Renowned international evangelist, Reinhard Bonnke, says he is not ready to quit preaching for now, even though he has decided to hand over the baton to a younger minister, Daniel Kolenda.
Evangelist Bonnke said this in Lagos during a press briefing ahead of the much anticipated Farewell Crusade and Passing the Burning Torch Conference slated for the 8th to the 12th of November, 2017, holding beside the Sparklight Estate, opposite OPIC Events Center, Isheri, on the Lagos end of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
The special press conference which took place at the Intercontinental Hotel in Victoria Island, focused on Bonnke’s expectations for the crusade and his reason for choosing Lagos for the farewell crusade.
“I have always loved Nigeria and love the gospel passionately and could not think of a better place to hold this farewell crusade in Africa,” he told journalists at the press briefing.
While the crusade is Bonnke’s last, it is the first of many for his partner, Kolenda whom he hopes would continue the work and do even better than he has done.
Speaking further on why he chose Nigeria, Bonnke said that it is the most populous black nation in the world and he smelt a harvest and since the Lord of the harvest sent him down here, he would definitely obey.
On the question of the seeming moral decline in Nigeria despite all the effort at winning many souls for the Lord, Bonnke referred to Jesus’ parable of the sower in Mathew 13, how despite the fact that the sower sowed, not all seeds yielded fruit as the word of God would certainly yield different results. He added that his job was to obey the word of God, preach everywhere and leave the judgement to God.
He added, “No human has invented water and no one can live without it and that is the same with the gospel. Something that was fake 500 years ago, will not start being original now; it is still fake. And something that is true will constantly remain true; the gospel is true today because it was true in the beginning.”
On his high and low moments in ministry, the founder of Christ for All Nations had this to say, “The Holy Spirit is always fully there and the power of God is concealed in us and shows up when we move. I try to avoid emotional pits and prefer to soar on the wings of faith to trust the Holy Spirit to do his work; I am only a vessel. I have sworn to God that I will not be deterred by the walls of offence or boundaries and will instead soar with wings like an eagle over challenges.”
Asked about his plans after the conference, he humorously replied that he would celebrate Christmas with his family. However, on a serious note, the 77-year-old evangelist said he had other engagements in the United States and would continue to preach as the Lord helped him because, for him, every soul saved is one less soul in hell and an addition to heaven.
In attendance at the press conference were representatives from major Christian organisations from Nigeria and other parts of Africa.