Decapolis Blog October 2021
Decapolis means "ten cities". After conducting evangelistic campaigns in 5 cities in Tanzania during the summer, we are now focusing on the metropolis of Dar es Salaam, where we will conduct 6 evangelistic campaigns simultaneously.
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
JESUS IS KING IN KAWE!
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – Final Day
HIGH WATER!
Dar es Salaam will never be the same! 210,553 decisions were made for Jesus and this is only the beginning! Initiation is only two weeks away and we will be back on the campaign field! The harvest is ripe!!!
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – Final Day
210,553 decisions for Christ in Dar es Salaam!
Once again, a new high-water mark has been made! Tonight, we concluded the fifth night of Operation Decapolis - six campaigns in six areas lasting five nights each (thirty nights of campaigns) - all in one week! In addition, we conducted two weeks of "Gospel Invasion" leading up to the campaigns, where Bootcamp graduates conducted hundreds of outreaches in the area. In all, we documented 210,553 decisions for Christ here in Dar es Salaam!
The word "Decapolis" means "ten cities" in Greek
In the time of Christ, "Decapolis" was a specific (mostly gentile) region in which Jesus performed some of his great miracles. We have appropriated this word because it perfectly describes a vision the Lord has given us of exponential increase, from one campaign per week to ten!
Daniel Kolenda preached in Kawe on the final night
The crowd was boiling over with enthusiasm. The two evangelists stationed here are two of the finest. Evangelist Levi Lutz (the Director of the CfaN Bootcamp) and Evangelist Macoby Donaldson (the Director of the CfaN Evangelism Alliance) are working in tandem here. They have seen so many amazing miracles, and the Holy Spirit has been poured out here night after night. After Daniel preached the Gospel, Evangelist Donaldson prayed for the sick. Several people who couldn’t walk were healed. A man, deaf for fifteen years, was healed. Paralytics were healed, and many others.
Yours in the Gospel,
Daniel Kolenda
and the whole CfaN and Nations family
Help with the Decade of Double Harvest
Kigamboni in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – Day 4
You Shall Live! - Recap Video
“Because I live, you shall live also!” Only Jesus can deliver, heal, and save! He is doing something magnificent in Tanzania. Check out this recap from Night 4 in Kigamboni!
Day 4
Recap from Night 4 in Mbagala, where Evangelists Roselyne Ayeola and Rob Enge have been stationed this week.
Mbagala in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
The Same Jesus – Day 4
I've just returned from preaching at not one but two campaigns tonight, in two different parts of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The first was in an area known as Kigamboni, where Evangelists Randy Roberts and Joe Turnbull are stationed. The second was in a place called Mbagala, where Evangelists Robert Enge and Dr. Roselyne Ayeola are stationed. These are two of six CfaN campaigns ongoing this week in Dar es Salaam simultaneously. In each campaign, the Gospel is being preached. In each campaign, multitudes are being saved. In each campaign, tonight, the Holy Spirit fell as each evangelist prayed for the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
And in each campaign, miracles and healings took place. Here are a few from Kigamboni and Mbagala:
- Christina could not hear in her right ear for 5 years. She said she felt like an insect was running around in her head. During prayer, she felt something crawling out of her ear, and then she could hear perfectly!
- Ruth had severe liver problems since she was 14. Often, she could not move her body without terrible pain. Tonight, during prayer for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, she fell to the ground and began speaking in tongues for the first time. She felt a heavy darkness leave her, and she felt no more pain at all when she got up.
- Walter has been walking with crutches for three months after an accident. Tonight, he was healed! He threw his crutches and was able to walk without them.
- Midizimi had been completely deaf for the last 6 years. Tonight, Jesus opened her ears!
It is amazing to think that in each campaign, no matter who was preaching and no matter who was praying, Jesus is the same! These are not our accomplishments, and we cannot take any credit. All of the glory belongs to the one who said, "without Me, you can do nothing."
Tomorrow is the last night of this Operation Decapolis Campaign for all six campaigns. Please continue to pray for us.
