Daniel Kolenda is Interview

Daniel, you’re an American.
What connections do you have with Germany?

My great-uncle on my father’s side was one of the founders of the Beröa Bible School in Erzhausen and a first-generation Bible School teacher. Some of the older people still remember “Grandpa Kolenda”. My ancestors came from East Prussia and so I also have German blood in my veins.

As a teenager you had an extraordinary encounter with God ...

Yes, when I was 16 I was part of a revival that had an impact on the entire world. I had an extremely personal and deep experience of the Holy Spirit … that I can only describe as my baptism by fire. It changed my life and made evangelism my life’s goal.

You worked in a church-planting project.
A word about churches and revival?

Too many churches that are praying for revival have a ‟Do not disturb” sign on their door.

Evangelism and the supernatural –
how are they connected?

In John 6:44 we read that no one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws him and John 16:7-8 tells us that this is accomplished solely by the power of the Holy Spirit. If a person is born again, the old is gone and everything is made new.
This was the answer to David’s age-old prayer, ‟Create in me a pure heart, O God.” This is a creative miracle, the creation of a new heart … and I am sure that no other miracle, no healing, no sign and no manifestation can ever be more supernatural that the miracle of new birth. That is why I believe that true evangelism can never exist without the supernatural.

You preach to huge crowds of people during the campaigns in Africa. Do you see yourself as a “seasoned” preacher?

I must have prayed for weeks before I preached my first sermon at 14 years of age. I pleaded for God’s help and blessing, knowing that without it I would be a miserable failure. Today I often preach as many as twelve times in a single week. I no longer feel nervous, even when preaching to crowds of hundreds of thousands – and that is where the danger lies. Although I feel comfortable and confident in the pulpit, I have to remind myself continually that my sense of security is just an illusion. I could preach the most articulate sermon with the most brilliant delivery, but I would still be a miserable failure without the blessing of the Lord.

In two sentences, what does prayer mean to you?

Only two sentences? That’s tough. Well, okay! Sentence 1:
Today all God’s riches and resources are available to everyone who takes hold of them through prayer.
And sentence 2:
Through prayer, you can have a real impact that reaches to the ends of the earth – without ever leaving home.

What would you describe as your main character trait?

I am weak enough to be used by God.

Do you have something like a personal motto?

“The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity.” This maxim by Leonard Ravenhill has had a seminal influence on my thinking.

Give five words to describe your life.

Souls, souls, souls, souls, souls.

Do you have something that you would like to pass on to CfaN’s Mission Partners?

Yes. I would like to say this to some of our faithful friends and supporters:
Perhaps the daunting circumstances that you are facing are just a platform from which God desires to demonstrate a mighty miracle to an unbelieving world. Be bold and courageous! Stick with it and carry on!
This word is for you: “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.” (Psalm 42:5)