On November 12, 2000, something unprecedented happened in Lagos, Nigeria. 1.6 million people gathered for a single evangelistic meeting led by German-American evangelist Reinhard Bonnke.
Early Call to Africa
Bonnke had dreamed of Africa since childhood. Born in 1940 in Königsberg, Germany, he sensed God's call to Africa as a young man. The vision was specific: "Africa shall be saved."
He arrived as a missionary in 1967. But his early years were marked by discouragement. In one village, his entire congregation was a single woman and her sick child. He prayed over the child, who was healed. Word spread. The next service, the village turned out.
Bonnke learned that God confirmed the gospel with signs following.
Lagos Crusade Returns After Ban
By the 1980s, his Christ for All Nations crusades were drawing hundreds of thousands. But Nigeria remained complicated. In 1991, religious riots during a visit to Kano left hundreds dead. The government banned him from the country.
Nine years passed. In 2000, a new civilian government under President Olusegun Obasanjo, himself a Christian, invited Bonnke back. He chose Lagos for his return.
Millions Respond to Gospel
The response stunned everyone. Over six nights, six million people heard the gospel. Thirty thousand pastors attended a Fire Conference. The single-meeting attendance of 1.6 million remains one of the largest religious gatherings in history.
And the response was not passive listening. According to Christ for All Nations records, nearly 1.1 million of those attending made decisions to follow Jesus Christ.
Mass Healing Testimony Nigeria
The physical manifestations were remarkable. Bonnke prayed for the sick, and people testified to blind eyes opening, tumors disappearing, the lame walking, mutes speaking. Six million gospel booklets were distributed. Over two thousand churches participated in follow-up.
"Africa shall be saved," Bonnke had declared as a young man. By his death in 2019, his organization had documented over 79 million decision cards signed by people accepting Christ across Africa.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim, called his death "a great loss to Nigeria."
The evangelist who once preached to a single woman in a village had lived to see millions respond to his message: Jesus saves.
