Preaching around the world

Radio Hayah spoke with Evangelist Daniel Kolenda

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I'm with Daniel Kolenda from Christ for all Nations, Now Daniel what is Christ for all nations ?

It's an evangelistic ministry, It was founded by a man named Reinhard Bonkke who probably a lot of your listeners will know, At that time a young German evangelist missionary who went to southern Africa, Lesotho, Just to tell people about Jesus. The Lord gave him a vision on 4 consecutive nights of the entire continent of Africa being washed in the blood of Jesus. He heard the Holy spirit say “Africa will be saved” and that was the beginning of the ministry that began doing these massive campaigns all over the continent, we have seen now since 1987 more than 76 million people come to Christ in our campaigns and when I say 76 million I am not talking about estimations, these are people who have prayed with counselors, filled out decision cards , given us their contact details and have been ushered into local churches to be discipled . Jesus didn't say “go and make converts”

He said “Make Disciples” and so that is the ones we count and this is what we are seeing I think it's one of the greatest single harvest experiences that has ever happened in church history. And that is what we are, We don't do very many different things, We don't have hospitals , we don't have orphanages other people do those things much better than us, There is one thing we do very well and that is we preach the gospel with clarity and with demonstration of power , the sick are healed , the dead are raised, blind eyes opened, Cripples walk , Jesus is glorified and the kingdom of God is growing.

Now you are here in the Holy Land at the moment, Why are you here ?

Well I am leading a tour group, I was invited by Pastor Wayne Hilsden to speak at a  Conference that is happening and I thought since I am going I will bring some people with me , I opened up the doors for that , the opportunity, I thought maybe 30 or 40 people would come, instead 500 people later we are here ….and so the last week or so we have been touring around the land  going to the sites, I have gotten to meet some wonderful people along the way  Built some new friendships and relationships so it has been an adventure to say the least .

As you travel around the Land  is this really opening up the bible for you ?

Yeah you know I have been here a few times before, I think this is my 5^th time here but even so every time we visit one of these places the experience is new and fresh , we were at the Mount of Beatitudes and my father was reading Matthew 6 and we were all supposed to be reading it together but as I just thought about Jesus standing in that place saying those things I choked up , I couldn't even read anymore just the emotions were overwhelming and so even though I have been here a few times there is always a fresh emotional experience that happens and its wonderful, it helps to build your faith , it helps to give a whole new perspective on the bible , these places you have heard this before its kind of cliché but it's true, the bible really comes to life and you never read it the same way again.

Is the Holy Land an important place for you to come to and share a message ?

Yeah it's very important because this is where the work that I do started , this is where it began , Jesus told his disciples to come to this city that I am in right now Jerusalem , He said wait for the promise of the father he said when you are filled with the Holy spirit you will receive power and you will be witnesses so the coming of the Holy spirit was intimately connected with evangelism and with the witness of Jesus Christ through the gospel , and he said “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem” which is where we are right now and then Judea and then Samaria and then the uttermost parts of the earth so I see this as sort of a home base, its ground zero for evangelism.

And what is your message for the Holy Land  ?

Well you know that is an interesting question, because when I come to a place like this I think people will expect that I will modify my approach and suddenly become some sort of bible prophecy teacher or something and that is just not the way it is , I have one message and that message is good for the Jew and the Gentile and that is Jesus Christ crucified , risen again and coming soon , my message is “Repent and believe the gospel” and the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to the Jew first and also to the Greek and so I don't change it for the Jew , I don't change it for the Israeli instead I bring it to them as the original recipients of the gospel and it has the same power to save deliver and heal here s it has anywhere else , Just a few nights ago we prayed for the sick here in Jerusalem people always told me that it's very difficult , Somebody told me that it doesn't work here in Jerusalem actually a minister told me that, the miracles don't work here .

We saw in one meeting praying for the sick it took about 4 minutes and there was 30 – 40 miracles and so it absolutely works here and my message in a short to summaries , It's the same.