Yours in the Gospel,
Daniel Kolenda
and the CfaN family
Help with the Decade of Double Harvest
Day 4
Kigamboni in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Day 3
Kawe
Day 3
Gongo la Mboto
Kigamboni in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
The Day of Power – Day 3
Jangwani in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – Day 3
The Day of Power
I wish that you could see with your own eyes what is happening here in Dar es Salaam. It is absolutely astonishing and supernatural. I honestly do not have the words to adequately describe it. There is truly a movement of evangelism and harvest taking place. Of course, there are thousands of volunteers and nearly 2,200 churches participating (that is normal). But what is astounding is that just within our CfaN team, more than 120 people (most of them Bootcamp graduates and nearly all of them volunteers) are working with a zeal that I’ve never seen anywhere. It can only be something the Holy Spirit is doing.
Many of them have been here, in Tanzania, for several months. They work from dawn until dusk, often 12-hour days! They are not being paid, and they are not being forced. They all want to be here. They are working because they love Jesus, and they want to see the Gospel change lives. Together they have worked for this Decapolis Campaign for almost 40,000 hours! To put that in perspective, if those were normal full-time work hours (40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year), it’s more than 19 years of work!!
Joyful CfaN “family reunion”
Tonight, we met with the whole team for dinner. It was like a big family reunion. Imagine the scene: men and women from every continent on earth - a team that is more tight-knit than most families, all celebrating together, loving one another, and rejoicing together in pure, unadulterated harvest joy! (See the picture) I’ve never seen anything like this. And it’s just the beginning. Our next class of Bootcamp students leaves Orlando in two weeks and will go to Nigeria for their initiation trip (where many of the graduates here in Tanzania will be serving as coaches and team leaders).
The fulfillment of a dream
The verse ringing in my heart is from Psalm 110:3 “Your people will volunteer freely on the day of Your power...” I can’t help but wonder if God is not accelerating the harvest for a strategic reason. Could it be that the time is shorter than we can imagine? What if we are in a closing window of opportunity? Much of what we are seeing is the fulfillment of a dream I have carried in my heart. But I cannot take credit for it. I cannot account for it. I don’t even understand how it is possible. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes!
Day 3
Miracles in Jangwani
Tonight, I preached in the third of 6 campaigns ongoing simultaneously here in Dar es Salaam. In this area of the city called Jangwani, Evangelists Jim and Kathy Leamon and Evangelist Jacob Ebersole (all Bootcamp graduates) are stationed. All three of them were top organizers in previous Decapolis Campaigns. Now they are the evangelists! I preached on the blood of Jesus, broke curses, and burned occult paraphernalia. Jim prayed for the sick, and wonderful miracles happened.
- A Muslim woman was unable to walk for five years, but as Jim prayed tonight, her leg started shaking, and the pain left. Now she can walk without pain.
- A young lady was suffering from serious pain in her waist for almost five years. But after prayers, the pain vanished. She could even bend like she had not been able to do before.
- Another woman was not able to see for three years but now can see even things that are at a long distance.
A woman also testified that I prayed for her at our campaign in this city back in 2013. At that time, she was unable to have children. But God healed her in that campaign, and tonight she gave this testimony with her miracle child standing beside her!
Tomorrow night I will preach in two campaigns back-to-back (the first time I’ve ever done this in Africa). It will be a very intense day. Please pray for me and the whole team here as we press on toward the finish line.
Yours in the Gospel,
Daniel Kolenda
and the CfaN family
Help with the Decade of Double Harvest
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – Day 2
Lukas Repert in Gongo la Mboto
Lukas Repert from our Frankfurt office brings us a small update from Gongo la Mboto, in Tanzania.
Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania – Day 2
Walking, Leaping and Praising God!
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania - Night 2
Walking, leaping and praising God!
Tonight, I preached in the second of six cities where CfaN campaigns are ongoing simultaneously this week. The area, known as Gongo La Mboto, is where Evangelists Daniel Garcia and Lukas Repert are stationed (both graduates of the CfaN Evangelism Bootcamp). After I preached the Gospel, they ministered to the sick. Many amazing miracles happened, but especially many who could not walk were healed.
