IN March 1998, Archbishop Benson Idahosa, the flambouyant founder of
Church of God Mission International Incorporated died and left his wife,
Margaret Idahosa and four children behind.
Here, the wife and the first female Pentecostal Archbishop in Africa recounts the last moments of her husband and how she had coped with bereavement. Excerpts…
You once said you thought you were finished when your husband died. How exactly did you mean?
I knew late Archbishop Benson Idahosa when I was young and we were friends for eight years before we got married. He was not only my husband, he was my brother, my friend and a confidant. In addition to these, he was my bishop and archbishop.
Archbishop Margaret Benson-Idahosa
When he died I was in a confused state and honestly I didn’t know where to begin and what the future held for me. I thought to myself after the burial I would just recline to myself.
By then my children were all abroad and I said I would be staying with them one after the other and then come over to Benin to see how the ministry was being run. But God who knows the heart of man directed my path to where I am today.
When my husband was alive I was with him and the best I could do was to encourage him and pray for him. I was a great supporter of his vision. So when he died I just wanted to remain in my cocoon. But God had a different plan for me.
You were 55 years when he died. How easy was it for church members to accept you then?
As a matter of fact when I was called the day I was ordained a bishop; I thought they called me just to pray for me. I came out and the archbishop who ordained me said he did not confer with flesh and blood but that the Holy Spirit had directed him to ordain me as a bishop.
When he made that declaration there was a thunderous response from the audience. Before then I must confess that my mind was not in ministry. But to my greatest surprise there was a great acceptance of the ordination.
Honestly, I was not looking forward to it and after a while I had to pray and God spoke to me and said He had called me and He would give me the enablement and the strength to do the task that has been set before me.
And I said okay; God it is a deal. And I said let us try. If I’m successful fine and if I do not then God would understand. Before my husband’s funeral ceremony, God has spoken with a lot of people about who succeeds him.
I recall that when my husband was alive he used to travel a lot and there were times he took people out for lunch in some of the countries he went to and those people were used to asking him questions.
One of the questions by one of his friends was whether he was preparing somebody to take over from him and he said he was not preparing anybody because the anointing breaks the yoke and that anybody who had the anointing would definitely be put in place. But he said I think my wife will fit into my shoes.
Somebody brought the video and we watched it. There was a general acceptance of my person when I was ordained and God has been helping us in the ministry.
What were the things that you did to equip yourself with the task ahead?
What I did was to give the ministry’s constitution to men with experience. I wanted them to help me interpret it because people were giving different interpretations and when they did it I was comfortable that I was not usurping anybody’s position.
And I called all the pastors of the church and said, “Our Daddy has gone, do we want this ministry to go on or it should die with him and majority of them said they wanted the ministry to go on. That was how we started working.
What were the initial challenges concerning the issue of remarriage when your husband died?
There were challenges in this area and I told God that I wanted him to direct my affairs and my life. And I think God heard and He gave me the ability to do what I’m doing now.
I had a husband and I enjoyed him and I think there was nobody else that could match up to him. I told God that I want Him to take the desire for another man from me. I never wanted to
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