AFRICA WORLD MAGAZINE | Page 24

Reinhard Bonnke is a powerful man of God that has been transforming many lives in Africa and around the world through his ministry and many souls have come to Christ, the demon possessed have been set free, the blind eyes have been opened, the deaf healed and so many supernatural miracles have happened through his evangelist ministry in Africa and around the world. His is touching, inspiring, transforming and changing people’s lives with the love of Jesus.

HIS AFRICAN MISSION

Encountering poor results from his evangelistic efforts and frustrated at the pace of his ministry, Bonnke entered a state of heavy depression. He had a dream with a picture of the map of Africa being spread with red and heard the voice of God crying "Africa Shall Be Saved".

This dream recurred four nights in a row and led him to adopt large scale evangelism, rather than the traditional small scale missionary approach. He rented a stadium in Gaborone, and preached with little cooperation from local churches. Beginning with only 100 people, the stadium meetings grew.

Reinhard is the son of a German pastor. He gave his life to the Lord at the age of nine and heard the call to the African mission fields before he was a teenager. After attending Bible College in Wales and pastoring in Germany for 7 years, he began his missionary work in Africa. Reinhard began holding tent meetings that accommodated 800 people. As attendance steadily increased, larger tents had to be purchased. In 1984, he commissioned the construction of the world’s largest mobile structure -- a tent capable of seating 34,000. This tent was destroyed in a wind storm just before a major crusade. There was a question as to how to proceed. The team decided to hold the crusade “open air.” Instead of the expected 34,000 attendees, the event saw over 100,000 people, significantly more than the tent would have allowed. Crowds have been exceeding “tent” size ever since.

Reinhard Bonnke started 2006 with crusades in Africa. In February, he was in Ogaja, Nigeria. In the months of July and August the Christ for all Nations (CfaN) team traveled to Sudan and Nigeria. These crusades were held in remote areas of the countries, with people traveling from far and wide to hear the message of salvation.

EVANGELIST REINHARD BONNKE