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76,000,000 Documented decisions for Christ

PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA

November 2018

Port Harcourt is the capital and largest city of Rivers State, Nigeria. It lies along the Bonny River in the Niger Delta.

POPULATION

Currently, the Port Harcourt greater urban area has an estimated population of almost 3.1 million inhabitants, up from 1.4 million in 2006. This makes it one of the largest metropolitan areas in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa.

As the only major city in the region, it is highly congested. Incredibly, around 60% are under 19 years old. The people from Rivers State are collectively known as 'Riverians', but they have many ethnic groups and languages, as well as a large migrant population.

INDUSTRY

Port Harcourt has always been an industrial town, founded in 1912 as a port to export coal from the region. In 1956, crude oil was discovered in commercial quantities at Oloibiri, and the first shipment of Nigerian crude oil was exported through the city in 1958.

It is a major industrial centre with many multi-national companies, particularly businesses related to the petroleum industry, and is the chief oil-refining city in Nigeria. Thanks to oil, Rivers State is one of the wealthiest states in Nigeria in terms of gross domestic product, but for the average person, poverty, unemployment and crime are a fact of life.

CHRISTIANITY

The first church in Port Harcourt came about in 1909, when some itinerant fishermen and traders came into contact with mission churches in outlying villages, and brought home what they had seen and heard.

This region is known as 'Christian', but ancestor worship, animism and witchcraft still have a strong hold on many people, and are often considered to simply be a part of the traditional culture. Churches that are working together for this campaign include a wide range of denominations, who stand with us to preach the unaltered, pure Gospel of Jesus Christ.

DID YOU KNOW?

It was the 1999 CfaN campaign in Port Harcourt that led to CfaN having the incredible sound system that now makes it possible for hundreds of thousands to hear the Word in a single meeting. That December, the crowd was enormous, but a change in wind direction meant that many could not hear.

Our technical team vowed that never again would precious souls be lost because of inadequate equipment, and created a system that can reach up hundreds of thousands listeners at once.

NEARLY 10,000 DECISIONS BEFORE THE CAMPAIGN BEGINS!

I have just arrived at my hotel room here in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, where our next Gospel Campaign begins tonight! As part of our 'Decade of Double Harvest' initiative, we have already had nearly six weeks of non-stop evangelism taking place leading up to this event. I trained six teams of evangelists for this purpose. We gave them evangelism trucks that our team custom built for the punishing terrain, designed to facilitate mobile mini-campaigns anywhere they can drive.

These teams of evangelists have spent the last several weeks travelling to villages, schools, markets, anywhere people gather. But we didn't just send them out to find a place to preach spontaneously. Our organisers have gone ahead preparing the events, each of which has participating churches, counsellors, follow-up material, etc. And we have been conducting up to three of these meetings per day!

As you can see, this represents an enormous amount of work, but very well worth the effort. So far, nearly 10,000 people have made documented decisions to follow Jesus in these pre-campaign outreaches, and this is just the beginning. I believe the days are soon coming where we will see as many or more people saved BEFORE the campaign than during it!

My friend Eddie James is here with his team as well. This week, we will be recording another LIVE worship album here in Port Harcourt. It is sure to be the best one yet.

Please pray for us as the campaign kicks off today with the Fire Conference and the first evangelistic meeting is tonight.

Yours in the Gospel,

Evangelist Daniel Kolenda
together with the whole CfaN team

SALVATION AT THE GOVERNORS MANSION!

This morning I had the privilege of visiting the Governor of River State (where we are currently) together with Peter Vandenberg. The chamber was filled with state officials and leaders. I preached a clear Gospel message, invited them to receive Christ and several responded! Then with media present, the governor encouraged all the people in his state to attend the Crusade. Tonight, the governor also attended the crusade together with his wife.

There were two individuals, one man and one woman, who were both totally deaf in one ear for years. Tonight, both of them were completely healed. The woman wept tears of joy on the platform as I tested her! A woman who broke both her legs in an accident two years ago was healed from all pain and limited mobility. Others testified that as they were healed of various sicknesses they physically felt something leaving their bodies!

Tomorrow the Fire Conference continues and Peter Vandenberg and John Darku minister to the pastors and Church leaders. Please continue to pray for us and for the people here in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Yours in the Gospel,

Evangelist Daniel Kolenda
Together with the whole CfaN team

TEARS OF JOY

Eddie James is here with his team and they, as well as local worship leaders, led us into a powerful time of worship. I know many of you had the privilege to watch it as we broadcasted the meeting LIVE.

I preached on the blood of Jesus, as I always do, and then broke curses in Jesus' name. There were amazing testimonies that followed.

  • A man who was totally deaf in both ears for 5 years, said that he suddenly heard a cracking noise and felt a scratching in his ears. Suddenly, if felt as if something came out of his ears and he could hear perfectly! As he told what God had done for him, he fell to his knees and began to weep and sing a song of thanksgiving to God.

