Actor and producer Timothy Bentum, now an ordained reverend minister and founder of Grace Avenue Ministry, has recounted how his mother’s fervent prayers rescued him from years of substance abuse and criminal activity, eventually leading him to the pulpit.
Bentum, who began his career as a writer before transitioning into television, also worked as a TV host on several flagship programmes in his early years.
Speaking to MzGee on Behind The Pulpit, Rev Bentum credited veteran actor Gavivina Tamakloe for giving him his first major opportunity on television.
“Around 1999 or 2000, Van Vicker and I were living together while he worked at Metro TV. At the time, I was writing poems for The Spectator and Daily Graphic. That opened the door for me to work as a scriptwriter at Metro TV. From there, I began presenting. There’s a gentleman I always acknowledge Gavivina Tamakloe, he was the one who put me on television first,” he said.
Reverend Bentum also opened up about his long battle with substance abuse, revealing that he began smoking at the age of 13 while in secondary school and later progressed to hard drugs.
“I started smoking at 13. I was in secondary school — I entered early, so by that age I was already in Form Three. I started with weed, and five years later I graduated to cocaine. I used hard drugs for about 12 years. I sold everything in my father’s house, moved around with bad company, and I stole from people to sustain the habit,” he told MzGee.
He attributed his eventual transformation to divine intervention and his mother’s unwavering prayers, which, he said, marked the turning point in his life and led him into ministry.
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