LAGOS, Autumn 2000
An eye witness report by John Fergusson | JFergusson@wyrecompute.com
In the eyes of the Lord, I guess that every autumn leaf-fall is
recorded in the internet of history. But there are moments when
one is conscious of standing at the fulcrum of something much
greater - a Bastille, a D-Day, a Giant Leap for Mankind. Lagos
was not just another event, nor even a milestone crusade in the
annals of CfaN. This was world history in the fashioning.
For when, if ever, for any purpose, have 1.6 million people
gathered into one place? When in human history have 1.3 million
people simultaneously cried out to God in new tongues? Who but
God alone has heard the worship of such a multitude until today?
When before, in a single week and a single city, have almost 3
million souls recorded decisions to follow Christ?
Bron & I had gone, I must confess, more out of a sense of
desperation than expectation. The continuing uncertainty of our
future was wearing heavy. By nature impatient, purposelessness
sits across my soul like lead. We had to do something, but we (or
at least I) came with a heart more hesitant than hopeful.
I had forgotten Africa. India has been my 'abroad' for too long.
The exuberance of gleaming smiles and tropical colours, the
rhythms of the music and the days came with fresh surprise. There
were less welcome surprises - the open corruption, Lagos traffic,
and the febrile Nigerian temperament. Surely nowhere else does a
people, and certainly not Christians, shout such vile abuse at
each other in the street, only to embrace each other as brothers
five minutes later. Every queue, every traffic jam, every seat on
the platform, seemed a catalyst for tirades of misunderstanding.
And some of the combatants were pastors? After the polite
deception of Asian 'face', I found myself confused.
Despite this, Lagos is largely Christian, and it was refreshing
to be able share one's faith freely and openly with hotel staff,
airport officials and shop-keepers. Being part of "Bonnke's
team" was status indeed! But perhaps the greatest bonus for
us was to enjoy the company of so many friends made over the
years - for the visiting team read like a Who's Who of CfaN
history.
Bron & I had been asked to help lead the UK party of
visitors, less than half of whom had ever been to Africa. The
potential for chaos was huge. But they were a revelation -
joyful, patient, reliable. Thank you all! It was wonderful to see
how they instinctively chose Bron as their leader and 'pastor',
and how naturally she responded. Is this a new anointing?
The event itself was incredible. On the Thursday, with one
million in front of Reinhard, a further 50,000 stood behind the
platform - a crowd to which most of us would be more than content
to preach! On the final night I walked through the living,
singing, (sweating) ocean to one of the five entrances to the
ground. Here was a thirty-man wide river of jostling, shouting
eagerness pouring through the dust like a migration of wildebeest.
That they were so hungry to hear about Jesus moved me to tears.
In Him is truly green pasture, still water.
And the sound of that roar on Saturday, as over a million voices
lifted their tongues in praise will live with me forever! How can
I describe it? It was too deep, too vibrant to be just splashing
rain; too sibilant to be a mighty waterfall; too powerful to be a
mountain stream; too fresh to be the pounding sea. And suddenly I
understood the description of the voice of Jesus in Revelation 1:15
- "his voice as the sound of many waters." For surely
that vision of the Lord that John saw must also be a description
of the church too, for we are His body, and our voices His voice!
Hallelujah!
Through it all the Lord performed the most wonderful miracles,
not least of which was the organisation of such a crowd. An
astonishing 250,000 counsellors and ushers had been trained. And
among the crowd boys from the deaf school heard for the first
time, witchdoctors confessed Jesus, wheelchairs were held aloft,
crutches bristled above the crowd like scattered stubble.
Logically impossible, even more so in Nigeria, the crowd arrived,
rejoiced, and left without disaster. Where somehow one expected
to find an aftermath of strewn bodies remained only blowing
newspapers and plastic bags across the 100 acre trampled field.
The scale of everything was equally awesome. A veritable village
of containers, converted to offices and workshops, nestled beside
the platform. Generators grumbled from every corner. 300 tonnes
of books were available to give to every responder, encouraging
them to attend one of the thousands of local churches. It is
appealingly ironic that these had been printed in, and shipped to
Lagos from China?
The Fire Conference was like no other. Held in the national
football stadium, 80,000 came and melted under the midday sun.
Even though the messages were not new for Bron & I, the
occasion was, and the Lord used it for our encouragement.
For here He spoke to us. Our spirits quickened. A few more dots
joined up in the picture-book of our future. Bron was moved by
the deaf praising God through sign-language, me by further
opportunities to write, and both of us by a five minute
conversation with a Chinese stranger. Her actual words we have
largely forgotten, but my spirit is still singing from the
encounter. We will investigate.
We have also come home with an even deeper sense of the urgency
of the days. Surely Christ must come soon! And still there are so
many who have never heard. Given my allotted span I have a mere
200 months of my life left to live. The two months I have just
spent building my garage was therefore 1% of the rest of my life.
Was that really time well spent? It has made us more determined
than ever to live the rest of it for His glory.
Thank you for your prayers - we travelled safely, heard from God
clearly, ministered joyfully, and returned, well? different.
With our love and blessing
John & Bron
JFergusson@wyrecompute.com