Bootcamp Initiation: Tanzania

Bootcamp Initiation - Week 2 – Tanzania

Watch the recap video for week 2 in Tanzania.

We have now seen over 100,000 people surrender to Jesus after two weeks in Tanzania for the Bootcamp Initiation! We will still have one more week on the ground with the team of evangelists. Please pray for perseverance and continued health for everyone.

Jako Hugo and Karin Hugo have worked with Christ for all Nations for many years at our Gospel Crusades. In between the crusades, they would preach the Gospel, and have led thousands of children to Jesus. Right now Jako and Karin are coaches in Tanzania to our Bootcamp Graduates, helping them to do the same!

This is what it's all about!

God is raising up an army of evangelists to reach the next generation for Jesus! This is what it’s all about.

Testimony of Lilliana Alvarado, September 22nd – School Outreach

It was September 22nd, and my 2nd day of school ministry. As my team and I drove into a small private school, we were met at the gate by a friendly man with a big smile, who welcomed us in and led us to the head teacher. God gave us favor with the head teacher, who gave us permission to speak to all the students. To our surprise, however, there were only 22 students in the school. This was unusual for us, as it is normal for us to speak to hundreds, even thousands of students at once. I knew that this time would be one of a kind! All the students were brought into one classroom, and we were all required to remove our shoes prior to entering. It was a very intimate setting, and I could sense the Lord was going to do something special. My coach, Gary Smith, opened the meeting, and then I began to preach the gospel. I felt the Lord urging me to preach with just as much energy and fervor as if I was standing before hundreds of thousands. I shared the gospel using a little paper boat. I passionately proclaimed how Jesus purchased us with His blood to redeem us to himself. During the altar call, nearly every person in the little room raised their hand, including the teachers. Immediately after I was finished speaking, one of the teachers took me by the hand and pulled me aside. She began telling me how she used to walk with God and be so close to him, but she had strayed so far from him recently. She began to cry, and as the tears streamed down her face, this dear teacher told me that she felt like God spoke directly to her through our presentation, and she wanted to give her heart back to Jesus. My heart swelled with joy as I prayed with her to rededicate her life to the Lord. As soon as I finished praying for her, another teacher tapped me on the shoulder and, through her tears, told me how she also wanted to return to the Lord and rededicate her life to him. As I prayed for her, I felt the passionate love of God being poured out over us. The presence of God was tangible and so sweet. Two prodigal daughters had returned home [to Father God]!! As if this wasn’t already thrilling enough, it so happened that as I was praying for these two precious teachers, my coach, Gary Smith was speaking to the man who greeted us at the gate, who was a Muslim. Gary received a word of knowledge about his back pain and prayed for him. Instantly, the man’s back was healed, and he testified that he had no more pain. Gary began to share the gospel with him, and point to the fact that Jesus loves him so much. The Holy Spirit did His wonderful work in this man’s heart, and this man, who was a Muslim when we arrived, received Jesus into his heart and was radically born-again! My team and I felt absolutely elated and overjoyed. Before we left the school, I could see the light of Jesus in his eyes. He was full of hope and smiling with such a holy brilliance. The gospel is good news and when it is preached, it happens!! Glory be to Jesus!! 

Testimony of Matias Tovainen, September 22nd – Village outreach

I went to the side of the road where I noticed a Muslim woman wearing a full burka, and reading Islamic literature. I approached her and began to share the good news of the cross with her. As soon as I was finished, she took off her glasses, put her prayer book down in the dirt and began weeping in front of everyone in the middle of the market. She was so touched by the message of Jesus, that she fully surrendered her life to Christ and declared: "For 50 years I have been following the wrong way, but now you have brought me the truth, and I will always follow the right way. Thank you so much for coming to share with me!’’ It was an incredible deliverance from darkness into light, and from slavery into freedom. For a couple of hours she was being deeply touched by God. At the end of our time together, she took off her face covering as a sign of being delivered from slavery into the arms of a God, who sees her as His child and loves her. However, it kept getting better. As I left her to go and eat lunch, another Muslim woman nearby interrupted me and said: "Don’t you go anywhere, as I need prayer also!’’ I, of course, was happy to get down in the dirt with her and pray for her injured arm and knee. Jesus healed her completely! After this, I shared with her the gospel message, to which she replied: "I will also leave Islam and follow Jesus!’’ Afterwards, I saw these now former Muslim women, who hadn’t known each other, leaning against each other and in love, like sisters.

