In Times of Transition? Learn From Reinhard Bonnke’s Succession to Daniel Kolenda

As our country wrestles with political, financial, technological and social transition, many ministries and organizations are also trying to navigate leadership transitions of their own. A year after the death of Reinhard Bonnke, we can see at least one transition of leadership that has gone really well. That was the transition of Christ for all Nations leadership from Reinhard Bonnke to Daniel Kolenda. The 46-year-old ministry has hardly skipped a beat and recently crossed the threshold of over 80 million decisions for Christ. Kolenda has won over 20 million souls since he officially took the helm of the ministry in 2009.

There were four areas of transition that were successfully navigated by Bonnke:

— Transfer of vision and calling.

— Transfer of anointing and grace to do God’s will.

— Transfer of wisdom and experience.

— Transfer of authority and legitimacy in front of the people.

In order not to lose the impact and effectiveness of this evangelism ministry, all of these areas had to be carefully transitioned. The legal reigns of the ministry were transferred back in 2009, but the public impartation took place in Lagos, Nigeria in November of 2017 at Bonnke’s Farewell Gospel Crusade. There, in front of thousands from Africa, Bonnke laid his hands on Kolenda and prayed for God’s blessing, saying to Kolenda prophetically that he would do signs and wonders and save millions of people.

Bonnke truly wanted to see his ministry continue multigenerationally, but he needed God to bring him his replacement supernaturally. It happened when a young pastor showed up at his office requesting a job. The only position in the ministry available at the time was the warehouse manager position. The young Kolenda willingly took the position and focused his ministry on teaching morning devotions and leading the team in worship. His favor with the team grew until a door opened to travel as Bonnke’s assistant to Papua New Guinea. Following that, Bonnke gave Kolenda a 15-minute opportunity to speak to a crowd. Bonnke sensed God’s hand was on this young man, and the seed of the transition was born.

This Olympic passing of the torch concept is the focus of a new Lessons from Legends podcast on the Charisma Podcast Network. It is a fascinating study of the CfaN process that Bonnke followed and is full of practical wisdom and insight. You can download the full podcast episode here or click on the link to get the video version. {eoa}