Our annual Rainy Season Campaign, which took place this time in the city of Okigwe, Nigeria, is always a particular challenge.
Before we arrived on the scene, it had been pouring with rain for weeks. Some of our planning team were extremely concerned, especially because they were unsure whether the rain-drenched ground would be firm enough to support our huge sound towers. However, not a single drop of rain fell during the campaign week. We had a dry week in the middle of the rainy season.
More than 500,000 completed decision cards were the glorious outcome of that Rainy Season Campaign.
The International Christian Fellowship in Zurich celebrated its 15th anniversary with a “BIG 15” event; Reinhard Bonnke addressed more than 6,500 participants at the evening meeting. After demonstrating his accordion-playing skills, although he had not played for many years, he delivered a powerful message. There was not enough space for all those ‒ most of them young people ‒ who responded to the altar call. They committed their lives to the Lord, promising to follow him without compromise.
A local clan chief brought his witchcraft shrine along; it had been in his family for generations. He tore it down, took it to the campaign site and we burnt it along with numerous other idols, fetishes, amulets and juju articles that the people had handed over.
A Hindu from India, who was in Agbani on business, was not even at the campaign meeting but in a house some distance away. Over the loudspeaker system, he heard Daniel preaching the gospel. He immediately knelt down in the house and prayed the prayer of commitment with the evangelist. He was not only saved but also healed of a terrible affliction that had been troubling him for months and made his way to the campaign site to give his unusual testimony.
The timeless, life-changing message of the missionary booklet “From Minus to Plus” was first made available on DVD in 2011. A clear, evangelistic message in a modern idiom, supported by film clips, e.g. from the parable of the prodigal son.
The sensitive and unambiguous DVD message leads viewers to a personal decision to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
The DVD also contains other material which gives insight into the workings of God’s heart and his plan for each individual. This material includes answers to questions such as “Why does God allow suffering?”Weeks before the conference, around 6,500 people had registered! In the end, around 7,200 people were counted; they filled the hall – and our hearts.
Evangelist Daniel Kolenda preached fiery messages and called those present not to act without the power of the Holy Spirit. He invited people forward for the laying-on of hands and Holy Spirit anointing from Jesus. When the last person had been blessed at around 14.00, the first people had already started gathering for the afternoon meeting.
As well as Peter van den Berg, Siegfried Tomazsewski also spoke at the conference. He encouraged the people to live uncompromising lives and to give everything for Jesus, who gave everything for us.
The International Reinhard Bonnke Training Institute (iRBTI) holds refreshing and liberating evangelistic one-day seminars to promote personal evangelism.
In four short workshops, long-standing members of Reinhard Bonnke’s team present the spiritual principles derived by the CfaN team from 50 years of evangelistic ministry, and demonstrate possible ways of putting them into practice. That includes suggestions for how individuals can proceed once the seminar is over. Each seminar ends with a time of personal blessing and commissioning.
Just under 4,000 people took part in the initiative, meaning that prayer was made for nearly 40,000 people.
“You prayed with me for a spiritual breakthrough for my mother. She was baptised in the Holy Spirit. My marriage is now a lot better ... and that is not all. I know that there is more to come. Thank you for this wonderful initiative. It boosted my faith for all the people.” (Elena)
We went back to the country of Togo – 20 years after our last visit! The CfaN team was once again in the French-speaking part of West Africa. And our campaign was worthwhile: more than 300,000 written decisions for Jesus were recorded in Lomé.
On the final evening, the field was packed tight with people. The national stadium adjacent to the campaign site would have been too small for the CfaN campaign. The crowds that came along could have filled it nearly four times over on that one evening.
Africa really is in the valley of decision! The entire continent is on the move.
That prompted CfaN to organise an international Day of Prayer for Africa on 9 April 2011. Many thousands of mission partners throughout the world joined us in prayer for the individual countries in Africa, proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus over the entire continent and calling for his will to prevail.
The prayer initiative focused on North Africa, elections in 18 African countries and evangelism.
Straight from the mission field, Daniel Kolenda reported, “When I started to pray for the sick it was as if a dam had suddenly burst and supernatural power poured through the crowd. From the platform I had a prime view of an amazing scene. In one place demons were manifesting. In another place the crowd erupted in praise as crutches were lifted into the air. Healings, miracles and manifestations began to break out on a large scale right across the field. What we preach really is the gospel of power.”
In 2011, Daniel Kolenda celebrated his 30th birthday – along with the fact that he has now led more than 10 million people to Christ.
Daniel is a modern-day evangelist. He is a gifted – fifth generation –preacher whose ministry is modelled on Jesus. His powerfully anointed evangelistic preaching is followed by healings and other miracles – the blind see, the lame walk and the deaf hear. He has witnessed people rising from the dead. Yet the most important thing is that the gospel is preached to the poor.