In 1985, Reinhard Bonnke chose Ghana to kick-start his evangelistic thrust into West Africa. In 2013, the German international evangelist has chosen Ghana to bring the curtain down on his outdoor platform preaching life. 

This year’s gospel crusade finale will be held over three nights at the Independence Square and is slated for November 7 through November 10.

It is dubbed ‘Greater Peace Gospel Crusade’ and is prayerfully designed both as a thanksgiving gesture to God for the peaceful 2012 elections and also as a plea for the consolidation of the peace which Ghana is privileged to be enjoying generally.

While the first Bonnke crusade in 1985 drew 30,000 people per night, this year’s is expected to attract a record attendance of 1,000,000. It is being held under the auspices of the Christian Council, the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, the National Association of Charismatic Churches and the Independent Churches of Ghana.

Announcing this at a Meet The Press session in Accra last Friday, the Africa Director for CFAN, Reverend John Kwesi Darko said Ghana was chosen by Bonnke for his last crusade in West Africa because he saw the country both as the gateway to Africa and also for its political stability. More importantly, he added, “God is about to cause a revival in Ghana that will spread to the whole world”.

Among expected outcomes from the crusade, Rev. Darko said, were unity and social cohesion, as millions would come together for the first time without political colouration. Also, he added, with over one million souls targeted to be saved, “this will lead to transformation of lives and reduction in the crime rate.”

As an example of how crusades contributed to crime rate reduction, the CFAN Africa Director referred to an earlier Bonnke crusade in Burkina Faso where three armed robbers returned stolen goods to the crusade grounds. “Today, the three of them are preaching,” he said

Regarding Ghanaians’ expectation of miracles, signs and wonders, Rev. Darko said Bonnke crusades are noted for acts of God’s mercy on humanity. “In Nigeria, a deaf and dumb man heard and spoke for the first time in his life at a Bonnke crusade. As we speak here today, that man is now a pastor”.

The three-night crusade is being planned by an inter-denominational committee chaired by Rev. S.M. Mensah.