Funeral for Reinhard Bonnke, German evangelist known as 'The Billy Graham of Africa,' draws thousands

Funeral service for Reinhard Bonnke at Faith Assembly of God church in Orlando, Florida, on Jan. 4, 2019. Courtesy photo by Sarah M. Brown
ORLANDO, Fla. (RNS) — Reinhard Bonnke, the German evangelist known as “The Billy Graham of Africa,” was lauded at a Saturday (Jan. 4) memorial service as “a giant and a general in the army of God.”

The Pentecostal pastor died Dec. 7 at the age of 79 in Orlando, where he moved his international ministry, Christ for All Nations, in the early 2000s. He retired as head of Christ for All Nations in 2017, citing declining health.

During more than four decades of mass crusades in Africa, Bonnke preached in 51 of the continent’s countries and claimed to have converted 79 million people to Christianity.

About 2,000 people gathered from around the U.S. and around the world in the sanctuary of the Faith Assembly of God for a three-hour celebration of Bonnke’s life and ministry.

More than a dozen speakers, including a number from African ministries and denominations, lauded Bonnke, for both his zeal and his personal humility. Other Pentecostal leaders, including T.D. Jakes, Benny Hinn and Paula White, appeared on the three large screens above the sanctuary’s stage with filmed tributes.

Members of the racially diverse crowd sang Bonnke’s favorite hymns, waving their arms.

A large, red floral arrangement in the shape of the African continent was placed on an easel next to the speaker’s lectern. Along the front of the stage stood sheaves of wheat, symbolizing the harvest of Bonnke’s evangelism.

Between the morning’s speakers, clips of Bonnke’s African crusades, some to audiences of hundreds of thousands, played on the screen.

The best known of these was in Lagos, Nigeria, in November 2000, when an estimated 1.6 million heard Bonnke preach. In 2001, Christianity Today magazine called Bonnke “one of the continent’s most recognizable religious figures.”

In a tweet after Bonnke’s death, Muhammadu Buhari, the president of Nigeria, said the country “joins Christendom at large in mourning the passing of renowned evangelist, Reinhard Bonnke."

Bonnke's death, Buhari said, was “a great loss to Nigeria, Africa (and the) entire world.”

Pia Sebastian, 46, came from Dallas to attend the celebration. In 2013, Sebastian said, she gave up a corporate career to study evangelism at one of Bonnke’s training schools.

“I honor Reinhard Bonnke, and I believe that I’m called to carry the torch and fulfill the work of sharing the gospel,” Sebastian said.

Bonnke was the son of a German soldier who became a minister after World War II. Mesmerized by tales of 19th century European missionaries like David Livingstone, young Reinhard would later say he heard the voice of the Holy Spirit say to him: “Africa shall be saved!”

In a Facebook post in 2018, Bonnke cited another role model.

“Billy Graham has inspired me personally,” he wrote after the American evangelist’s death in 2018. “When he preached in a tent in Hamburg, Germany. I always felt connected to him.”

Early in his evangelistic career, Bonnke acknowledged in a 2003 interview, he made a strategic decision that proved controversial. He based his ministry in an all-white area of Johannesburg, South Africa, and did not publicly oppose the apartheid regime. Bonnke said he did make known his opposition to apartheid, but indirectly through his ministry. His associate was a black minister who always traveled with him.

“I had a choice," he said. “To become politically active and oppose apartheid from the pulpit. Or, to preach the gospel and make people find salvation in Jesus Christ.”

"The most remarkable things are happening: blind eyes open, cripples walk, people jump out of their wheelchairs,” he said in a 2003 interview with the Orlando Sentinel.

“I am as amazed as anybody else. It is just too wonderful. But I personally am not the miracle worker – it is Jesus.”

Bonnke's followers claimed that he did in fact perform a miracle. In November 2001, they say, the evangelist raised a Nigerian minister from the dead.

The Rev. Daniel Ekechukwu was twice pronounced dead after a car crash, according to the story, and embalmed – although by African custom his organs were not removed. Three days later, after hearing a prophecy, his wife brought the body to the basement of a church where Bonnke was praying in the sanctuary above.

Reinhard Bonnke. Photo courtesy of Bonnke.net
At the same time, others later told the evangelist, Ekechukwu sat bolt upright and began to breathe again.

“That man was dead as a stone," Bonnke said, although he did not know the man was in the church basement at the time he was preaching above. “There is no doubt about it.”

