Wonder night: Testimonies

sporting facility in South Africa the Soccer City Complex, FNB Stadium was certainly the biggest Christian crusade ever held in the history of southern Africa.
The Night of Bliss with Pastor Chris Oyakhilome was designed to draw people from all over the world especially Africa. South Africa stood still for the night.
It was such a huge success that it was the topic of screaming newspaper headlines in South Africa for days afterwards.
People who attended the meeting came from over 70 countries, among them France, USA, UK and Germany.
The Night of Bliss was the first Christian event to be held in Soccer City, located in Soweto, which was the main stadium for the historic 2010 Fifa World Cup.
Soccer City – with a capacity of 94 700 fans – is the largest stadium in Africa.
Its maximum capacity during the 2010 Fifa World Cup, however, was 84 490 due to reserved seating for the press and other VIPs.
The NOB was screened live on the Internet through Love World Christian Network, enabling many from all over the world to participate.
Many others watched optimised live screening on their mobile phones.
This was not the first time Pastor Chris held such a large Christian event in South Africa.
The first NOB was held in March 2008 at the Johannesburg Stadium.
The 2008 event is still dubbed “The night Johannesburg stood still.”
The scenario brings to mind what happened in the days of Jesus, where people climbed trees and came down roof-tops to see the Lord, hear God’s Word and receive their much needed miracle.
People did all they could just to get into the stadium.
“We are next in line for a miracle. We’ve come to catch a glimpse of glory,” was one of the statements from some that were at the stadium. Hope was written on the faces of everyone present.
Reports of miracles had filtered even a month before the Night of Bliss, hence the sense of expectation that people had as they came in for the event.
During the preparations, miracles began to happen as people had encounters with the fliers, posters and T- Shirts for publicity.
The air in the city was thick with excitement and expectation as the long-awaited epoch-making event drew near.
People started coming to the Stadium on Thursday evening for a programme which was set to start on Friday evening.
Even those that had come from other countries wanted to sleep at the stadium on Thursday just to secure seats, but of course that was not possible. They had to contain their excitement until the following morning.
As early as 4am on Friday, thousands of people in the surrounding cities and provinces and from different countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Kenya and other countries had queued up at the stadium gates.
By 9am that Friday morning, the roads leading to the Johannesburg stadium rumbled as thousands of keen worshippers moved to the stadium grounds.
The congestion was such that the police were kept busy controlling the traffic.
By 1pm, it was as if the event was about to take place and by 6pm, every available seating space both on the grand stands and on the field was taken.
It was even announced before the progamme that those who wanted to attend should make their choice to watch locally or to travel to the Night of Bliss as the event was to be screened the LoveWorld (aka Christ Embassy) Television network in Southern Africa, LoveWorld SAT and other television stations, including the ZTV.
Now came the time for the word, the miracles and the worship.
It was without doubt a night of miracles, blessings, signs and wonders as the dew of heaven came on everyone present, leaving miracles in its wake.
The people were specially blessed and touched by the life-transforming presence of God that soaked the arena.
The time of prayers, exhilarating worship and the subsequent teaching of the Word set the people in the right frame to receive all that the Holy Spirit had in store for them.
The massive choir of 5 000 ministered in song with other artists from Nigeria and South Africa gracing the event.
Indeed it was a night of bliss.
The Word was life-changing. Pastor Chris expounded on three key principles of the human spirit, that is, faith, hope and love.
He said these three factors could help us understand the yearnings of the human person.
Pastor Chris said the three can be applied to or acted upon to produce creative or destructive results.
God desires us to produce creative and positive results.
While Pastor Chris was sharing the Word, many were ministered to by the power of the Holy Spirit.
It did not matter whether they were at the stadium, on the Internet or watching via satellite – miracles took place all the same.
In Zimbabwe, the 117 Christ Embassy churches came together to create 23 viewing centres for the convenience of those that needed to be in church to participate in Night of Bliss and to be assisted in receiving their miracles.
The total attendance at these 23 centres was 22,000. Thousands watched from their homes.
The same miracles that happened in South Africa were the same miracles that happened in all the churches where participants watched Pastor Chris live on screen. Even the testimonies in churches are unstoppable.
A 40-year-old woman testified in one of the local churches at Belvedere here in Zimbabwe that she was not able to walk for seven years after being involved in a car accident, but after watching the programme, her life was transformed after receiving her miracle.
She said: “When I realised that I could not get a ticket to travel for the Night of Bliss in South Africa, I decided to come to Belvedere church with the hope that I would be healed if I participate with others.”
“I was involved in an accident that broke my arms, legs and back. I began to have challenges in walking (such) that I could not wear shoes and diseases started sprouting in my body – diabetes, arthritis you name them.”
“During the service I participated with everyone. It was as if Soccer Stadium was in Zimbabwe. When Pastor Chris said, “Touch where you need a miracle, I stood up and ran around the whole auditorium praising God,” she testified.
Miracles were wrought by the power of the Holy Spirit as the Word of God came alive in the hearts of many present.
People arose from their wheelchairs; deaf ears opened; the dumb began to hear; the blind could see. Diseases bowed down to the name of Jesus. In the viewing centres in Zimbabwe, over 2,000 testimonies were heard.
In Johannesburg, the number of people who received miracles was innumerable, with queues that were stretching from every side of the stadium.
Pastor Chris could not even take all of the testimonies as it would have taken another day to record the testimonies alone.
Some have questioned the miracles saying they are stage-managed.
Pastor Chris during his ministration time explained the importance and significance of miracles in our daily lives. He said, “Many people do not believe in miracles. Some even say they are fake but when you have faith and hope you will receive a miracle.”
“When you need a miracle one day you will surely believe.”
The Night of Bliss shall not be forgotten in the hearts of the thousands that attended and the estimated 10 million that managed to watch worldwide.
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