Monday, December 14, 2009
Benny Hinn was born on December 3, 1952, in Israel’s port city of Jaffa (part of modern Tel Aviv), where his family had set up residence after emigrating from Greece. Then, shortly after The Six-Day War broke out in 1967, the Hinn’s immigrated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.In February 1972, Benny’s life took on a whole new meaning when he surrendered his heart and life to Jesus Christ. Then in late 1973, Methodist minister Jim Poynter invited Benny to join him on a trip to Pennsylvania to attend a Kathryn Kuhlman service. Each word stirred his soul deeply, and he yearned to meet this wonderful Person of whom she spoke. An indescribable hunger gripped him, and his heart cried out, “I’ve got to know Him!”
What began during that prayer was not only the start of a lifelong journey that has since taken Benny Hinn around the globe many times but is the basis for Good Morning, Holy Spirit, first published in 1990, which topped the Christian bestseller charts for sixteen months and is now translated into forty languages.
From his humble beginnings in Israel, where his stuttering tongue held him captive, to the moment in 1974 when his tongue was instantaneously freed and his life was forever transformed by God’s miracle-working power as he stood to deliver his first sermon in a small church in Ontario, Benny’s uniquely fresh relationship with God and his commitment to God’s work has directed the course of his life.
During 1990, with growing demands and an increased number of crusades, Benny Hinn reluctantly chose to leave the Orlando church in 1999 in order to focus his efforts on the expanding evangelistic outreach and television ministry. The viewing audience of the daily program grew rapidly, and soon the program was broadcast around the world via secular television, Christian television networks, satellite, and the Internet. During recent years, memorable crusades have included audiences of up to 7.3 million (three services) in India, the largest healing service in recorded history.
In addition to Holy Spirit Miracle Crusades and daily television, Pastor Benny’s ministry is also engaged in crisis relief, children’s homes, feeding programs, as well as hospital and emergency care. During 2007 alone, the ministry helped provide food, clothing, shelter, education, and religious training for 46,368 children around the globe (including partnerships with thirty-one different missionary and relief agencies), and it will also continue to completely underwrite all expenses of such powerful outreaches as a hospital in Calcutta, India, where over two hundred thousand patients are treated. Pastor Benny is quick to point out that these and other programs are made possible through the generous donations of partners and friends of Benny Hinn Ministries.
Benny Hinn is a best-selling author. In addition to his first blockbuster, Good Morning, Holy Spirit, he has also written such far-reaching books as The Blood, He Touched Me (his autobiography), Lamb of God, Total Recovery, and Prayer That Gets Results.
Benny Hinn and his wife, Suzanne, are the proud parents of three daughters and a son, as well as a grandson. They reside in Southern California. The corporate headquarters for Benny Hinn Ministries/World Healing Center Church are located in Grapevine, Texas.
