By Jethro Ibileke
The Founder and General Overseer of Believers’ Love World (Christ Embassy), Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, has revealed what the late founder of Church of God Mission, Arch Bishop Benson Idahosa, taught him and others while they were under his tutelage.
He said the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa taught him what has helped him in his ministry today.
The televangelist popularly known as Pastor Chris, made the revelation on Tuesday, at the commissioning ceremony of the Faculty of Engineering complex of the University, named after him.
It would be recalled that Pastor Chris donated the sum of N1billion for the upgrading of the Faculty of Engineering of the University, during its special convocation ceremony in 2015.
He stated that though he grew up from a Christian home but he met a totally different personality in the person of his late mentor, Arch Bishop Idahosa, when he began fellowshipping in his church many years ago.
“Archbishop Benson Idahosa taught us to be kind to the poor and to support the government.
“He taught us to dress well, he taught us to be clean, he taught us to speak be educated, he taught us to speak well.”
“My dad preached the gospel too. My mother was amazing. They brought me up very well, but when you talk about the ministry, there was nowhere to look but the Archbishop.
“As a minister of the gospel, the Archbishop taught us the word, he taught us worship and praises. He taught us to dress well, he taught us to be clean, he taught us to be educated, he taught us to speak well.
“We didn’t know that anywhere else. I grew up in a church, but the first day I entered Church of God Mission, on a Sunday morning, I thought I have raptured, I thought I was in heaven. It was completely different from where I was coming from,” he said.
Commenting on the commissioned complex, Pastor Chris said his contribution to the building of the Legacy campus of the University was part of his contribution to the legacy of the late Idahosa, adding that he counted it as a honour done him.
“We are the legacy of his word, we are the legacy of his message. It is my joy to be a part of this. It is my hope that everyone will think about what he could really contribute to it.
“I am his legacy, you are his legacy, this is our campus, it is the campus of the legacy of Archbishop Benson Idahosa.
“We are his fruits. I count myself highly honoured to have been given the opportunity to be here.
“This is one University we all need and we have to have it. It is the vision of God. Think of what you can do. Everything you can do in this University, do it, dream of it,” he said.
In her welcome speech, the Chancellor of the BIU, Archbishop Margaret Benson Idahosa, who described Pastor Chris as his son, prayed that the financial contribution which he has made to the institution should grow up like a seed and should be reaped by him and up to his sixth generations.
She added that the gesture of the donation will impact positively on many people in no small measure.
Also speaking, President of the institution, Bishop FEB Idahosa, thanked all who contributed to the building of the new campus.
The junior Idahosa described the institution as a community. He however noted that the building of a community is not a one-man-show.