One lady had not been able to walk for six years. She came on stage partially healed. Daniel Garcia prayed for her, and she received her full healing right there on the platform in front of everyone’s eyes! She danced and began to praise Jesus. Likewise, another lady walked on stage with her crutch high in the air and began to dance with it. Then a man testified that he could not walk for two years. And in fact, he wasn’t even able to bend his legs. But tonight, Jesus healed him. He danced and joyfully bent his legs on stage.
In each of the six campaigns ongoing tonight, amazing things have happened: blind eyes and deaf ears opened, people rose off stretchers in front of the huge crowds, the lame threw their crutches away, and most importantly, we counted thousands upon thousands of documented decisions for Christ.
It’s harvest time here in Dar es Salaam. Thank you for continuing to pray for us. Three more days to go!
Yours in the Gospel,
Daniel Kolenda
and the CfaN family
Help with the Decade of Double Harvest
Day 2
Kawe
Day 2
Gongo la Mboto
Day 2
Mbagala
Day 2
Jangwani
Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania – Day 1
Miracles, Signs and Wonders
"There is no one in this world that can save you except for the one, and His name is JESUS!" We are on the ground in Africa RIGHT NOW, preaching to the multitudes the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are seeing salvations, signs, and wonders in His Name!
Operation Decapolis
Day One Report
Our third "Operation Decapolis" Campaign began here in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, tonight. Over the next 5 nights, we will be conducting 6 simultaneous campaigns in 6 different areas of the city. Dar es Salaam is the largest city in Tanzania, very densely populated and very spread out. Traveling from one side of the city to the other can take many hours. This means that a campaign in one part of the city would be unreachable for the rest of the population living in other areas. The solution the Lord has given us to this (and many other problems) is to hold these multiple simultaneous campaigns, which together will allow us to reach almost the entire population!
In each area, there are two CfaN evangelists stationed (most are graduates of the CfaN Evangelism Bootcamp). They will minister two nights each, and I will arrive on one of the nights to preach as well (five nights in each campaign). Each night I travel to a different campaign to give a boost to the team stationed there. On Saturday, I will actually preach in two different campaigns the same night - something I've never done in a CfaN campaign before. This is an amazing season of growth, fresh vision, and supernatural increase!
Tonight I started out preaching in the area of Kimara, where Evangelists Evelina Smane and Denis Artyushevskiy are stationed. After preaching the Gospel, they ministered to the sick, and amazing miracles happened:
- A Muslim lady was in an accident a year ago and could not walk without pain. Tonight she gave her life to Jesusand was healed. All the pain left her body, and she could walk!
- Another woman was having problems with bone marrow in her legs and could not walk without a cane for many years. Tonight Jesus healed her, and she was able to walk without her cane.
- A man who was deaf in his ear for 16 years was healed tonight.
- A woman who was deaf in both ears for three years was healed tonight.
- A woman who was blind since she was a child was also healed!
These are just a sampling of what Jesus did here tonight in the Kimara area of Tanzania. And remember, this is just one ofsix campaigns that took place in this city tonight! The testimonies are flooding in from all sides. There's far too much to tell in one report, but suffice it to say that Jesus is making history here!
Thank you for praying for us.
Yours in the Gospel,
Daniel Kolenda
(Together with the entire CfaN family)
Tonight Daniel Kolenda started out preaching in the area of Kimara, where Evangelists Evelina Smane and Denis Artyushevskiy are stationed.
Day 1
Kimara
Day 1
Mbagala
Jesus making history!
Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania – Arrival
Starting today!
The preparations are made and we are excited about tonight!
Letting the people know we'll be there soon with the Good News
Roman Nechay
Seeing a crowd gathered in front of the stadium in advance of a big football game, our Bootcamp graduate Ramon Nechay asked if he could freestyle to the crowd. They let him, so Ramon used the opportunity to promote the upcoming Decapolis campaign.
Imani | Upendo | Miujiza
We will be on 6 locations simultaneously in Dar es Salaam
The Frankfurt CfaN office is excited to have our staff member Lukas Repert, a Bootcamp graduate and one of the 14 evangelists who will be sharing the gospel during the Decapolis campaign.
Our Bootcamp graduate Nia-Cerise Conteh was presented with an amazing opportunity to promote the Decapolis campaign on Wasafi Television, a hugely popular TV channel in Tanzania.