Are you meeting both Arab and Jewish believers ?

We are not meeting any individual ethnic group by design we are just meeting whoever we meet , we have met both Jews and Arabs ,gentiles and Christians Armenians and everybody along the way it's just sort of a spontaneous Holy Spirit adventure .

Now over the years The Holy Land has suffered from Trouble  and we are seeing terror on the streets of the UK , what would you say to someone who asks “Where Is God in this “?

well the world is a very difficult place and we know this in fact the way that the bible begins by telling us the story of the fall of man, the scriptures never present some sort of a utopia vision of the way the world is so that you might look at it and say this doesn't match scripture , it is exactly what is described, the world is a fallen evil place and that is why Jesus came , that is why Jesus died. And terrorism is simply another manifestation of the malevolence within the human heart that seeks to build its own kingdoms and save itself and so where is God in this ?

Well Jesus came and died to save us from these things , that's why we preach the gospel, that's why we go and do what we do .

Now the political situation here is very complex but is it important for Jewish and Arab believers to be unified ?

I think it is first important for believers to first identify as believers and then whatever other identity comes second , I'm an American but I don't identify `first and foremost as an American , I am white but I don't identify first and foremost as white , I am western but I don't identify first and foremost as western, my primary identity is as a Christian, I'm a believer in Jesus , so I have more in common with an Arab believer , A Jewish believer or a Chinese believer than I have with a white American non believer . My first identity is in Christ and I think one of the major problems is that whatever you identify as first and foremost it shapes your view of the world and so if Jews identify first as Jews and Arabs identify first as Arabs then their Christian identity comes in second and they end up fighting with each other . We believers need to first identify as Sons and Daughters of God as children of God , saved by the blood of Jesus and everything else should be secondary .

How did you get involved in Christ for all nations ?

Well I first met Evangelist Bonkee when I was 18 years old on the beach in Pensacola, It's kind of a long interesting story but the short version of it is years later I ended up getting a Job working at the ministry and I was working in the warehouse so if you looked at a flow chart of the management structure I was on the very very bottom, That's how I started a while later I became an assistant with evangelist bonkee, we travelled the world together and eventually one step at a time I was kind of elevated, lifted up by the hand of the Lord, finally about 8 years ago Evangelist bonkee handed the ministry over to me and asked me to become the new leader and so that's the way it's been but we continue to go forward with the same vision , with the same calling, we want to see millions of people saved and we have a great great vision for the continent of Africa.

Now just recently I have heard that Reinhard Bonkee has had cancer , how is he doing at the moment ?

It is true he has had some health difficulties, but he is doing much better , he is recovering and we are believing for a 100% improvement and I don't know if you know about this yet but we are planning in November He is going to do his farewell crusade in Nigeria and we are planning an event that will probably be the largest gathering of human beings in history together , he is going to be there , he is going to be ministering and we are very much going to look forward to that so the best is yet to come .

Is it dangerous doing what you do ?

You know it is dangerous to get out of bed in the morning, You could slip on a piece of soap in the shower but the truth is yeah it is dangerous, we know that going in but we've already laid our lives down the things that we do we have counted the cost, we know its dangerous but Jesus came from heaven to earth for the sake of the lost and we are willing to risk all to reach them as well.

Are you making a difference ?

I hope so, The scripture says that the word of God will not return void but it will accomplish the thing that it was sent to do . So if we are making a difference its not because we are so intelligent or cleaver or have a great ministry or strategy its because we are preaching the word of God , bringing Jesus to people and what he is doing I am sure is making a difference.

What is your prayer finally for both Israelis and Palestinians ?

Salvation, It was the same prayer that Paul said that his prayer to God was that Israel –Palestine would be saved and so that is also I think should be the prayer of every believer in the world is that the people to whom Jesus came first, his own brothers that they would have the revelation of who he is, that they would turn back to him and that the purpose of God for the nation of Israel – Palestine for the people of Israel – Palestine  would be fulfilled .