I believe, the world renowned evangelist, Reinhard Bonnke’s return to Nigeria for his final international crusade last week at the large expanse of land at Isheri Osun, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is prophetic. God gave Bonnke a specific farewell revelation and burden to help Nigeria fix its social fabrics and economy, but the fixing must first start among the Nigerian Christian leaders. Bonnke is saying to the Nigerian Christians, every denominations in Nigeria, and all the blocs in Christian Association of Nigeria, ‘you do not belong to yourselves, you belong to the whole Christians in Nigeria.’ Bonnke is calling the Nigerian Church to recapture a lost vision of united Biblical revival. Bonnke’s farewell crusade is a counter-cultural message to our church leadership. Bonnke is challenging our ‘penchant for title-based hierarchies,’ self-focus culture, and personalisation of the Christian ministry in Nigeria.

Bonnke’s farewell crusade is about passing the touch of a united revival in contrast to the CAN’s divided and outward ceremonial meetings which in reality denies the gospel (Jn 17:20-26). Bonnke crusade recruited over 500, 000 counsellors, 200, 000 intercessors, a choir of over 23,000 and a security force of over 10, 000. The recruitment cut across all the denominations and the question is, what happen to this united mass evangelism and the volunteers after the farewell crusade? Are they going to return to their denominational empire with business as usual? Another question again is, what happened to all the souls saved during the crusade? I pray Bonnke’s farewell crusade will not stand against Nigerian Christian leaders on the day of judgement.

Reinhard Bonnke, after 50 years of evangelical mission in Africa with over 75 million recorded conversions to Christ returned to Nigeria for the five-day crusade and a three-day multi-purpose ministers’ fire conference with his team under divine instruction. According to the 77 years old Bonnke, Nigeria is chosen as the favourite for the farewell crusade venue because of what he called, ‘the high presence of God in the country,’ and the population strength of Nigeria. Evangelist Bonnke said, ‘“Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and I am after people because the more the better. I can smell a ripe harvest as the Lord of harvest directed us.” What Bonnke is affirming is the sound foundations of the Nigerian Christian demographics and our prophetic potential to rise to global Christian leadership. Bonnke’s affirmation confirmed Pa Elton’s God’s prophetic timeline over Nigeria and Africa. Pa Elton was a British and Apostolic Church missionary who came to Nigeria in 1937 and ‘served the remainder of his years’ in Nigeria until his death in 1987 in Ilesa. Pa Elton description of Nigeria in the position of the trigger in the map of Africa shaped like a gun point to the prophetic place of Nigeria in global Christianity.

There is a smell of a ripe harvest in Nigeria but Nigeria need to be rescue from spiritual pollution and socio-political corruption. There is spiritual pollution in Nigeria and we can not overcome the socio-political corruption until the church is delivered from spiritual seduction and pollution. We are going through spiritual deviation in the church ‘under the cherished idols of several presidents and founders,’ General Overseers and bishops. Thanks to Bonnke who helped to bring different denominations together as intercessors, choir and other volunteers for a common vision and goal of winning soul. Could it be said that the church leadership in Nigeria breeds division among Christians in Nigeria?

Gary Maxey and Peter Ozodo in their book, The Seduction of the Nigerian Church captured that state of our spiritual pollution in relation to our socio-political corruption in Nigeria. They emphasised ‘a growing acceptance and even glorification of individual gain at the expense of the group … the Church embraced growing materialism and provided a model for the on-looking world.’ We are in spiritual pollution where church leaders are living far beyond reasonable means. Bonnke’s farewell crusade is speaking to the sad failure of the Nigerian Church. We are too self focus. We are self-centred denominationally and individually and ‘anyone preoccupied with self-focus is fundamentally incapable of truly loving and essentially incapable of being a Bible Christian.’ There is shift from ‘a message that focused on the inheritance of heaven in the hereafter as the major motivation for calling people to Christ’ to ‘material benefits to be gained here and now in the present life.’

As Bonnke ends his evangelistic crusade in Lagos, Nigeria, do we need another Bonnke or Pa Elton again or are we ready to recapture the biblical message of holiness and evangelism? For Bonnke, God have an agenda for Nigeria and Africa in general. He said, “Am so glad and honoured that God allows me to comeback to Nigeria. It’s my favourite country because I have not seen in other Africa countries what God has done here. If you look back and watch events in the country, they are absolutely amazing and I believe every plan of God will come to pass.” For every plan of God to come to pass in Nigeria, Bonnke’s farewell crusade summons Nigerian Church and especially our leaders to repentance and seeking God’s face to overcome our spiritual pollution.