Daniel Kolenda Leaving Prophetic Legacy in Africa

“For 42 years, Christ for all Nations has been conducting massive evangelistic events in Africa and around the world. To date, more than 75 million decision cards have been registered from new converts in Africa, and millions more have heard the gospel—many for the first time. It is undoubtedly one of the greatest moves of God in church history although it is mostly unknown in the West. But through the Holy Ground project, we decided to capture it for the world to see and experience—both as a powerful worship album and a high- definition video DVD. It is amazing how the anointing and palpable electricity in the air translated onto this recording. It really gives you a front-row seat on the world’s greatest harvest field.” —Daniel Kolenda

Did the name Holy Ground for the album come before or after the event?

The name for this album was only decided afterward. We didn’t know beforehand what to expect.

The only site in Ashaman, Ghana, large enough to hold the massive crowds that would show up for our evangelistic meetings was the city dump. Plumes of smoke ascended from acres of burning garbage where hungry goats foraged for food. A large gully with open sewage flowed down one side of the field, cutting off access to the adjacent neighborhood where the majority of the locals lived. Of course, the land was both unusable and inaccessible in its unmodified condition.

Worse still, it was located in a very dangerous part of town, infamous for crime and extreme poverty. It was also a Muslim area considered off-limits for a Christian event. But it was the only option, so our team went to work. Bulldozers cleared the land. We brought sand and gravel to level the field. Several permanent structures on the site and had to be demolished, including a house. The family who lived there volunteered to allow their home to be destroyed in order to make room for the event.

We built a bridge across the gully. Each obstacle was overcome, and finally, the event took place. What had been a worthless piece of land soon became the location of one of the most beautiful sights ever filmed. Hundreds of thousands of precious people gathered to worship Jesus; the gospel was preached; we registered 381,610 decision cards from new converts (who are now being discipled by local churches) and a region was impacted by the power of God. What happened on that field was, in a sense, what the gospel is actually all about. Jesus loves to create beauty from ashes and make all things new. We even built a new house for the family who allowed theirs to be demolished. The beautiful metaphor was obvious to everyone. Interestingly, one of the songs we recorded is called “Holy Ground.” It was the perfect summary of a historic event—a garbage dump turned into holy ground.

To have an event of this magnitude, there must have been an incredible amount of both prayer and preparation. How many people helped make this event a reality? How long did it take?

Thousands of people, mostly volunteers, worked tirelessly to make this historic event a possibility. Just to give an idea of the scale of manpower this even required, consider this: 381,610 people registered decision cards and were ushered into the follow-up system during that week. That means in the counseling department alone, thousands of volunteers were needed to serve all those new converts. But the fact that they are being discipled means the work is ongoing. 

How did the community react when they found out the event would be held at the city dump?

Initially, the event was supposed to be a concerted effort between two twin cities, Tema and Ashaman. But when the Christians in Tema heard the site for the campaign would be in the worst part of a Muslim city of Ashaman, most decided it was too dangerous. As a result,f there was relatively little participation from the Christian community, but I believe we were exactly where God wanted us.

What happened after the event? Do the local churches follow up? What happened with the land?

Today, hundreds of local churches are working to disciple the new converts that came in through the event. The field is most likely being used as a market, and its reputation has completely changed. Proceeds from the Holy Ground project ensure future evangelistic outreaches in Africa. 

Tell us more about CfaN and upcoming evangelistic events for 2017.

We will start 2017 by returning to Ghana and we will be in another Muslim city—Tamale. From there we will go to Congo, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Nigeria—and those are just our African events. We will also hold massive events in many other parts of the world. {eoa}