Reinhard Bonnke (19 April 1940 – 7 December 2019) was a German-American
Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement evangelist, principally known for his gospel
missions throughout Africa. Bonnke had been an evangelist and missionary in Africa since 1967.
Early life
Reinhard Bonnke was born on 19 April 1940, in
Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...
,
East Prussia, Germany,
the son of an army logistics officer. With his mother and siblings, he was taken to Denmark during the
evacuation of East Prussia and spent some years in a displaced person center.
He became a
born-again Christian at the age of nine after his mother spoke with him about a sin that he had committed.
He sensed a call from God to serve as a missionary in Africa from the age of 10 and said that he had the experience of
baptism in the Holy Spirit
In Christian theology, baptism with the Holy Spirit, also called baptism in the Holy Spirit or baptism in the Holy Ghost, has been interpreted by different Christian denominations and traditions in a variety of ways due to differences in the doctr ...
. After the war service, his father had become a pastor.
Bonnke studied at
the Bible College of Wales in
Swansea, Wales, where he was inspired by the director,
Samuel Rees Howells. In one meeting after Howells spoke of answered prayer, Bonnke prayed, "Lord, I also want to be a man of faith. I want to see your way of providing for needs."
Passing through London, he had a chance meeting with the famous preacher
George Jeffreys, who encouraged the young German student. After graduation, he pastored in Germany for seven years. His African ministry, which he was principally known for, began in 1967 in Lesotho. He subsequently held evangelistic meetings across the continent.
It is estimated that over 79 million people converted to Christianity as a result of Bonnke's ministry. He has been called a "giant and a general in the Army of God".
Death
Bonnke died on 7 December 2019. Bonnke had announced on his official Facebook page in November 2019 that he had undergone femur surgery and needed time to "learn how to walk again". Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who is Muslim, praised Bonnke for his frequent visits to Nigeria and described Bonnke's death as a "great loss to Nigeria".
African mission
Early on, Bonnke encountered poor results from his evangelistic efforts and felt frustrated at the pace of his ministry. Bonnke claims to have had a recurring dream featuring a picture of the map of Africa being spread with red and heard the voice of God crying "Africa Shall Be Saved". This led him to adopt large-scale evangelism, rather than the traditional small-scale missionary approach. He rented a stadium in
Gaborone
Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census.
Gaboron ...
,
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...
, and preached with little cooperation from local churches. Beginning with only 100 people, the stadium meetings grew.
In 1974, Bonnke founded the mission organisation Christ For All Nations (abbreviated CfaN).
Originally based in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...
, South Africa, the headquarters were relocated to
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
, Germany, in 1986. This was done primarily to distance the organisation from South Africa's
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
policy at the time.
Today CfaN has 9 offices across 5 continents.
Bonnke began his ministry holding tent meetings that accommodated large crowds. According to an account published by the
Christian Broadcasting Network
The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) is an American Christian media production and distribution organization. Founded in 1960 by Pat Robertson, it produces the long-running TV series '' The 700 Club'', co-produces the ongoing ''Superbook'' ...
, in 1984 he commissioned the construction of what was claimed to be the world's largest mobile structure – a tent capable of seating 34,000; this was destroyed in a wind storm just before a major meeting and therefore the team decided to hold the event in the open air instead. According to this account, the event was subsequently attended by over 100,000 people which is far greater than the 34,000 seating capacity the tents could contain.
[
In addition to South Africa, Bonnke would also hold numerous crusades in other African countries such as ]Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
and Kenya
)
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, image_map =
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, capital = Nairobi
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...
and also became known as "the Billy Graham
William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christi ...
of Africa." In the 5 February 2001 edition of Graham's '' Christianity Today'', journalist Corrie Cutrer stated that Bonnke had set "record-breaking attendances" at recent crusades he held in Nigeria. Bonnke announced his "farewell gospel crusade" to be held in Lagos, Nigeria, in November 2017. Lagos is also the location of a gospel crusade held in 2000 which, according to CfaN, is the organization's largest to date, drawing an attendance of six million people. In 2019 Reinhard Bonnke was set to headline the G12 Africa Conference in Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...
, South Africa.
Controversy
In 1991, during Bonnke's visit to Kano
Kano may refer to:
Places
*Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria
* Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State
**Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries
**Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...
in Nigeria, there were riots in the city as Muslims protested over remarks he had reportedly made about Islam in the city of Kaduna on his way to Kano. A rumor was spread that Bonnke was planning to "lead an invasion" into Kano. Muslim youths gathered at the Kofar Mata Eide-ground where they were addressed by several clerics who claimed that Bonnke was going to blaspheme Islam. About 8,000 youths gathered at the Emir's palace and after noon prayers the riots ensued, during which many Christians sustained various injuries and several churches were burned. At least eight people were killed according to official reports.
Bonnke's subsequent attempts to return to Nigeria were denied, as the Nigerian Embassy refused his visa applications.
After nine years, he returned to Nigeria to preach. A new civilian government in Nigeria had been elected to power, and President Olusegun Obasanjo
Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its presid ...
invited Reinhard Bonnke to return to the country. Bonnke returned to Nigeria with the Benin City crusade in the Southern Region of Nigeria.
Personal life
After graduating from the Bible College of Wales and returning to Germany, Bonnke led a series of meetings in Rendsburg
Rendsburg ( da, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'', nds, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'') is a town on the River Eider and the Kiel Canal in the central part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) of Rendsburg-Ecke ...
. He began receiving speaking invitations from all around Germany and the rest of the world. Bonnke met Anni Suelze at a gospel music festival and admired the grace with which she recovered from a wrongly pitched music performance at the expense of losing the competition. He offered to preach at the church she attended one Sunday and fell in love with her. They married in 1964 and had three children.
Autobiography
Bonnke's autobiography, ''Living a Life of Fire'', is a collection of stories of his life, including accounts of his childhood growing up during the Second World War and living in prison camps to his early years in ministry and how he believed God used him to bring the gospel of salvation to Africa.
References
External links
CfaN Christ for all Nations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonnke, Reinhard
1940 births
2019 deaths
German evangelicals
German evangelists
Faith healers
Clergy from Königsberg
German Pentecostals
German expatriates in Wales
German expatriates in South Africa
Pentecostal missionaries
Protestant missionaries in Africa