WARRI, NIGERIA

In addition to your prayers, would you consider sowing into our first crusade of 2020? Just to send our tech team from the UK to Africa, usually, 6-8 skilled people running PA, lights and the giant screens, cost around £35,000 per campaign. 

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The last few days have been a whirlwind. Much has happened with a couple of things I’ve never seen before.

At the moment I am stranded, together with several other CfaN team members along with Eddie James and his team, in Lagos, Nigeria. Our crusade this week is in the city of Warri, but an extraordinary dust storm has reduced visibility to almost nothing and major airlines ceased operation until further notice. Most of our team has been travelling for several days having been diverted to various African and Middle Eastern nations. Some flights even returned home! Our team has been relentless, refusing to go home. We have pressed forward, one flight at a time, sleeping on the floor in airports, standing in lines for flights only for them to be cancelled. Finally, when all else failed, we flew with small local operators in terrible conditions, putting our safety at risk to be here. Most of our team has been travelling for three or four days straight! We had hoped to make it, by some miracle before the first night of the crusade started. But that was tonight and we are still in Lagos.

The bad news is that we missed the first meeting. Amazingly, however, more than 70,000 people turned up on the first night! I preached the Gospel on the huge screens by way of video! When we were raising funds for those screens, I never imagined they would eventually play such a vital role. Tomorrow we will press on to Warri and, God willing, be present for the meeting tomorrow in person.

Also, another first: Saturday I was in Brazil for The Send. I know that many of you know about this. It has been very visible on social media the last few days. For those that might not be aware, The Send is a collaboration, led by seven ministries of which CfaN is one. When we first decided to go to Brazil, we rented the largest stadium in Sau Paulo (Morumbi Stadium, which seats 70,000 people). When registrations opened, it sold out in 6 hours, beating the stadium's previous record for sell-out time! We decided to rent the second-largest stadium in the same city. It sold out in three days. We took the leap of faith to rent a third stadium in Brasilia – the capital. On February 8th I preached in three stadiums in two cities within 8 hours – something I have never done before! While driving to the second stadium, the Lord gave me the words of Amos 9:13:

“Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it”.

These are the days of harvest. What we have seen so far is only the beginning. The days are coming when we will look back on what God did in the past and realize that it pales in comparison. I believe it with all my heart – the best is yet to come! 

Thank you for praying for us and standing with us.  Please continue as we press forward in Jesus’ name!

Dear Mission Partners,

Several years ago, at a School of Evangelism in London, during a Q&A session, a student asked Reinhard Bonnke what was the secret to the success of Christ for all Nations. I thought Reinhard might say something about anointing, prayer, wisdom or powerful preaching. Instead, his answer was very different. He responded with one word: “Perseverance.”

This week, my respect and admiration for the CFAN team has gone to a whole new level. I have seen a level of commitment and perseverance that is difficult to grasp unless you’re here to witness it. We have all had a thousand good reasons to turn back. But every last one pressed forward without wavering.

These have been the most challenging travel conditions any of us have ever seen. Even our travel agent said in her 25-years of doing her job; she’s never seen anything like it. This morning our last connection was cancelled yet again, so we piled into cars/vans and drove for 8-hours. We finally arrived by car in Warri, Nigeria for the Gospel Crusade just minutes before it began. This is the first crusade of the year and the first one held since Evangelist Bonnke’s passing. But I am sure, he is smiling in heaven to see that we are still persevering against all the odds for the sake of the Gospel.

Because many of us missed last night’s meeting, I wondered if the crowd would return. Imagine my surprise when we arrived at the crusade field to find over 120,000 people gathered! Eddie James and his team took the stage, without a soundcheck, without rehearsal and blew everyone away. Obviously they had been part of the convoy that was travelling for days and arrived in Warri just as the crusade was starting. I know they were tired, but they led with passion. They were powerful and anointed and led us all into the presence of God.

I must admit, I felt like I was in a daze all night from sheer exhaustion. Even now as I write, it’s all I can do to keep my eyes open. Yet, despite my personal physical weakness, God moved powerfully tonight.

Many thousands responded to the Gospel, deaf ears opened, a bullet lodged in a man’s chest from a gunshot disappeared, a man’s hernia was healed and many other miracles took place - much more than we could interview.

Tomorrow, we will begin again with renewed strength. Please continue to pray for us and for Warri.

Dear Mission Partners,

Tonight was very special. It started when I arrived on the field and heard from the crusade chairman about a report circulating around town. Last night, while I was praying for the sick, I saw a disabled man being powerfully touched by God in his seat. I went down to pray for him. While I was down there, a mother put a dead baby in my arms. She had been brought by the doctor for prayer. The baby’s little eyes were rolled back in its head, its body was limp and smelled very bad. I held the baby for a short time and then gave the body, still limp, back to the mother. The chairman told me that later that night, the baby resurrected! The word has spread all around. We are trying to find the mother now. I want to see firsthand what has happened.