Testimony of Eric Dykes, September 22nd– Village Outreach

As we arrived on this very special day on September 22nd. As soon as we got out of the car, we noticed a boy that needed prayer. As we started to pray, about 40 people surrounded us. We knew it was time to "cast the net," so we preached the Gospel to them! And all of them received Jesus as their Lord and Savior! Many were healed and delivered, but there was one very special part of this story. There was a man that was running toward the large group straight toward us. As he was running, he fell to his knees, and lifted his arms to heaven and said aloud: “I want to be free!” Hallelujah! And as he received Jesus, he did something very interesting. There was a bracelet on his wrist. And he violently took the bracelet off of his wrist and threw away from himself. When my friend asked what that was, the man said, “it means I was a drunkard but now I am free in Jesus' Name!” Can you say Amen!

Testimony of Joe Franklin, September 24th – School Outreach

“September 24th, 2020. Everyone say it with me: September 24th, 2020. This is the day of your salvation. Never forget today!,” encouraged Gary Smith, our team coach for the day. I stood in shock. I was amazed! We had just shared the gospel and delivered the free gift of the Holy Spirit to over 4,000 kids! The courtyard was electric with the presence of God. The dust from the feet running to the field was palpable. But let’s go back to the beginning. It all started with us seeing a school that we did not originally see on the map. We went in and talked to the Head Madem, who was delighted to have us speak. She had the students assemble in the courtyard. They kept coming and coming, until the whole courtyard was full of 4,000 students. Construction was happening in the middle where we were standing, but the students didn’t seem to care as they crowded in. The construction men stopped their work. We had a concrete stage to stand on that started out large, but got smaller as time went on. We set up the speakers and waited for the "thumbs up" to start. To me, it was so nerve-racking preaching the gospel to that many children! The children hung on every word, receiving it with an open heart. Jesus was knocking on the door of every heart! The students began to crowd around the stage with every part of the story, which is when the stage shrunk! By the time it came for the children to receive Holy Spirit, the stage was a 1-foot circle. Children crowded around. Some began to push, and as our time was running short, we had everyone close their eyes and pray! The Holy Spirit began to come like He always does. Students we saved, healed, and delivered. Many received the Holy Spirit with power. Coach Gary closed it out by saying “Remember today, the day of your salvation! September 24th, 2020.” That was the day that 7,956 kids had the opportunity to come to know Jesus, and to be filled with the Holy Spirit! Four thousand students at one school! It was breath taking, and so humbling to watch so many open their hearts to Jesus. And then, to even open their arms wide to receive the Holy Spirit! I will never forget September 24th, 2020, the day so many received Jesus. 

2 Corinthians 6:1 “...Today is the day of salvation...” 

Testimony of Lauren Clark, September 27th – Village Outreach

A lady called us over and asked us to pray for her feet, knees and back. After praying, she got up and walked! Then, two Maasai men asked us to pray for their knees, which we did. Afterwards, they said that they were healed also. People started coming over from a nearby meeting, asking prayer for feet and knees, etc. All but one lady said she was healed. As we were, attempting to leave, some people stopped me. They pointed to an elderly man, who had come who was blind in one eye. His left eye actually was shut. He could only see out of his right eye. I laid hands on his eye and prayed, and Jesus opened his eye! He opened it physically, as well as restoring his sight! He shared with us that he had gone to the largest hospital in Kilimanjaro, where the doctors told him he was blind and there was nothing that could be done. That he would never see out of that eye again. But Jesus said differently and caused the blind to see. Praise God! It was glorious! We tested the miracle. He held his hand over his good eye, and I held up fingers and he was able to tell how many fingers I was holding up. We kept moving further back, away from him at different distances, and he was able to see. Hallelujah!! It was Glorious. Jesus heals today! He is alive!!

