In memory…

Four years ago, Reinhard Bonnke went home – the home he always pointed others too, the great Home who is God himself.

We were in our early 30’s when the Lord clearly called us into full time ministry. I will never forget the Sunday morning when God used a visiting missionary to challenge us to turn our backs on everything we knew and held dear, for the sake of the Gospel. We had only been married for 6 years and our 3 little children, a business and church life kept us very busy, but one hot African day, we boarded the train that took us to Johannesburg, the first leg of our long journey by land and sea to Bible school in Britain. We were excited and eager to run into this new future of ours, little knowing that the man who challenged us that morning, Reinhard Bonnke, would in just a few years welcome us onto the Christ for all Nations team back in South Africa. Truly, the ways of God are past finding out!

Those of us who had the privilege of serving under him, were also molded by him and his relentless emphasis on the presence and power of the Holy Spirt. He loved to remind us that we humans were not meant to depend on human strength – we were CREATED to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit. And who can forget his hand waving over his head, reminding us that on the day of Pentecost there was “a flame for every head”? 😊

As he aged, he would often compare himself to a Boing 747, fastest at the end of the runway when it’s time to take off! He preached Jesus, whether to a lone server in a restaurant, or to the hundreds of thousands on the campaign fields of the world. Over the years, his beautiful singing voice disappeared into the gravelly tones of the well-used preacher’s voice – he truly gave everything for the Gospel. Although ill health had removed him from the public arena into retirement, on the day he died, the CfaN team was preaching the Gospel in Ado Ekiti, Nigeria, an event where 176,00 precious souls registered a decision for Christ.

We are not the custodians of a dead man’s legacy – rather,  we are the executors of the enduring vision he left us – to preach Christ, in season and out of season, as long as we have breath!

I miss him.