Reinhard Bonnke
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| Reinhard Bonnke | |
| Born | 1940 Königsberg, Germany |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Evangelist |
| Website Christ For All Nations |
|
Reinhard Bonnke (born 1940 Königsberg, Germany) is a German charismatic Christian evangelist.
He was reportedly born-again at the age of 9. He studied at The Bible College of Wales in Swansea and pastored in Germany for seven years. He began his ministry in Africa, with which he is principally identified, preaching in Lesotho in 1967. He has subsequently held large evangelical meetings across the continent.
Bonnke claims that his crusades have resulted in the conversions of over 10 million people to Christianity between 1995 and 2000, with a further 38 million from 2001 to 2005.[citation needed] Bonnke was a speaker at the 2008 Planetshakers youth conference in Australia.
One of the most noteworthy miracles said to have occurred during a Reinhard Bonnke crusade happened in December 2001 at the Grace of God Mission Church in Onitsha, Nigeria. Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu said that he was certified dead for at least forty-two hours before returning miraculously to life there. A video was produced and distributed, entitled "Raised from the Dead" detailing this occurance, featuring testimony from eyewitness accounts.
Bonnke has written many books, and claims 178 million copies printed in 158 different languages have been sold or provided at no charge.[citation needed]
[edit] Controversies
Bonnke's visit to Kano in Nigeria in 1991 was blamed for the outbreak of riots in the city, as Muslims protested about reported uncomplimentary remarks he had made about Islam in the city of Kaduna on his way to Kano.[1]
In the early 1990s Bonnke, who had uttered a number of prophecies of a major world revival which would start in the UK, was involved in an initiative called Minus to Plus, which aimed to reverse the decline in church attendances in the United Kingdom. The initiative, which involved the distribution of millions of copies of a booklet to homes throughout the country, was hoped to 'win' 250,000 converts. However, only 20,000 were 'won over', and these were mostly those returning to the faith rather than coming to it for the first time, and church attendances continued to decline.[2]