Testimony of Devin Barrett, September 27th – Village outreach

One day while we were holding multiple meetings in an area, we looked for a new spot to share the gospel. After almost 2 hours of searching for a spot, we ended up back where we began. There was already a new crowd there in this market to preach too. With the smell of smoke and people dancing to the music, there was a man who was very distracting and acting crazy. Our leader Paul took him aside, however, the man saw me and wanted to talk to me. I pulled him aside to try to listen to him with the translator, however, the translator said he made no sense. But the man did have a note that said that he needed to find a church. Now, I have to say, it is not unusual for there to be a distracting man at these truck meetings in the marketplace. There is always someone who seems to show up and be a distraction there. And as always, I usually prayed over them, although generally not much happened. So I asked this man if I could pray for him, just like I would to any other distracting person. He said yes. So I prayed a very simple prayer that didn’t cause me to feel extra spiritual in any way. I prayed, Jesus come. Holy Spirit come." As a result, he opened his eyes and started to cry! He began to say “I remember now. I remember my name, I remember my kids, I remember my house.” He said, "I felt something leave my mind when you prayed." He then gave his life to Jesus, and after that, invited the Holy Spirit to live in him. The meeting was going on in the background as I continued to minister to this man. At the end of the meeting, he looked at me and said, “I am free.” I blessed him, and he went in his way. This is just one of the amazing miracles that we see on the trucks, and it’s beautiful to be a part of what God is doing here. The gospel truck ministry is hard at times.  There’s a ton of dusty, many distractions, and the people’s hearts can be hard. But wherever we go the gospel is preached, people are saved, healed delivered. In Jesus' name!

Bootcamp Initiation - Week 1 - Tanzania

Watch the recap video for week 1 in Tanzania.

In the dry, dusty conditions outside of Arusha, the Gospel is going forth and bringing life to people! Matias said, “We’re inhaling dust and exhaling the Gospel.” Our Gospel trucks are able to take the Bootcamp Graduates and evangelists into the remote places to reach the lost and hurting.

Recent Bootcamp Graduates have hit the ground in Tanzania! They have been trained, equipped, mentored, and now the final part of their training is here: Bootcamp Initiation! For the next 3 weeks, graduates will be conducting outreaches and ministering as a part of CfaN’s vision for multiplication of evangelists and the Decade of Double Harvest! We are just getting started, so be sure to check back often for updates and recaps of all that God is doing in Tanzania through these powerful men and women of God over the next few weeks.

Orientation Day

Not your average evangelism orientation! Hear from Levi Stewart, the Christ for all Nations Administrative Dean, as he describes what happened when the fire-filled evangelists prepared to go out and preach the Gospel!

Outreaches

This is no coincidence! Recent Bootcamp Graduate Kole Purdy and colleagues met local Tanzanians who pointed out a clock tower to them, marking the halfway point between Capetown and Cairo. Evangelist Bonnke’s vision for a blood-washed Africa from Capetown to Cairo is being fulfilled as we continue in the harvest of souls with a new generation of evangelists!

Evangelists are working together to minister and conduct outreaches in marketplaces, schools, and on the streets. This video shows only one of several teams on the ground. Please continue praying the Holy Spirit guides all their planning as they go out to preach and pray for the sick!

Testimony of Cathy Ferguson, September 15th

“As we make our way up a bumpy, rocky path (as I hesitate to call it a road), we come upon a school near the top. I thought to myself that this is going to be a small group, as there could not possibly be many kids this far up. Boy, I was wrong! This school had 1700 kids. Unbelievable! I have never spoken in front of a crowd this big before. When I preached, I spoke of redemption, using a bird cage story. The kids loved it and responded well throughout the story. It looked like all of the children had raised their hands and prayed the salvation prayer. As I stood there and looked out at a sea of tiny, precious children, I lost my breath for a moment. I then thought of Reinhard Bonnke, and thought that this is what he saw while here in Africa. He most likely stood here in a similar spot. This thought overwhelmed me! I felt so thankful to Daniel Kolenda for keeping the torch burning, and for training others as Reinhard had trained him. I felt humbled that I was trained to be here.”