Christ for All Nations ministry officials investigated the account, Bonnke said, and found it to be “so true, so genuine, so fantastic” that they embraced it as a miracle, and produced and distributed a video on the episode.

Rick DuBose, assistant general superintendent of the Assemblies of God, lauded Bonnke for his decades of missionary work.

Bonnke "literally pushed back the darkness," he said.

Toward the end of his career, Bonnke held his first crusades in the United States, a country he said needed to experience God’s power.

"I have seen whole countries shaken by the power of God," he told Jeff Kunerth of the Orlando Sentinel in 2013. "That experience in Africa has turned me into an incurable believer that God will do it in other parts of the world as well. And I pray for America."

Source:

https://religionnews.com/2020/01/04/funeral-for-reinhard-bonnke-the-german-evangelist-known-as-the-billy-graham-of-africa-draws-thousands/

Rest on sir, sometimes I wonder if is really alive I just wonder

He was a great man. I remember his small book titled "Now that you're born again"

Your Evangelism was by fire. He indeed finish his course and a crown is waiting for him.

Thanks God for the so many lifes you impact in Africa and Nigeria in particular.

May heaven reward your commitment to your course. Rest on

In fact this man of God made Nigeria Pentecostal church what it is today , a crowd puller !!

"I’m called to carry the torch and fulfill the work of sharing the gospel..."
I'm committed to tell the world about Jesus!

Sleep On Sir...

Let us with a gladsome mind,
Praise the Lord for He is Kind,
For His mercies shall endure,
Ever Faithful, Ever Sure...

Good Morning and Happy First Sunday In The Year 2020

I thought he raised the dead while alive. is there no one who can raise him up like Lazarus?


He who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do (John 14:12).

If they bury him then the above verse has failed! He is not supposed to die at least not now!

If he were a Nigerian/African many will say the brooms is a sign of a form of Occult! But this is Bonke!

His crusade in nigeria those days always drew a mamoth crowd
These days, its only nairamarley that can draw such crowd.

What amazes me most is that his demise preaches more of the gospel of hope and assurance of God's eternal promises to those who are prepared to reign with Christ forever, just like Enoch, Elijah. His demise also preaches the realities of the other world where immortals dwells. His demise reveals and shows the glory of Christ to the inhabitants of the Earth.

Why am I amaze? Since 2017, been announcing his handing over (i.e passing of the torch/mantle) as G.O and depature to His eternal glory spoken by God. Home coming of Bonnke promised by God is now fulfilled. IT IS A PROOF OF THE REALITY. His demise also expresses God's eternal plan and reality for all mankind through JESUS CHRIST. His demise is also preaches warning to those who are not prepared.

God bless His WORD... STANDS SURE.

This man killed far more people than the ones he allegedly raised from the death...

WE WILL ALL DIE!
The great, the small, the poor, the rich.

[color=#990000][/color]

The coming of d whites is still the worst thing to happen to Africa my world.we neva needed them,Africa was pure before these Neanderthals crossed the Mediterranean.

Spits!!!

Uyi168:
This man killed far more people than the ones he allegedly raised from the death...

Who killed your brain

Proudly sponsored by APC... See our brooms every where

His work will live on forever!

NigPatriot:
He was a great man. I remember his small book titled "Now that you're born again"

Now that you are saved

Rest on General (salutes)!

Uyi168:
This man killed far more people than the ones he allegedly raised from the death...

Are u ok?

A

I attended his crusade at the Papal ground.

This is really a man of God, I grew up seeing that his book around the house everyday

Someone should quote me with the picture of that blue book again, feels good glancing at it

Assuming the funeral was held in Africa,it will draw million.

I was thinking is only me that seen it, i suspect the guy.

englishmart:
Is it sponsored by the APC?
I see something that look like brooms

I started respecting this man after he succeeded with the various crusades he had in Edo state despite Edo chiefs marred his crusades with heavy downpours


this man has impacted more into naija Christians than Adeboyes and co

AntiChristian:
I thought he raised the dead while alive. is there no one who can raise him up like Lazarus?


He who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do (John 14:12).

If they bury him then the above verse has failed! He is not supposed to die at least not now!

This is his time to rest my bro your posts are becoming weird

I remember jumping on the train to bodija for one of his crusade.

Rest on General Bonnke

Pls tell Baba God that it's hard to be holy inside life