In June 2012, evangelist Reinhard Bonnke held a crusade in Kampala, which I was lucky to attend. I wrote a newspaper article about it that was never published. It is reproduced here.
A deaf and dumb woman regained her hearing
and spoke for the first time in 29 years. A man who had been paralysed for
seven months walked again, shouting the Name of Jesus and adding with delirious
joy that he would never use a wheelchair again. A man from Rwanda who had been
totally blind for five years got his sight back while a woman who had breast
and cervical cancer returned on the third day to testify how God had healed her
on the first day of the crusade. She even had medical papers to prove her case!
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| Some of the crowds that attended the crusade |
These are a few of the numerous signs and
wonders that rocked the Uganda Jubilee Gospel Crusade led by fiery German evangelist
Reinhard Bonnke and his protégé and successor Daniel Kolenda, in Kampala on
June 6-10, 2012. Makerere II Grounds on Sir. Apollo Kaggwa Rd.,was filled with people from
all corners of the country and beyond, who came in desperate need of salvation,
healing and deliverance. Like the woman in Luke 8:43 who suffered a haemorrhage
for 12 years and exhausted all her resources seeking a scientific remedy until
Jesus stepped on the scene, these people equally turned to the Lord with
mustard-seed faith and didn’t get disappointed.
"Doctors have a different pill for every problem
but God has only one pill that cures every condition – the blood of Jesus," said
evangelist Kolenda, arguing that the stain of sin has caused the world much
suffering and cannot be washed away by political, financial, scientific,
scholarly, military or even religious detergents. "There's nothing humanity can
do but to turn to Jesus with all our hearts because His blood has the power to
cleanse us of all sin, to heal us, save us and protect us."
Witnessing these miracles firsthand and
watching tears of joy gliding down the eyes of the recipients brought to mind the
first verses of Isaiah 61, how God comforts the broken-hearted, releases captives
and sets prisoners free; turning mourning into rejoicing, and giving beauty for
ashes.
This was evangelist Bonnke's second time in
Uganda.
The first time was in 1990 in Jinja where his crusade was acrimoniously bunged
up by the local authorities accusing him of "noise." Overcome with dejection
from the rejection, he did what Jesus tells His disciples to do in Matthew 10:14-15:
"If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off
your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be
more bearable for Sodom
and Gomorrah on
the day of judgement than for that town."
Well, it's said the rejection of Bonnke
started the economic retrogression of the once industrial town of Uganda. The situation has
since been compounded by impoverishment and an epidemic of jiggers that has
dented the whole of Busoga. That’s why the Wednesday return of Bonnke to Jinja 22
years later, was of potent significance to the Basoga.
"It's a sign that God has remembered Jinja
again," said one pastor, adding that the town had seized the opportunity to
right its wrong; seek forgiveness for disgracing God's anointed. Bonnke was himself happy to forgive and give
his full blessing – a move many were optimistic lifted the curse and unlocked spiritual
and economic blessings that will help the town to flourish again.
After Jinja, the 72-year-old and his team
were hosted by President Yoweri Museveni, before he opened the Kampala crusade. On the third day, First Lady
Janet Museveni also appeared and joined multitudes who viewed the crusade as an
early birthday gift to Uganda
as it itches closer to its golden jubilee in October. The golden jubilee is a
Biblical principle that typifies forgiveness, liberty and restoration.
The atmosphere was electric as people prayed
and praised fervently; lifting their hands and voices worshiping God in truth
and spirit.
The preachers were on a roll too with
revivalist sermons that emphasised living lives fully dependant on the Lord. During
one such sermon a woman got slain by the Holy Spirit and fell before me,
rolling in the dust, speaking in unknown tongues punctuated with the Name
Jesus. When she got up about 30 minutes later, she was smiling the most
beautiful smile and radiating a joy from the inside out as I had never before
seen.
The devil’s business was left in utter ruins,
no doubt, as many who had dabbled in the occult brought their totems and
related paraphernalia that made a mound that got burned. They then joined thousands
others pledging their allegiance to Jesus from then on.
Family and general curses were lifted, and
pastors prayed over a box brimming with prayer requests. Those without jobs were
prayed for to find something meaningful to do. The economy was prayed for to stabilise;
for oil money to be used to benefit all Ugandans. There were prayers against
poverty, corruption, violence, divorce, prostitution, and against all forces of
darkness that have left many bound. There were prayers for young women to get
worthy men for husbands and young men to get beautiful God-fearing women. The evangelist
Kolenda also commanded every infertile womb to be fertile in the Name of Jesus.
"You'll give birth to healthy babies; I
believe nine months from now there will be a population explosion in Kampala in
Jesus' Name,” he concluded, and cries of “Amen” and "hallelujah" rippled like a
mighty earthquake through the arena.
If anything stood out during the four-day
crusade, it was Romans 10: 13: whoever calls upon the Name of Jesus will be
saved. It was emphasised as the secret to blind eyes opening, the lame walking,
tumors disappearing, and the secret to all manner of ‘hopeless’ situations
getting turned around for Uganda and its people in this golden jubilee year and
always.