Testimony of Bill Ferguson, September 15th

“As we went out to the market on our first day, we had to find our own translator. At first, it seemed very hard to find someone, but we eventually all found someone within the first 2 hours. It was amazing to see to see people responding to the Gospel positively.  Our leader had just told us that this was the last market that we would be visiting for the day, and that we only had one hour left to minister. As we were sharing the gospel and praying for people, an older gentleman came over to us. Our interpreter said the man was ‘partly blind’ and had a pain in one leg. My teammate prayed for him, however he was not healed. We were about to leave him and move onto someone else, when suddenly the Holy Spirit spoke to me. In the gospel there was a blind man that was on the side of the road and shouting out, ‘Jesus, Son of David,’ two times. As a result he was healed by Jesus. I shared that story with the older man. I told him that the same Jesus that healed that blind man is the same Jesus that is here to heal you. When I covered both his eyes with my hands, I had him cry out twice: ‘JESUS, SON OF DAVID,’ two times. He flew backwards by the power of the Holy Spirit and landed on the dirt road and dust flew up where he landed. He laid there with his eyes closed, not moving at all. My first thought was that ‘I hope he is still alive,’ as he was not moving. I went over and grabbed his hand and pulled him up. We walked back and forth thanking Jesus that he could now see. All kinds of people encircled us.  I told my teammate to preach the gospel to them and he did. We witnessed 27 salvations there and many more healings. So thankful and amazed for all the training that I received from Evangelist Daniel Kolenda and the Bootcamp training. I am blessed to be part of the vision that Reinhard Bonnke had that Africa shall be saved.”

Testimony of Robbie Leaf, September 15th

“The final market stop on the way back to Arusha was for an hour, but boy, did we make that hour count for Jesus. Bill and I talked to a few people within a heavily traveled area of the market. A few people became curious about the lighter skinned gentlemen praying for people, and this man with a noticeable limp and a blind eye walked up to us to ask for prayer. We ministered to him and prayed for him, and the Holy Spirit knocked this man off his feet! People all around us had shocked and astounded looks in their eyes and faces, and a bit of a crowd began to gather around us to see what was happening. Then Bill points at me and tells me that now is the time to preach the Gospel! So in front of this curious crowd of people, I preach a quick Gospel message. As a result, 27 people gave their lives to Jesus and filled out decision cards for further follow-up! Hallelujah!!!”

Testimony of John Denis, September 15th

“As we were walking on the main road of the market we noticed a local clinic. We asked for permission from the security guard if we could pray there and they said yes. We prayed for the crowed for healing in the name of Jesus, but nothing happened as the people stared back at us. The head doctor and her coworker pulled Nico and I off into an examination room. We thought we were going to pray for more sick patients or get reprimanded, but the doctors themselves asked us to pray for them. We prayed for fire to fall upon them and for the sickness of a tumor to get out. The doctor began to shout that she felt an intense heat all throughout her body. We told her that she was feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit and do not be afraid. They thanked us for the prayers and wanted us to come back to pray for more patients. We continued to pray with several other patients, and they also received healing. One lady specifically was healed of from pain in her feet. In Tengeru. A Muslim young man named Hamzal came up to me asking me questions about Jesus. I shared the gospel and showed very plainly how Jesus was the Son of God. However, I was in need of a translator, and he spoke such good English, I asked him to come along with me to help. He agreed and that day he helped me preach the gospel many times to hundreds of people. I asked him to help out the next day as well. Once again, he was my translator, a Muslim helping me, a preacher of the gospel to bring Jesus to the people. On the third day, as we went forth, a man who was totally blind in his right eye approached us. He told us he has been blind since he was a boy because he was beaten very badly. I told him today Jesus will open your eye and you will see. I prayed, and he said covering his good eye, he saw outlining of shapes. I prayed again and he said now things more defined up close. I prayed again and he said he saw the whole light of the sun. It was glorious miracle. As we walked away, Hamzal said to me, 'now I see this miracle I am ready to receive Jesus.' I prayed with him as he was visibly moved to tears. He said, 'I have preached to covert the people to allah. Now I want to preach and help the people to Jesus for the rest of my life.' He said today was the best day of his life. I later had him pray alone for a man who couldn’t bend for 10 years, who had been in pain daily. Hazmal placed his hands on the man and said, “In Jesus name” three times. I told the man to stand and test it out. He was smiling, completely healed.”

