Written by: Christ for all Nations
Article source: JOY! Magazine
A few weeks ago, Christ for
all Nations (CfaN) turned 45 years old. For 45 years, we have been on a truly
remarkable journey with Jesus! Four and a half decades ago, in the smallest
way, Reinhard and Anni started a ministry that would one day impact the face of
Christendom in Africa like no other. On the one hand, what God has done through
CfaN over the years fills me our team with awe – and on the other, with a deep
sense of the tremendous responsibility, we carry for the future.
We thank Him with all our hearts for the countless miracles, the amazing provision, every faithful friend and supporter, and above all for the nearly 80 million people who have given their lives to Jesus in our evangelistic campaigns. That is our heartbeat – and it will stay that way forever: to reach as many people as possible with the Gospel and save them for all time and eternity.
Thank you so much for standing side-by-side with us during this harvest, and especially in these extremely challenging times. You can be sure: every prayer and every donation is a blessing for us – over the last 45 years and into the future. And if you’d like to read more interesting facts about this ministry, please visit our website!
Daniel
Kolenda is a graduate of Southeastern University in Lakeland and
the Revival School of Ministry in Pensacola. His greatest education is from
working side-by-side with Reinhard Bonnke. He is a modern evangelist and a
well-known international speaker. To date, he himself has led nearly 23 million
people to Jesus at CfaN open-air campaigns.
Peter Vandenberg grew up in Zimbabwe. He was Vice-President of CfaN for many years and has been one of the key people in the ministry for over 40 years – first in working with Reinhard Bonnke and now at Daniel Kolenda’s side. His focus was and is the equipping and training of pastors and church workers.
More than half of the entire budget of every CfaN evangelistic campaign is spent on our follow-up
system, proven over the years to be extremely effective. This is what makes it
possible to turn every new convert into a faith-filled, fearless disciple of Jesus
in a local church.
In January 2020, CfaN
started a special training school program for evangelists – Bootcamp. This is a
6-month-long school for 50 evangelists who know that the Lord has specifically
called them to the African mission field. CfaN is determined to train many thousands
of new evangelists in the next ten years.
To store and maintain the technical equipment, we have secure CfaN warehouses, one in West Africa, and one in East Africa. They are the starting point for every evangelistic campaign and for the Gospel Truck missionary outreaches. We also store hundreds of thousands of follow-up booklets there. The warehouse in Lagos, Nigeria, is 1850 m2 on a stand of 6,350 m2. We purchased it with the help of our mission partners.
Before the major CfaN campaigns, we send out evangelistic teams in specially equipped trucks – the “Gospel Trucks” – to the surrounding towns and villages. The outreaches take place in village squares, markets, schools, jails and so on. Those who decide to follow Jesus receive the follow-up booklet and fill out a decision card.
Before every campaign, local churches nominate counselors and ushers, who hand out the “Now that you are saved” booklets and help the new converts to fill them out. These volunteers are intensively trained by CfaN and prepared for their role in the events.
Prayer for the sick and for deliverance is a vital part of the meeting. This regularly leads to an amazing number of godly healings and miracles. Testimonies given from the stage motivate the audience to reach out in faith for their own healing, and to receive all that God has for them.
Due to the increased unity
that happens and the massive growth in church attendance, the influence of the
Christian faith normally rises greatly in the entire region. Christians are
encouraged to actively pray, evangelize and continue the work themselves. It’s
often the case that, after a campaign, the crime rate reduces, stolen goods are
returned, debts forgiven, taxes paid etc.
The evangelistic campaigns
and the smaller outreaches that take place before the main event are strategically
planned many months in advance and are carried out in close co-operation with
local churches. There are often over 100 churches working together in as many
as 16 portfolios, and they grow more unified as a result.
Daniel Kolenda started working for CfaN in 2004. In 2007, Reinhard Bonnke asked him to preach during a mass campaign for the first time. Then he began to turn over responsibility for entire campaigns to Daniel. Just as many people continued to attend, and amazing signs and wonders continued to happen. In 2010, Daniel became Reinhard Bonnke’s successor as CfaN’s President.
The “Millennium Campaign”
in Lagos in 2000 was attended by 6 million people in total. For the final
meeting on 12 November, 1.6 million people gathered on the giant field. That
was the highest number of visitors at one meeting in CfaN’s history.
At the end of April 2000, Reinhard Bonnke preached to an audience of 210,000 in the Islamic nation of Sudan on the centrally situated “Green Square” in Khartoum, the capital city. During the 6-day evangelistic campaign, more than 130,000 people, most of them Muslims made the decision to follow Jesus.
Reinhard Bonnke, son of a pastor from Schleswig-Holstein, gave his life to Jesus at the age of 9 and received a call from God to the mission field in Africa shortly thereafter. After attending a theological seminary in Great Britain, he was ordained. He ministered for 7 years as the pastor of a church in North Germany before his mission work in the tiny mountainous land of Lesotho began.
After the founding of CfaN in 1974, Reinhard Bonnke began to hold outreaches in a tent that could accommodate about 8,000 people. When the number of visitors grew too large, another tent had to be bought, which could hold 10,000. That soon became too small, too.
In 1984, CfaN started building the “biggest tent in the world” with 34,000 seats. According to the Guinness Book of Records, it was the “largest mobile structure in the world”. But even that proved too small for the ever-increasing crowds of people coming: “The day of the sickle is over. The day of the combine harvester has begun!” Since 1986, all CfaN evangelistic campaigns are open-air events.
At the end of his active
missionary ministry, Reinhard Bonnke wanted to say “thank you” to his partners
in Germany. As he had received the call of God nearby, Hamburg was chosen as
the right place for the event. In May 2019, Fire19 took place, as his “Farewell
Conference”. Just half a year later, he was called home to the Lord on the 7th
of December.
Since January 1987, decision cards have been used during the events in Africa. To date, CfaN has registered nearly 80 million decisions for Jesus – each one personally filled out, signed, and counted by a committee (i.e. not merely estimated).
From the start of 1987 to February 2020, in 33 years, CfaN has registered 79,957,281 filled-out decision cards.
That
means:
2,498,665 per year
208,222 per month
6,841 per day
Article Source: JoyNews
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