A woman was brought up to the platform by a local pastor. As soon as the crowd saw her on the jumbo screens, they began to shout. The woman was a local insane lady who was well known because she used to walk around the area naked and out of her mind. As she stood before us, she was clothed and in her right mind. She testified that Jesus had touched her and now she was able to understand. The crowd went wild.

Two women testified that they had painful lumps on their breasts that vanished during prayer. One of the women had already had her other breast removed because of her breast cancer. But tonight Jesus healed both of them completely!

Another woman who had a stroke during childbirth had paralysis on her right side making it impossible for her to lift her right arm. Tonight Jesus touched her, took all her pain away and restored full use of her entire body, including her right arm. As she told her story, she began to weep. When I asked her why she was crying she said, 'These are tears of joy.'

Tomorrow is the final day of the Fire Conference and we will pray for the people to receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in both services. Please continue to pray for us and for the precious people of River State here in Nigeria.

Yours in the Gospel,

Evangelist Daniel Kolenda
Together with the whole CfaN team

VIDEO REPORT - DANIEL KOLENDA

THE CROWD WAS ALARMING

The last two days of our Gospel Crusade in Port Harcourt, Nigeria was a little taste of heaven on earth! The massive crowd was heaving during praise and worship. Locals told us that they had never seen such a crowd in Port Harcourt before. The governor, his wife and several top officials sat on the platform each night. I preached the gospel with all my might, but beyond that, the Lord confirmed His Word over and over with mighty signs and wonders.

On Saturday night I had a word of knowledge about someone whose right forearm was fractured. A man came forward who had fallen in a terrible construction accident seven years earlier. Since that time, the bone had not healed, and he was unable to use his arm. The deep scar, almost the length of his forearm was clearly visible, but Jesus healed him completely! He had no pain and was able to do pushups on the platform!

It is strange but true, that very often in these crusades, I see how one or two specific miracles are happening in extraordinary numbers, sometimes it’s blind eyes, sometimes it's lame. In this crusade, it was deaf ears and lumps (ulcers, tumours, fibroids, etc.) instantly vanishing. One lady had a large boil on her stomach for years. As I was praying, it disappeared!

A police officer testified that he had been severely injured in a bomb blast several years ago which had damaged his spinal cord. On Saturday night he was totally healed.

The testimonies are too many to tell. Blind eyes were opened, several insane people 'including one in chains' were returned to their right minds, paralysed body parts were healed, infections, asthma, cataracts and all kinds of pain vanished, and much, much more.

I received so many testimonies from locals in Port Harcourt who attended the meetings; it's overwhelming. Here's a small sample:

Angel wrote: "Harvest of souls was massive, miracles all over the place. I witnessed one close to the choir stand where I was, a lady with crutches got her healing while Eddie was leading in praise on Sunday night."

Hope wrote: "My life was transformed, I got baptised in the Holy Ghost on the Day 3 of the crusade."

Neriah wrote: "It was a wow!! Indeed God is great "I received my healing right there. I don't know how to express the joy within my soul "To God Be All The Glory."

Benjamin wrote: "The crowd was quite alarming. I have never seen such in Port Harcourt before. I tell you, friends; it was a program one shouldn't have missed. I thank God for making it possible for me to witness and also get blessed by this wonderful program. One remarkable thing that happened is that new converts, who gave their lives to Jesus on Saturday night, came back yesterday being the last day with all charms and those useless pocket gods they were worshipping.

You know what? They were all burnt during the crusade. There were wonderful testimonies of great healing of all kinds of sicknesses and diseases. The worship session by Eddie James and his team, all the way from the USA, was explosive. They are indeed great worshipers. I can't forget such a crusade in a hurry. Glory to God!!!

Listen to what one of our team members, Jana Bielava wrote on Sunday night as the crew was working to disassemble the equipment:

"All hands on deck as we pack up. It's 2:50 am and part of the crew is done, the other part of the team does not finish until 5 am. Africa is unlike anything else, in every aspect unique - it marks you, it marks your heart. Reflecting on everything God has done over the past week - I realise we live in a new reality. A reality where God pours out His Spirit - abundantly. A reality where God heals his people - mercifully. A reality where God sets the captive free - passionately. I am taken aback as I ever more profoundly realise that His love and presence is not limited to Africa!

Just in the past year, I have seen God pour out His glory in Toronto, Canada, in Budapest, Hungary and here - in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. He is not a respecter of persons. He doesn't care about your skin colour. Instead, His love crosses all borders - just to reach out to you and pour Himself into you. He is looking for dry wood to set on FIRE!!!

Indeed God is pouring out His Spirit all over the world! As I write this, I am in Melbourne, Australia. In a few days, I will be in Panama and then back here in Nigeria for our final Gospel Crusade of 2018. Thank you so much for sending us praying and supporting financially. I will give you the final decision card count as soon as I get it.

Yours in the Gospel,

Evangelist Daniel Kolenda
Together with the whole CfaN team