Testimony of Matias Tovainen, September 17th

"After arriving at our initial destination, we noted that the location was not optimal for the truck. As a result, we made some moves and changed our location. We moved to a somewhat remote animal market for the Maasai tribe in the shadow of Mount Meru. It was filled with people, and most of them stayed for the duration of the meeting, as there were no other markets nearby. It was hot, dry and dusty. We were inhaling dust and exhaling gospel. One woman even said to me that I am sweating like a big pig! This of course made me glad that they were not selling pigs in that animal market. I preached my heart out on the urgency of the call of Jesus, and I gave an invitation to receive God's free offer of salvation. To my surprise, out of this crowd of hundreds, only one person made his way to the front. I was amazed at why the response was so small even though the people were responsive and clearly moved. Regardless, I reminded myself of how Heaven rejoices at even one sinner's repentance. So I celebrated it also, and led him to the Lord with a smile and a heart full of love. However, after we moved on to pray for the sick, more and more people kept coming to the front to receive salvation and fill out their decision cards, one by one. They had just had trouble coming at first because they couldn’t leave their goats and cows. Finally, many more Maasai individuals were saved in that meeting, and the angels rejoiced all the more!"

Testimony of Devin Barrett, September 19th

“On Saturday, September 19th, we made our way to a boarding school. This school was a large school, just like many other schools we had visited, but this time I had a feeling we were about to see the glory of God invade. I mentioned what I felt to our team and we prayed that God would move in a powerful way. Salvations took place and hands went up everywhere. I was up front to speak about the Holy Spirit, and had just finished preaching about Him. I asked people to come forward. We began to pray for the children, asking Jesus to fill them with the Holy Spirit, when the tangible presence of God filled the room. It was a holy moment! We continued to let the presence of God touch the kids, and got permission to be able to place our hands on them and pray. Children were crying and in tears. One girl fell out after a team leader prayed for her, and she began to manifest a demon. With our time running out, we had to close before we wanted to. But this did not stop God from doing more in the lives of these kids. As we were beginning to leave, the girl who had originally manifested in the meeting was brought to us and we began to pray again. On the ground she went again, rolling in the dust. I was praying over a few other students while it was going on, who were sobbing their eyes out. We continued to praise Jesus as they were being filled with the Holy Spirit. That young girl was restless until God spoke to our hearts to sing the song, ‘Jesus Loves Me’ over her, and in no rehearsed way or form. The very last line of that song caused the manifesting to stop, and the girl fell asleep right there in the dust behind our vehicle. She ended getting up a few minutes later with tears of happiness coming down her face. Amazing as it had been, there were still more children asking for prayer right there behind our vehicle. So we laid hands on them and let the Holy Spirit do what He wanted to do. At one point [after being prayed for], there were 3 girls laying on the ground behind our vehicle. Another young boy was set free from a demon as well, and was beyond grateful to Jesus for setting him free! This went on for about an hour (praying over a small group of children). After seeing what happened, and after hearing from them, their lives will be changed forever.”

Testimony of Paul Pemberton, September 19th

“Yesterday was a hot and dry Saturday out in the Tanzanian bush, as our group of four were out visiting boarding schools to preach the Gospel. We just finished preaching at a school, with many Muslims seeing many wonderful salvations. We then headed out on a long dusty road to our next school. Shortly after we arrived through the gate entrance, a group of students showed up. They mentioned that they were traveling from another school and came there to play sports. We began talking about sports, culture, favorite foods, and eventually moved onto talking about Jesus. I asked them if any of them had a relationship with Jesus and they all appeared to raise their hands. I then shared about the importance of witnessing to others, As I  led the group in simple tips to sharing their faith, with questions like "Is there anything that I can pray for you today? I feel God's love for you, do you know Jesus loves you?" Afterwards, one of the students practiced witnessing to one of his friends. He got to the point of salvation and I said, "Now ask him if he wants to have a relationship with Jesus". As he stumbled on what to say I took over and began preaching the Gospel to everyone. Afterwards, I said to the group "Now if you want a relationship with Jesus raise your hand." Everyone participated in the prayer as we all invited Jesus in.  After praying, I asked, "Was this anyone's first time doing that?" To my surprise, one of the quietest ones in the group, a young man named Kendrick, raised his hand. He shared that he had never given his life to Christ until today, after hearing the Gospel message. Shortly after this we found out we wouldn't be preaching at that particular school today due to a scheduling issue. As we drove away, I realized our arrival there was not for the crowd, but for the one.” 

The future is bright-God touching the next generation!

The Holy Spirit is ministering to the next generation in Tanzania! Bootcamp Graduates and an entire team of evangelists are witnessing thousands of children surrender to Jesus and receive the power of the Holy Spirit.