborn, R.W. Schambach, and Morris Cerullo