Setting up the platform and the sound towers have begun at the six locations
Arrived in Dar es Salaam
Winfried Wentland and his team
On the way to Dar es Salaam
Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania // 6 – 10 October 2021
Countdown to Decapolis
It feels like we’ve only just shaken the dust from our shoes from the last Operation Decapolis in June, and already we’re just days away from the next one. This time, we will be holding six campaigns simultaneously, another level up for our teams. Our previous record was in June, when we held five campaigns at the same time in five different cities in Tanzania.
But the number of campaigns is not the only thing that is different about this Decapolis. This time, all six campaigns will be held in one city, and there are very good reasons for this. In the Decade of Double Harvest, a major part of our strategy is flexibility. We have to look at the circumstances of each region or city individually and use the tools at our disposal to reach as many people as possible. So, why this particular strategy for the port city of Dar-es-Salaam?
Second-fastest-growing city in the world
The last time CfaN was in Dar-es-Salaam, in 2013, the population was just over 4 million. Now it’s nearly 7 million, and experts predict it will hit 13 million by 2035. Of course, that pace of growth comes with huge challenges, especially as more than three quarters of the city’s population lives in informal settlements.
With the city infrastructure stretched to the limit, it can easily take over two hours to drive just ten kilometers. That’s a massive obstacle to a non-believer thinking of coming to the campaign. If we were to host one mass event as we have done in the past, only those who live in the vicinity would be able to come. As we studied the problem, we felt the Holy Spirit telling us to instead hold multiple campaigns in different areas of the city, so that hearing the Gospel is within reach of everyone. No matter where in the city someone lives, they’ll be within half an hour from a campaign.
Over 2,000 churches involved
There’s no way we could possibly accomplish this without the active involvement of the local churches. Our campaign directors have been preparing the ground for months, meeting with pastors, bishops and church leaders. We’ve been training counselors and ushers, setting up the follow-up systems, ready to immediately guide new believers into churches close to where they live.
We’ve also trained over 1,000 local evangelists from all denominational backgrounds, and they will be putting that into practice in the two weeks leading up to the main events. Along with about 20 CfaN Evangelism Bootcamp graduates, they’ll be involved in a “Gospel Invasion”, where we do multiple mini-campaigns all over the city on the streets, in marketplaces, kids’ outreaches – anywhere and everywhere! The tide of salvations begins here, before the first meeting of the main events.
Dar-es-Salaam is a key African city
Not only is it growing incredibly quickly, it’s also the most important port for trade for the landlocked countries around it like Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It’s the largest city in Tanzania, and the business capital of the country. That means there’s a constant flow of people, and Dar-es-Salaam has great influence in the region. Add to that its prominence in the arts, media and television, and we have a special opportunity to spread the Gospel far and wide in East and Central Africa.
Speaking to the youth
Like all African countries, Tanzania has a very young population, with an average age of only 18. It’s crucial for us to speak to this generation effectively, so we are going far beyond the newspaper ads, posters, television and radio adverts of the past, though those are all still happening. To get the word out, we’re utilizing every social media platform. We have recruited young Christian influencers like local soccer stars and YouTube personalities, speaking on their shows to encourage young people to attend. If there’s a way to communicate, our teams are using it!
Always a step of faith…
Every single time we commit to Gospel campaigns in Africa, we’re taking a step of faith. We’re trusting that the Lord will provide in every way – finances, personnel, permits, equipment, local churches and everything else that is needed. We’re believing that the Holy Spirit will speak to others just as He has to us and bring it all together for His glory.
…and always in partnership
We are not doing this alone. It’s only possible because of partners like you, who take that step of faith with us. So, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for standing with us. Thank you for praying for us. Thank you for supporting this ministry financially. The seed you are sowing is bearing an almost unimaginable harvest, and you share in that reward with us before the throne of God.
Look out for all the latest news from Operation Decapolis next month. Connect with us on our website, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube – and witness for yourself what God is doing. We know it will be glorious!
Together with you in the harvest,
Evangelist Daniel Kolenda
and the whole CfaN team worldwide
