Reinhard Bonnke, a popular German Pentecostal preacher who singlehandedly sponsored a three-day crusade in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital in Nigeria in 2001, is dead.
Aged 79, Mr Bonnke passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family, on December 7, his family said on Saturday in a statement posted on Facebook by Anni Bonnke.
The crusade organised by Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) at what is today known as Federal Housing/Akwa Savings Estates, Aka Itiam Road in Uyo local government area had Bonnke as the preacher.
“Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, it is with sorrow that the Bonnke Family would like to announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, and grandfather, Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke,” the family said in the statement.
“He passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family, on December 7, 2019. For the past 60 years he has preached the glorious Gospel of Jesus throughout the entire world.
“We want to thank you on behalf of him and our family, for your kind love and unwavering support, which enabled him to preach the matchless message of salvation to countless people.”
The statement added, “We kindly ask, in lieu of flowers, to please make a donation to Christ for all Nations – Africa Crusade.”
Mr Bonnke had his crusades in several Nigerian cities. His visit to Kano, northern Nigeria, in 1991 for a crusade led to a religious riot between Muslims and Christians in the city.
Mr Bonnke, the son of an army logistics officer, began evangelist and missionary works in Africa in 1967 and was said to have led 75,913,155 people to accept Jesus Christ.
Mr Bonnke is reported to have become born again (accept Jesus Christ) when he was nine, when his mother spoke with him about a sin he had committed. He was said to have embarked on missionary work to Africa at the age of 10.
He founded his mission organization, Christ For All Nations, popularly known as CfaN, in 1974 which was originally headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, before it was relocated to Frankfurt, Germany in 1986 in order to distance it from the then apartheid regime in South Africa and had preached in more than 200 countries in the world.
“You affected me so much with your radical passion for evangelism, you finished your assignment and in your lifetime handed over to your successor. Rest in peace Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke! May we also finish well, goodnight sir!” a fierce Pentecostal preacher in Nigeria, Johnson Suleman said on Twitter in his farewell message to the late Bonnke.
A member of the 2001 crusade publicity sub-committee in Uyo, Anietie Ukpe said he ran a good race, kept the faith and completed his race and led many to the Lord in the expansion of the Kingdom of God.
According to him, “He was not a person localised to a particular place- he went around the world and preached the gospel as Jesus Christ commanded. He was a true representative of Christian ideals. He was an exemplar of how a Christian should be.”
Ukpe, a pastor in Insight Bible Church, Uyo, described the Uyo crusade as a fantastic but wonderful one.