Then I got word that another woman was present who had been healed 31 years ago when CfaN came to Warri in 1989. I was not there, but Peter Vandenberg, who witnessed the miracle firsthand says,

“One night, a young girl of fourteen years of age came to the crusade meeting as she had heard that people were being healed in answer to prayer. Her need was great because she had been involved in an accident some years before that had resulted in many broken bones, and because of delayed medical attention, the broken bones had set at grotesque angles. This caused her to walk with great difficulty as her body was permanently bent over to the left side.

At the crusade meeting, Reinhard Bonnke had, as usual, prayed for the sick after the gospel altar call and she came forward right after that to testify that during the prayer, her bones had cracked loudly and suddenly she was able to stand upright and walk with ease. She demonstrated this on the platform to the joyful crowd.

The next day when she went to school, her class was in uproar when they saw what God had done for her. It wasn’t long before the news spread across the whole school, and all classes stopped for the day as students rushed to see the miracle that had taken place in her body.”

I decided that I would open the meeting tonight by sharing these testimonies. I had intended just to encourage the people with what God has done and then preach and pray for the sick at the end (as usual). But once the woman had shared her testimony, the faith level of the people was very high, and I could sense that the power of the Lord was present to heal. So, I started praying for the sick right away and miracles started happening all over the place!

Several blind eyes and deaf ears opened (about half a dozen each). A number of disabled people walked. One woman, 21-years-old, had been deaf in her right ear since birth. She was healed tonight and can now hear perfectly! A couple of lifelong severe asthmatics were completely healed. Both were very emotional, weeping as they could breathe deeply and freely for the first time in their lives!

Many other healing's also took place – before I had even preached the gospel. I reassured the pastors and theologians on the platform that this was not unbiblical. Even Jesus was known as mighty in word and deed (in that order) and Luke tells us in Acts 1:1 about all the things Jesus began to do and teach (in that order). Sometimes it is OK for the demonstration to come first and the message to follow. There was a wonderful response to the Gospel and many came to Christ.

Also, because we missed the first day of the crusade, I had to make up for lost time tonight. I broke the curses by name, we burned fetishes and all manner of “juju” and I prayed for the people to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. There was a rich and wonderful sense of the presence of the Lord throughout.

Tomorrow is the final meeting here. Please continue to pray for us. The best is yet to come.

Dear Mission Partners,

This evening was the final meeting of the crusade in Warri, Nigeria and the excitement of what God has been doing all week was evident as from early on tens of thousands of people began converging on the field.

This same excitement greeted us when we arrived, with leading Bishops and Pastors crowding around us to report with sparkling eyes that during this day, which is Sunday, their churches were filled to capacity with new converts. The Chairman of the crusade stressed that this happened in not just some but in all the many participating churches.

As the meeting began, the crowd of 200,000 people sang praises to the Lord which culminated in joyful celebration when the two steel drums filled with witchcraft items that had been surrendered by new converts, was set on fire. The feeling of freedom and deliverance in the air was almost palpable as many literally danced a victory dance around the burning drums.

Right after this celebration, Daniel Kolenda took the microphone and began to preach the gospel with power and authority. I stood in the crowd listening during the message and I was deeply moved by the impact that his words were having on the people. By the time it came to the call for salvation, I could hear hundreds of people right around me crying out to the Lord for forgiveness and for his salvation. It was definitely a moment recorded in heaven as thousands of councilors began filling out the convert’s details and handing them their follow-up booklets.

As in every meeting, Daniel then prayed for those needing a healing in Jesus’ name and after the prayer people who had felt the healing touch of the Lord were invited to move toward the platform to share their new testimonies.

• A man who had suffered from ear pain with discharge for ten years, was instantly healed. He came to show us all what had happened.

• A woman who had severe sight impairment because of cataracts in both eyes, was completely healed and demonstrated her clear vision.

• A woman who had restricted movement in her right arm since the age of six, was healed and rejoiced because she now had full movement.

As the meeting came to a close with a prayer of blessing for the nation of Nigeria and it’s leaders, the team and the great crowd felt the sadness of parting but also the joy of seeing what the Lord had done during these historic days together.

As we drove away from the field, tired but happy, we thought of the unimaginable difficulties that the whole team had gone through to get to the city of Warri due to weather related airline diversions. But on reflection, these waned into insignificance in the light of the avalanche of salvation, healing and deliverance that resulted from the team’s perseverance in pushing through when it looked impossible.

We thank all of you who have prayed and are praying for us, and who have enabled us financially to do this event. You will share in the harvesters reward and the rejoicing in heaven.

Yours in the Harvest,

Peter Vandengerg
On behalf of Daniel Kolenda and the whole CfaN team.

Watch as the CfaN team prepared for the Gospel Crusade and hear from Evangelist Daniel Kolenda on the incredible journey he and the team have been on!

Although it was the second night of the campaign in Warri, it was the first night that Evangelist Daniel Kolenda and the CfaN ministry team were there, because of the dust storm that delayed them for days. Utterly weary, they made it to Warri just minutes before the meeting started. But the Holy Spirit was there already! 

Daniel has a message for all those who prayed for our team as they made their way to Warri, battling impossible odds. Every moment of that journey was worth it! Tens of thousands received Jesus as their Savior, and there were wonderful testimonies of healing. Warri will never be the same.