Written by: Daniel Kolenda
Article source: JOY! Magazine
Over the past few issues, it’s been such a joy for us to share many stories of God’s faithfulness with you, giving you a small glimpse into our astonishing 50th year. You’ve seen the crowds, witnessed some of the powerful miracles, and heard about the salvation numbers – over 7 million documented decisions for Jesus in one year!
You’ve also read about what it took for us to get to that number. Over the course of the year, our team faced more and bigger challenges than ever before. That’s to be expected – reaching for the extraordinary comes at an extraordinary cost. There’s a price to be paid in every area, and not just money. A personal price has been paid by every team member who sacrificed time with their families, often for months at a time. Others have paid the price with their own bodies, suffering through bouts of malaria and other illnesses that are endemic in Africa. Some have been physically assaulted for preaching the Gospel. Many have dealt with attacks on their families back home.
Fishers of men
But like Simon Peter and Andrew, these men and women of God have left everything to follow Jesus and become fishers of men. Together, we have cast our nets over and over, and the catch has been so big, the nets are breaking!
As Reinhard Bonnke wrote in Evangelism by Fire, “It is like fishing. During our Gospel campaigns, I always say that we, the evangelists, bring our nets but use the boats of the local churches. Together with them, we launch out and bring in a mighty catch of fish. Then we leave. We simply hand over the catch right there. We empty our nets, repair and dry them, and go and lend a hand somewhere else. The evangelist gains nothing himself, except the joy and reward of seeing the Kingdom of God built up all around.”
Time to mend the nets
Now, as we ready ourselves for the Gospel campaigns coming up this year, it’s time to mend the nets so we can cast them again in places yet unreached with the Gospel. 2024 took an enormous toll on our equipment. You may remember how tough it was in Congo, where the terrible “roads” literally shook our trucks to pieces and wrecked one of our big generators.
The damage was so bad, we had to leave three of our trucks in the Congo. We are still waiting for parts and major repairs for one of them. It became abundantly clear that we can only go back to Congo (and nations like it) if we have trucks that can stand up to the harsh African conditions. So, in faith we have ordered two military-grade trucks, customised for our campaign equipment. Because the trucks are assembled locally in Kenya, we do not have to pay for shipping and customs, effectively halving the cost. These trucks are crucial for the future, and we need them right now.
Not just mending – expanding!
Over the past few years, we’ve been radically changing and growing our equipment to handle the expanding needs of the ministry. When we started doing simultaneous campaigns in Africa, we had to break up one enormous stage and sound system into smaller units. We now have four fully equipped semi-trailer trucks that are each capable of reaching large crowds, and we’ll be keeping those as they are. But that’s nowhere near enough! Our goal is to have three pairs of trucks that can handle campaigns individually or in combination, depending on the expected size of the crowd.
The two new rugged-terrain trucks still need to be outfitted with everything that’s needed to run a Gospel campaign: sound, stage, lights, and so on. That process has already begun. Waiting in our warehouse in Kenya are eight new speakers and two generators that were shipped last year – thank you for helping us do that! We are using every bit of gear that we have and need to add a lot more. The immediate needs before us include:
• Two new sound towers
• Two new stages for the new trucks
• Six small back-up generators, one for each truck
• Two new all-terrain trucks
We have to be ready…
At the start of this decade, we had one big system, one giant net. But the multiplication God promised is happening and it’s accelerating. We feel like we are right in the middle of it with everything we’ve seen in the past year, but the truth is, we’re only at the start! As fast as the Lord is multiplying labourers, we need to be just as fast in expanding and multiplying our nets. We have to be ready so that when the Lord says, “Throw the net over the other side,” we can shout, “Yes, Lord!” and bring the whole catch in.
Get in the boat with us!
You can help today with these pressing needs – and thank you with all my heart if you are able to do that. And if your heart is stirred, get in the boat with us and become a CfaN monthly partner! Committed monthly partners are such a great blessing to us, enabling us to budget and plan for the long term. And please don’t stop praying for us!
This article is featured in the Feb/March issue of JOY! Magazine, which is now on sale nationwide! Pick up your copy from any leading supermarket, or read a digital version of this issue here: joygifts.co.za/product/joy-magazine-feb-march-issue-2025/
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Date published: 11/02/2025
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